Authorities in Burkina Faso have published a list of individuals, including journalists and activists, who are “actively wanted for criminal association in relation to a terrorist enterprise,” escalating concerns over the military junta’s crackdown on dissent.
The list, released on Facebook by the Security Ministry on Tuesday, names 32 individuals and calls on the public to provide any information on their whereabouts. However, the statement does not specify whether any rewards will be offered.
Burkina Faso, plagued by violence since 2015, has been under military rule since September 2022 following a coup led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré. Armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have launched frequent attacks across the country, further destabilising the region.
At the top of the blacklist is Jafar Dicko, the 50-year-old leader of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group Ansarul Islam. Dicko assumed leadership following the 2017 death of his brother and group founder Malam Dicko.
Other known figures on the list include Dicko Hamadoun (alias Poulkotou), Bolly Oumarou Idrissa (alias Oumi), and Dicko Hamadou Abou, several of whom have had bounties of up to 175 million francs ($285,000) placed on them since last year.
However, the list also includes journalists and civil society figures accused of working against the ruling military government. Among them is Newton Ahmed Barry, a journalist and former president of Burkina Faso’s electoral commission, as well as Abdoulaye Barry, a journalist previously linked to opposition voices.
Both journalists were accused by security forces in September 2023 of participating in an alleged plot, involving former soldiers and insurgent groups, aimed at toppling the junta.
Other notable figures listed include Diallo Ahmed Aziz, a former deputy mayor of Dori, and Lieutenant-Colonel Djassanou Ouoba Romeo, a former special forces commander who was dismissed from his post last year.
The blacklist also features five whistleblowers and cyberactivists who have been vocal critics of the junta while living in exile. These include Naim Toure, Ouedraogo Aminata (also known as Aminata Raschow), Coulibaly Oumar, Maixent Some, and Barry Al Hassane.
In response to the list, Some took to social media platform X to declare, “From now on, criticising the MPSR-2 (the ruling junta) is a terrorist act and will be treated as such.”
The ruling military regime has consistently suppressed dissent, with numerous reports of kidnappings and disappearances since 2022. Rights groups have expressed growing alarm over the erosion of press freedom and civil liberties under the junta’s rule.
