£BURKINA FASO

@Killings by the security forces in Pô

Amnesty International is calling for an immediate investigation into the killing by the security forces of Akou Agoudwo, Adi Bagnion, Kossi Gouniabou, Akandoba Kibora and Kgoissan Kibora, commonly known as Ziou, and of two others arrested in February 1995.

The seven were among more than one hundred people were arrested on 26 February 1995 in the village of Kaya, Nahouri province, Tiébélé Department, in the south of Burkina Faso, following a confrontation between villagers and gendarmes. An argument between two men in the village escalated into violence which resulted in the deaths of one of the two men, two other villagers and a gendarme.

Military forces of the Centre national d'entraînement des commandos (CENEC), National Centre for the Training of Commandos, based at Pô, some 21 kilometres from Kaya, were sent for in order to assist the gendarmerie in quelling the deteriorating security situation in Kaya. More than one hundred men were arrested by the commandos and interrogated about the death of the gendarme. According to local press reports, one man, described as elderly, died in detention, possibly as a result of torture.

Most of those arrested in Kaya were released on 5 March 1995. Some had been tortured and ill-treated; photographs taken after their release showed severe lesions on their backs. However, some remained detained in Pô; they were held incommunicado and denied any visits from their families. In April 1995, 11 of those still held were transferred to prison in the capital, Ouagadougou, where they were able to receive visits until they were released without trial in August 1995.

However, reports emerged in early October 1995 that seven of the detainees who had remained held by the commanders in Pô had been extrajudicially executed in early March 1995, probably around 5 or 6 March. The exact identities of two of the detainees are not yet known. According to reports, the seven men were killed by the security forces and buried secretly in a mass grave. Their clothes were returned to Kaya in August 1995. Although the security forces did not admit the deaths of the seven men, this implied that they were dead. The clothes were subsequently retrieved by the victims' families and funeral ceremonies held.

It appears that the seven men may have been killed in retaliation for the death of the gendarme in Kaya on 26 February 1995. No investigation into their deaths is known to have taken place.

Amnesty International is calling on the Burkinabè authorities to initiate an immediate investigation into the deaths of these seven men. The investigation should be carried out impartially and effectively by a body which is independent of those alleged to be responsible and which has the necessary powers and resources to carry out the investigation. The methods and findings of the investigation should be made public. Officials suspected of responsibility for extrajudicial executions should be suspended from active duty during the investigation. The authorities should ensure that those responsible for extrajudicial executions are brought to justice.

Amnesty International is also calling for an investigation into reports that some of those arrested in Kaya on 26 February 1995 were tortured and ill-treated and for immediate measures to be taken to protect all detainees from such treatment.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Send politely-worded letters, preferably in French, to the Burkinabè authorities:

∙expressing serious concern about reports that seven men, including

Akou Agoudwo, Adi Bagnion, Kossi Gouniabou, Akandoba Kibora

and Kgoissan Kibora known as Ziou, were killed by security forces

in Pô in early March 1995 after they were arrested on 26 February 1995

in Kaya, Nahouri Province, Tiébélé Department;

∙urging an immediate investigation into these deaths by a body

which is independent of those allegedly responsible and which

has the necessary powers and resources to carry out the investigation;

∙requesting that the findings of the investigation be made public

and that anyone found responsible for extrajudicial executions

be brought to justice;

∙expressing concern also about reports that some of those arrested

in Kaya in February 1995 were tortured and ill-treated and

urging that immediate measures be taken to protect all detainees

from such treatment.

Please send your appeals to:

Son ExcellenceMonsieur Marc-Christian Roch Kaboré

Monsieur Blaise Compaoré Premier Ministre

Président, Chef de l'EtatOuagadougou

et du GouvernmentBurkina Faso

La Présidence

BP 7031

Ouagadougou

Burkina Faso

Monsieur Larba YargaColonel Badaye Fayama

Ministre de la Justice, Garde des SceauxMinistre de la Défense

Ministère de la JusticeMinistère de la Défense

OuagadougouOuagadougou

Burkina FasoBurkina Faso

Copies of your appeals may be sent, with a covering letter, to:

Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim TraoréPrésident

Chef d'Etat major général des ArméesMouvement burkinabè des droits de

Ministère de la Défense l'homme et des peuples (MBDHP)

BP 49601 BP 2055

OuagadougouOuagadougou

Burkina FasoBurkina Faso

Monsieur Edouard OuedraogoMonsieur Yamba Yameogo

Directeur de publicationRédacteur en chef

L'Observateur PaalgaSidwaya

01 BP 5845 rue du Marché

Ouagadougou 0101 BP 507

Burkina FasoOuagadougou 01

Burkina Faso

KEYWORDS: EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS1 / MILITARY1 / MASS ARREST / INCOMMUNICADO DETENTION / TORTURE/ILL-TREATMENT