New study on the security situation in the Sahel and Burkina Faso

The study is the result of cooperation between the Ministry of Justice in Burkina Faso, the Danish Embassy, the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the DIHR West Africa Programme. The Minister of Justice; Madame Salamata Sawadogo, the Danish Ambassador to Burkina Faso; Birgitte Markussen and Lisbet Ilkjaer from the Danish Institute Human Rights (DIHR) opened the presentation.

The security situation get worse
Over the past couple of years the security situation in the three DIHR focal countries, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has deteriorated. The rebellion and current situation in Mali is an example of how serious the situation is. The population is isolated and vulnerable in these Northern regions; there is no work for the young, the climate is tough and dry and in general there is very weak state presence. These are areas where drugs and weapons are trafficked and where the presence of AQMI (Al-Quaida in Maghreb) and its kidnappings of Westerners have killed almost all tourism. A EU-Sahel strategy has been developed where root-cause analysis studies are encouraged in order to collect knowledge and recommendations on how better to ensure rule of law and human rights in these regions. EU is in the process of developing action plans in relation to the strategy and the study from Burkina Faso will contribute to this process.

The study is anchored in the Ministry of Justice and has been carried out by three independent experts in security, human rights and development. All experts are from Burkina Faso in order to ensure the proper context knowledge. To support the development of the study a working group was set up with members from the Ministry for Human Rights, the National Police, the Gendarmerie, the Ministry of Finance and civil society.

A holistic point of view
The study analyses security from a holistic point of view. It is necessary to look at the situation not only from a traditional security point of view but to analyse also the human rights situation and the status of development in the effected areas. The study confirms that the situation must be viewed from all these angles if the state wants to improve the situation. Recommendations are formulated within all the areas: security, development, justice and human rights as for example: more detailed root cause analyses to be carried out, develop a national strategy on security reform based on a holistic view to security, information campaigns to the population, training in human rights of police and security forces, reinforcement of human resources and equipment, an evaluation of development projects in the region, investment and improvement of infrastructure etc.

DIHR will continue the cooperation with the national actors in Burkina Faso to work on the different recommendations as well as work on the topic in a regional context including also Mali and Niger.

For further information please contact either Lisbet Ilkjaer: lik@humanrights.dk  or Monique Alexis: mal@humanrights.dk