Authorities in Burkina Faso have arrested a prominent member of a civil society organisation critical of the country’s military-led government, the group confirmed on Friday.
The detention of Romuald Yaro, deputy secretary general of the Patriotic Front, marks the latest in a series of arrests targeting those who have spoken out against the junta.
According to the group’s statement on Saturday, April 5, 2025, Yaro was apprehended on March 30 by individuals who identified themselves as intelligence agents while he was at his workplace in the capital, Ouagadougou.
Since his arrest, the group says it has received no information regarding the reasons for his detention or his current whereabouts.
The Patriotic Front reported that those responsible claimed to be acting on behalf of the country’s national intelligence agency, the ANR.
The group has strongly condemned how the arrest was carried out, labelling it an extrajudicial act amounting to an enforced disappearance. It reiterated its stance against arbitrary detentions conducted outside the legal system.
The Patriotic Front is a legally recognised coalition of political parties and civil society organisations in Burkina Faso.
It has been vocal in its opposition to the military authorities who seized power in 2022 under Captain Ibrahim Traoré, following a coup that has since ushered in a wave of arrests, particularly targeting dissenting voices.
The clampdown on critics has intensified in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, three Burkinabe journalists who had been previously detained appeared in a video circulated on pro-junta social media channels. In the footage, seemingly recorded in a military barracks, the journalists claimed they were on the front lines reporting on the government’s efforts against insurgent violence.
Just last week, the government dissolved the Burkina Journalists’ Association (AJB) shortly after its president, Guezouma Sanogo, and his deputy, Boukari Ouoba, were arrested.
Sanogo had recently spoken out against what he described as escalating attacks on freedom of expression and press freedom in the country.
Earlier in March, the political movement SENS reported that five of its members, including a journalist, were abducted after publicly condemning mass killings allegedly carried out by the military and affiliated militias.
Burkina Faso continues to face escalating insecurity fuelled by insurgencies spilling over from neighbouring Mali and Niger, exacerbating the political crisis and human rights concerns under the junta’s rule.
