Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
According to the Constitution, the Republic of Burkina Faso is a secular state that grants no privileges to any religious denomination and guarantees its citizens freedom of religion. Article 1 prohibits discrimination based on religion stating: “Discrimination of all sorts, notably those founded on race, ethnicity, region, color, sex, language, religion, caste, political opinions, wealth and birth, are prohibited”.
Article 7 guarantees freedom of religion declaring: “The freedom of belief, of non-belief, of conscience, of religious opinion, [of] philosophy, of exercise of belief, the freedom of assembly, the free practice of custom as well as the freedom of procession and of demonstration, are guaranteed by this Constitution, under reserve of respect for the law, for public order, for good morals and for the human person.”
Article 23 defines the family as the “basic unit of society” and bans discrimination on religious grounds, “in matters of marriage”, which must be based “on the free consent” of both spouses and must be free of discrimination “based on race, color, religion, ethnicity, caste, social origin, [and] fortune”.
Religious communities can register with the authorities through the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, which oversees religious affairs, but they are not obliged to do so. Registration is subject to the same legal requirements as those that apply to other registered organisations.
Religious instruction is not permitted in state-run schools, but there are Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant primary and secondary private schools and some higher education institutions. Educational institutions have free reign in personnel matters, although the appointment of school heads must be reported to the authorities. The state reviews the curricula of schools sponsored by religious communities with an eye on their religious orientation and their compliance with technical specifications. In the case of Qur’anic schools, state control is not particularly effective since many of them are not registered.
The Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, and animist communities each receive government subsidies of around $129,000 per year. Support is also offered for a variety of religiously oriented programs and projects which, in the view of the state, serve the common good or are in the national interest.
Under an agreement concluded in September 2020 between the Republic of Burkina Faso and the Holy See, the Catholic Church and its institutions in Burkina Faso are subject to public law. The treaty also governs cooperation between State and Church institutions.
Incidents and developments
The West African country of Burkina Faso has long been considered an example of peaceful coexistence between religions. Since the end of 2015, however, the country has become a hotspot for violent extremists and is now a main theatre of jihadist terror in the Sahel.
The militants – first identified with the homegrown Ansaroul Islam in 2016 – have expanded to include the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM, affiliated with the transnational Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM) entering from neighboring Mali into northern Burkina Faso and then gaining influence in the country’s western, central, and eastern regions.
The impact on the civilian population has been catastrophic. Attacks perpetrated by movements affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State predominantly in the northern and eastern regions of Burkina Faso have resulted in the death of more than 2000 civilians and soldiers; more than two million people have been displaced, “an increase of over 7,000% since August 2018 making it one of the fastest growing in the world along with Mozambique and Ukraine,” and more than 1,000 schools have been closed. Many children are being forcibly recruited as child soldiers by the “warrior of God”. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, 335,723 people were reported displaced in 2021; between January and July 2022 alone, 398,471 people had been displaced.
There were multiple attacks on military and civilians during the period under review; the list of incidents is thus only representative:
On 4 June 2021, jihadists carried out an attack near the village of Solhan in the border region between Burkina Faso and Niger. Almost 160 people, Muslim and Christian alike, were killed and numerous houses burned down. The Bishops’ Conference of Burkina Faso spoke of a “night of horror”. According to Bishop Laurent Dabiré, there are no problems between Christians and Muslims or with the other religions in Burkina. “The country is being attacked by diverse groups that use Islam for propaganda or for mobilisation. The Islam of the armed groups is not the Islam of our brothers. The Muslims of Burkina are themselves targets,” the bishop explained.
On 18 August, a civilian convoy was attacked by terrorists leaving multiple military and civilian victims dead and wounded. Government officials stated, “30 civilians, 14 military police and three pro-government militia were killed, while 30 people were wounded.” On 23 August the Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Burkina-Niger issued a common statement, saying: “It is with dismay and sorrow that learned of the terrorist attack which has once again plunged our country into mourning.” The bishops invited “all the sons and daughters of the Church Family of God in Burkina Faso to intensify their prayer for peace in the country.”
On 29 August, Fr Honoré Ouedraogo of the Diocese of Tenkodogo in Eastern Burkina Faso, stated that “Islamists in Burkina Faso are forcing Christians to follow Sharia law and to attend prayers in mosques”. He explained that “men are forced to wear pants of appropriate length and not to shave their beards, and women must be veiled. Western education is forbidden, and children must attend madrasas, or Koranic schools. Churches are forbidden to ring their bells, and everyone must attend prayers in mosques.” According to Fr. Ouedraogo, the insecurity in Burkina Faso is exacerbated by widespread poverty: “At least 60 percent of the population is unemployed. They have nothing to do all day and no money. So, if you offer them 100 euros to kill someone, they take you up on the offer.” It is difficult to pinpoint the true motives of the terrorists, stated Fr Ouedraogo, which can range from pure banditry to a desire to wage jihad, however, “victims say the attacks contain elements of Islamic fundamentalism”.
In the last week of October, according to reports received by Aid to the Church in Need, “a total of 147 persons – among them eight pregnant women and 19 children under five – had to flee from two villages on the Niger border seeking refuge in Dori”. The victims explained that they were recognised as Christians and at risk from terrorists who were “expressly seeking them out to kill them”. According to the witnesses, the terrorists asked for a tax per head of cattle. If the owner was not able to pay, the armed groups impounded the animals. Recently, according to sources, there have been cases in which the terrorists first asked whether the owner was a Christian or a Muslim: “If the owners were Christians the attackers didn’t consider it necessary to count their animals, because they said that they didn’t just want to take their animals, but also to kill the owners.”
In December 2021, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, in her first visit to Burkina Faso, sought to understand the complex situation of violent extremism, climate change and the humanitarian crises. Michelle Bachelet reported on the “six-year conflict with armed groups linked to al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and local banditry. She cited allegations of summary executions, abductions, forced disappearances and sexual violence by violent extremist groups, local defense groups, national security and defense forces”.
On 24 January 2022, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba staged a coup with the support of the army and incarcerated the elected president Roch Marc Kaboré. The new leader stated that his priority was to improve the security of the nation. He created local committees to establish talks with jihadists to try to break the spiral of violence. In those meetings, the new leaders proposed social benefits (such as professional activities like farming or agriculture) and help to reintegrate into society those jihadists who agreed to lay down their arms.
At the end of January, the Bishops’ Conference of Burkina Faso outlined in a communiqué that “such abrupt and unconstitutional changes are not without problems.” They also stated that while security is an important problem, other issues must be addressed, such as “the return of displaced persons to their homes, national reconciliation, economic challenges and many others that require the participation of all.” They also said that for the new leaders “authority is a service for the common good” and that they must “guarantee the detainees their safety, physical integrity and dignity.”
On 2 February, twenty people were killed in a terror attack at a Kougdiguin gold mine in the north of the country. On 12 March, a further 11 people were killed during another attack on a gold mine. Control of resource rich areas invite frequent attacks for reasons of plunder and a means with which to further terrorist activity.
On the 11 May, around 20 terrorists were killed, and four jihadist bases destroyed following an anti-terrorism operation.
On 19 May, jihadists attacked military forces resulting in several soldiers being killed and more than 20 wounded. On 20 May, a jihadist attack on civilians killed seventeen people and injured seven. On 25 May, in Madjoari (eastern Burkina Faso), more than 50 people were killed in a jihadist attack. In the months of April and May, more than 200 civilians and soldiers have died following extremist attacks in the north and east of the country.
On 25 May, Burkina Faso customs authorities announced “the seizure of 115 kg of cocaine in a van from Sierra Leone bound for Ghana. Before reaching the Burkina Faso border post, the shipment had passed through Guinea Conakry and Mali”. The instability in the country, the mix of criminality and jihadism, and porous borders in rural areas is fueling an “infiltration of international criminal organizations that use Burkina Faso as a transit point for illicit trafficking such as drugs”.
On 5 June, seven soldiers and four civilian volunteer troops were killed by terrorists in the northern part of the country. Also on 5 June, a total of 160 people were killed in an extended attack attributed by the authorities to jihadist groups. These attacks prompted an international call for an increase in counterterrorism efforts in West Africa. After the assault, Pope Francis expressed his condolences to the families and called for an end to the violence. The Bishops’ Conference in Burkina Faso invited the Catholic community to dedicate prayers for the victims.
On 5 July, 22 civilians including children were killed at Bourasso in Kossi province. A further 12 people were killed in northern Burkina Faso the day before, in an attack at Namissiguima in Yatenga province.
On 18 August, suspected jihadists reportedly killed nearly 50 people, including 30 civilians, in an attack on a convoy in northern Burkina Faso.
Sr. Suellen Tennyson, an American Catholic missionary, was kidnapped by jihadists in the parish of Yalgo, 110 kilometers from the capital of Kaya, Central-Northern Region. After five months in captivity, Sr. Suellen was liberated on 1 September, and according to local media, this was most likely due to action by US security forces.
On September 30, a coup took place in the capital of Ouagadougou overthrowing the head of the previous military junta, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba. In the evening of the same day, Captain Ibrahim Traoré was presented on state television as the face of the new military leadership, and in a speech – referring to the jihadist violence – stated: “This happened because some things are not working well. We have been forced to move quickly to change things, because the whole country is in a situation of emergency.” After two days of tensions, local religious leaders negotiated the departure of Lieutenant Colonel Damiba to Togo.
In December 2022, for his annual Christmas message, Philippe Cardinal Ouédraogo stated, “The year 2022 which is coming to an end will have been particularly painful. In all camps, we record and deplore the loss of human life. Community conflicts, stigmatization, marginalization, exclusion, injustice and bad governance are fertile grounds for terrorism.” The cardinal appealed for an end to the violent conflict in the West African nation, saying, “Let us keep our weapons silent in favor of dialogue for a fraternal living together.”
Prospects for freedom of religion
Burkina Faso’s longstanding reputation as a nation of peaceful coexistence has been shattered over the last decade with the introduction of extremist violence. The impact on human rights, including religious freedom, has been extreme. A September 2022 a Norwegian Refugee Council report stated, “nearly one in 10 people in Burkina Faso has been displaced by conflict. Most worryingly, the rate of severe food insecurity has nearly doubled compared to last year, with over 600,000 people in emergency hunger levels during this lean season”.
Sadly, the factors driving the insecurity including poverty, corruption, weak state structures, a disenfranchised youth, and pre-existing intercommunal violence over land rights between pastoralists and farmers, are entrenched. The authorities, focusing on counterterrorism (thwarting several attacks but reportedly also responsible for the abuse of civilians), have been slow to respond to the scale of the extremist crisis, and remain unable to address the underlying problems that feed into jihadist recruiting. Terrorist attacks also create long term IDP conditions, as the assaults force inhabitants to leave and the attackers take possession of their land preventing return.
Despite the efforts of religious leaders to strengthen social cohesion and religious tolerance, jihadist groups are advancing and gaining power. Radical measures imposed by a lack of security, for example the closing of Catholic schools and chapels, have been implemented.
Without a significant local and international engagement, the prospects for freedom of religion in Burkina Faso over the short, and perhaps long term, remain negative.
Burkina Faso