Twelve people arrested for "suspected terrorist acts" were found dead in their detention cells at the Tanwalbougou gendarmerie station in eastern Burkina Faso, the prosecutor of Fada N'Gourma announced on Wednesday (May 13th).

"Twenty-five people were arrested on the night of 11-12 May by the defense and security forces in Tanwalbougou, on suspicion of terrorist acts. Unfortunately, twelve of them died during the same night in the cells where they were held, "said prosecutor Judicael Kadéba in a statement.

"An investigation was opened and judicial police officers from the Fada N'Gourma gendarmerie's research brigade went to the scene for the usual findings, along with health workers", he clarified.

>> To see: Burkina Faso facing the jihadist danger

According to security sources contacted by AFP, "only the investigation will determine the exact cause of this tragedy" but the "trail of severe asphyxiation could explain the death of these detainees" who were to be "transferred to Fada N ' Gourma to be auditioned ".

Independent sources told AFP not to "rule out blunders", saying that the majority of the detainees were of the Peul ethnic group, regularly accused of complicity with jihadist groups.

This case evokes other deaths which occurred this time in the premises of the anti-drug unit of the national police in July 2019: eleven people, suspected of drug trafficking, had been found dead in the same cell. Those responsible for the unit had been relieved of their duties and an investigation had been launched.

Frequent confusion between jihadists and Fulani

The police of Burkina Faso have been accused several times over the past few months of blunders or atrocities, in particular against Peul populations.

Some Peuls having joined the jihadist groups, which have killed more than 850 people since 2015 in the country, it is common to hear Burkinabè make the amalgam between jihadists and Peuls.

On May 2, a Fulani teacher was found dead at the premises of the Nongr-Maasom gendarmerie in Ouagadougou, according to the Burkinabe movement for human and people's rights (MBDHP). Suspected of complicity with terrorist groups, he was arrested on April 23 in Absouya, in the Central Plateau region, where he was staying with his family, following the closure of educational establishments due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Between December and January, at least four people, all of Fulani ethnicity, were "victims of enforced disappearances" which occurred in Ouagadougou, in particular by the alleged elements of the defense and security forces, according to the MBDHP. 

"These serious abuses unfortunately reflect a dangerous disregard for the guarantees and protections recognized for everyone under justice, in particular the presumption of innocence, the prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment and the respect for the inherent dignity of the human person ", denounced the MBDHP.

The Burkinabè army and self-defense groups have also been accused of massacres of Fulani civilians in the north and east of the country, in the wake of jihadist violence. 

With AFP

The summary of the France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR