Burkina Faso’s military government has been placed on Civicus’s 2026 watchlist amid what the human rights group calls a rapid and severe assault on civil society, political opposition and independent expression.
Civicus said authorities have invoked a restrictive 2025 freedom of association law to suspend or dissolve more than 1,100 civil society organisations. Student unions, religious leaders, journalists and activists who voice criticism of the government have also come under pressure, the organisation said.
The junta, which took power in 2022, has additionally dissolved political parties, suspended media outlets and limited international scrutiny, according to the NGO. Civicus warned that Burkina Faso is experiencing one of the Sahel’s fastest declines in civic space, with repression advancing more quickly and intensely than in neighbouring Mali and Niger.
