The head of the military junta in power for three days in Burkina Faso, asked Thursday evening for help from his international partners on the eve of a summit of West African states which could lead to sanctions.
In his first speech since taking power on Monday, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba said that Burkina
needed its partners "more than ever".
Dressed in fatigues and a red beret, the new strong man of Burkina spoke standing in front of a desk in a speech lasting about fifteen minutes.
Read alsoThe putsch in Burkina Faso, a new blow for Operation Barkhane
“I know how to understand the legitimate doubts aroused by this break in the normal functioning of the State. But I would like to reassure all of Burkina Faso's friends that the country will continue to respect international commitments, in particular with regard to respect for human rights"
, indicated Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, specifying that independence justice would be
"assured"
. A virtual summit of member countries of the Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has strongly condemned this new coup in the region, is to be held on Friday. As it has done before for two other countries where soldiers have taken power, Mali and Guinea, ECOWAS should suspend Burkina Faso from its authorities and could impose sanctions on the putschists.
A “priority”, safety
Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba pledged
"to return to a normal constitutional life"
,
"when the conditions are met"
, without specifying an agenda.
Making security his "priority", he paid long tribute to the soldiers and civilian auxiliaries who face the jihadist groups who regularly mourn Burkina Faso in deadly attacks.
On Thursday, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba continued consultations with the various organizations of Burkinabe society by receiving some twenty trade unionists at the Presidential Palace.
"He gave us the assurance that we will be consulted and involved in what will be put in place,"
said Marcel Zanté, president of the Union Action Unit which brings together 130 organizations.
On Wednesday, the new strongman of Burkina Faso who overthrew the elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, accused of impotence in the face of the jihadist violence which has ravaged this country since 2015 and who has been placed under house arrest, had met with government ministers dissolved.
He asked them not to leave Burkina without authorization and had indicated on this occasion that he wanted to involve all the national components in the management of the transition, according to political sources.
Unsurprisingly, the coup was condemned by the MPP, which demanded the
"immediate release"
of the overthrown president and his prime minister Lassina Zerbo.
Conviction and release also demanded by the international community.
Civil society “takes note”
Several civil society organizations, including the Balai Citoyen, which played a crucial role in the fall of ex-president Blaise Compaoré in 2014 after 27 years in power, were however more measured.
"Our organizations attached to the rule of law and democratic values, condemn military or constitutional coups (modifications of articles to maintain power)"
, they wrote in a press release, immediately adding: "Nevertheless, they take note of the situation”. Similar position of several opposition parties to Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, including the most important, the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) close to Blaise Compaoré, who
"mark their availability to appreciate the vision that will be submitted to them"
by the junta.
Civil society organizations demand
"the normal continuation"
of the trial of the alleged assassins in 1987 of Thomas Sankara, progressive leader and pan-African icon, killed by a coup fomented by relatives, including Blaise Compaoré who had taken power.
In his speech, the head of the junta promised that the independence of justice would be
"assured".
Started in October 2021, the trial was interrupted by the putsch, but will resume on Monday before the Ouagadougou military court, said a statement from the military prosecutor's office.
The prosecution also denies reports of the release of the main defendant present at this trial, General Gilbert Diendéré, a close friend of Blaise Compaoré, another major defendant tried in absence, since he lives in Côte d'Ivoire.
General Diendéré is already serving a 20-year prison sentence for an attempted coup in 2015. It is since 2015 that, in the wake of Mali and Niger, Burkina Faso has been caught in a spiral of violence attributed to armed jihadist groups, affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which have killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.5 million people to flee their homes.