Burkina Faso Releases Eight NGO Members Arrested For ‘Spying’

An international non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Burkina Faso said Friday that eight of its members had been released, months after the country’s military rulers arrested them on accusations of spying.

Burkina Faso’s military junta, which seized power in a September 2022 coup, revoked the authorisation of 21 NGOs working in the country in July, including the Netherlands-based International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO).

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“INSO welcomes the safe release of our colleagues, and appreciates the support that made this possible,” the organisation said in a statement.

The arrests occurred in July but were only announced by the junta in early October.

INSO clarified Friday that its staff members had been released at the end of October.

The eight members included a Frenchman, a French-Senegalese woman, a Czech man, a Malian, and four Burkinabe nationals.

Burkinabe authorities had claimed INSO had collected and passed on sensitive security information about the country to foreign powers, and that its members continued to work covertly despite being banned.

INSO provides security analyses for other humanitarian organisations.

It had rejected the allegations of spying made against its workers and activities in Burkina Faso.

“As a humanitarian organisation, we remain committed to supporting humanitarian organisations delivering aid safely to all those in need,” it said on Friday.

INSO has said it had operated in Burkina Faso since 2019 “following requests to support NGOs there” to strengthen humanitarian safety.

“We strive to uphold the humanitarian principles everywhere we work,” it said on Friday.

Burkinabe authorities often repress dissent, notably within civil society and the media, saying it is part of the battle against jihadist violence that has plagued the country for a decade.

Jihadists, who have pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, have continued to commit violence across swathes of the desert nation.

At the end of 2024, Burkina Faso’s ally and neighbour, Niger, ruled too by a military junta, had also revoked INSO’s authorisation to operate on its territory.

AFP