• About US
  • Our Work
Sunday, June 1, 2025
  • Login
Journalists For Justice (JFJ)
  • Home
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Human Rights
  • Elections
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Careers
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Human Rights
  • Elections
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Careers
No Result
View All Result
Journalists For Justice (JFJ)
No Result
View All Result

Thomas Sankara murder trial starts in Ouagadougou

byJanet Sankale
October 12, 2021
in burkina faso, Domestic Court Cases
Reading Time: 2 mins read
18
A A
Thomas Sankara Photo credit: Facebook

Thomas Sankara Photo credit: Facebook

6
SHARES
66
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

The trial of 14 people facing charges in connection with the assassination of former Burkina Faso leader Thomas Sankara 34 years ago has started in the capital Ouagadougou.

Former President Blaise Compaoré is among those charged with the murder, but he is being tried in absentia as he has refused to travel from Ivory Coast, his country of exile, to attend the proceedings.

Sankara and 12 others were killed in a hail of bullets unleashed by commandos during a coup that brought Compaoré to power. The new president went on to rule the Sahel country for 27 years, until he was thrown out following mass protests in 2014. He fled to neighbouring Ivory Coast and is living there as a citizen. During his reign, it was taboo to discuss Sankara’s murder and nothing was done to bring his killers to justice.

Sankara died at the age of 37, four years after taking power. Four civilians and eight soldiers of the presidential convoy were killed with him at the headquarters of the National Revolutionary Council.

RelatedPosts

Forgotten Voices: Uganda’s Children Born of War Want to Belong

Total Uganda: 42 families expropriated in a summary trial

Iraq: Appeals Courts Ignoring Torture Claims

The trial, which started on Monday, October 11, 2021 before a military court, is a historic one in Africa, putting an end to more than 30 years of waiting for justice and has only come about after the exit of Compaoré, who has been blamed for the assassination of his former friend and comrade-at-arms. He has denied involvement in the assassination, and termed the trial political and riddled by irregularities. He has also insisted that he enjoys immunity as a former head of state.

Sankara was a hero in his country, then known by its French colonial name of Upper Volta, which he renamed Burkina Faso (Land of Incorruptible People) in 1984, a year after he assumed leadership after a coup. He was referred to as the “African Che Guevara” (after the Argentinian Marxist revolutionary who led a number of armed struggles, including in Cuba).

Sankara championed programmes for social, ecological, and economic change. He advocated women’s rights and outlawed female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and polygamy. He was seen as an anti-imperialist revolutionary who spoke for the oppressed and strengthened his nation’s sovereignty, especially from France. It has been suspected that French operatives were involved in his assassination.

However, human rights organisations have criticised Sankara’s radical left-wing policies as draconian. A 1986 Amnesty International report claimed that political opponents were detained without trial and tortured.

General Gilbert Diendéré, Compaoré’s former chief of staff, is among those on trial facing several charges, including “attacking state security”, “complicity in assassination”, and “concealment of bodies”.

Diendéré is in prison, serving 20 years for his role in a failed coup in 2015. Diébré Jean Christophe, the doctor who signed the death certificate, saying the former president had died from natural causes, is charged with falsifying a public document.

Hyacinthe Kafando, Compaoré’s former security chief who is accused of leading the group that executed Sankara and his entourage, is also being tried in absentia. He is in hiding and an international arrest warrant has been issued against him.

Share2Tweet2Send
Previous Post

ICC Prosecutor presents list of candidates to become his deputies

Next Post

Kenya and Somalia still looking at years of conflict despite ICJ ruling

Next Post
Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta listen to speeches during Farmaajo's inauguration ceremony in Somalia's capital Mogadishu [Feisal Omar/Reuters]

Kenya and Somalia still looking at years of conflict despite ICJ ruling

Please login to join discussion

Recent Posts

  • Karim Khan’s exit deals another blow to the troubled ICC
  • Proposed war crimes court holds hope for justice and accountability in Liberia
  • Dilemma of ICC-wanted Netanyahu’s visit high on the agenda of new leadership in Germany
  • Michael Correa’s US conviction brings into sharp focus the slow pace of transitional justice in The Gambia
  • Genocide marks 31 years and the clock is ticking for six Rwandans held in Niger

About

We call out impunity wherever it occurs; we advocate justice for all victims of atrocity crimes; and we work with people of goodwill everywhere who share our values.

Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Archives by Month:

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Human Rights
  • Elections
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Careers

Copyright © 2019. Journalists for Justice has asserted its right to be recognized as creators and owners of the content here. Reproduction in part or in whole is permitted on condition that JFJ is acknowledged and notified.