Burkina Faso's military government has ordered the dissolution of 118 NGOs and civil society associations, effective immediately, in the latest move to tighten its grip on organised life in the West African country. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Mobility announced the ban on Wednesday, citing non-compliance with legal provisions and prohibiting the affected organisations from operating anywhere on national territory. Many of those dissolved were involved in human rights work, including the Inter-African Union of Human Rights, the Cercle d'Éveil, Jeunesse Unie pour une Nouvelle Afrique, and the Burkinabè chapter of the RADHO rights network. Territorial Administration Minister Emile Zerbo warned that any organisation failing to comply faces penalties under current regulations.
The move is rooted in a law passed in July 2025 that imposed stricter administrative and financial obligations on associations and syndicates. While parliament had granted a one-year grace period for organisations to come into compliance from the law's entry into force on 23 July 2025, the government had already revoked authorisations for 21 groups within weeks of its adoption. Authorities have framed the crackdown as an effort to "clean up" the sector and combat money laundering and terrorism financing — accusations that have been regularly levelled at internationally funded NGOs, which the government has accused of spying for or collaborating with armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State active in the Sahel region.
The dissolution fits a broader pattern of consolidating power by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in a coup in September 2022. In November last year, all NGOs were ordered to close commercial bank accounts and transfer funds to a newly created state-controlled bank. In January, all political parties — suspended since 2022 — were formally dissolved. Earlier this month, Traore told citizens they must "forget about" democracy.
Rights groups have condemned Wednesday's order in stark terms. Amnesty International described it as a "flagrant attack on the right to freedom of association" that contradicts Burkina Faso's own constitution as well as its international human rights obligations. Ousmane Diallo, Amnesty's senior researcher for the Sahel region, said the dissolution was part of "a much broader effort to silence civil society through a combination of repressive tactics" including abusive legislation, arbitrary detention, and the harassment of activists and human rights defenders. He called on authorities to rescind the decision immediately.
The crackdown matters beyond Burkina Faso's borders. The country is at the epicentre of a jihadist insurgency that has spread across the Sahel, and civil society groups have played a critical role in documenting abuses by all parties to the conflict. Their systematic dismantling leaves fewer independent channels to monitor a humanitarian crisis that has already displaced millions of people, at a moment when the military government is also cutting ties with Western partners and restricting independent reporting.