Burkina Faso: After Four Months of Forced Military Conscription, Two Journalists Reappear, Three Reporters Remain Missing

RSF
The president of the Burkina Journalists’ Association (AJB), Guezouma Sanogo, and a journalist from radio Femina FM, Phil Roland Zongo.
25 July 2025
Reporters sans Frontières (Paris)
press release

The president of the Burkina Journalists’ Association (AJB), Guezouma Sanogo, and a journalist from radio Femina FM, Phil Roland Zongo, returned to their families on 21 July, after four months of forced conscription, a few days after the reappearance of journalists Boukari Ouoba, Luc Pagbelguem and Kalifara Séré. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes this development and calls on authorities to shed full light on the fate of missing journalists Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala and Alain Traoré.

After four months of forced  conscription, two members of the Burkina Journalists’ Association (AJB) can finally breathe a sigh of relief. According to information from RSF, AJB president, Guezouma Sanogo, and AJB member and radio Femina FM journalist, Phil Roland Zongo – who had been forcibly conscripted in  the Fada N'Gourma area in the east of the country since the end of March – returned to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and their families on 21 July.

Guezouma Sanogo was arrested on 24 March at the Norbert Zongo National Press Centre in Ouagadougou by suspected members of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR).Phil Roland Zongo – whose forced conscription had not been made public until his release –   was arrested at his home on 23 March, according to information gathered by RSF.

At an AJB congress on 21 March, Guezouma Sanogo and Phil Roland Zongo respectively denounced the transformation of the public media into propaganda tools and called for the release of kidnapped and forcibly conscripted journalists. The Minister of Communication and government spokesman, Pingdwendé Gilbert Ouedraogo, has not yet responded to RSF's request for comment.

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"Guezouma Sanogo and Phil Roland Zongo’s return puts an end to the ordeal endured by these members of the Burkina Journalists’ Association – almost four months after the forced conscription of three other AJB members, all of whom were released between 17 and 21 July. These journalists  should never have been forcibly conscripted! These abductions all occurred after the journalists publicly denounced the muzzling of the press and the targeted conscription of journalists - at least two of whom are still conscripted at the time of this writing. RSF demands authorities shed full light on the fate of the journalists – who are most likely still conscripted or missing –  and end the culture of silence and fear imposed on journalists in Burkina Faso.

These releases come four days after the liberation of  Boukari Ouoba, another AJB member, and  Luc Pagbelguem, a journalist working for the privately-owned BF1 television station. Kalifara Séré, a columnist for the same channel, was also reunited with his family on 11 July after being forcibly  conscripted for over 380 days.

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