West Africa’s MFWA Report Demands End To Arbitrary Arrests, Prolonged Detention Of Journalists In Mali, Burkina Faso, Others

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has called on transitional and constitutional governments in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Guinea to end arbitrary arrests and prolonged pretrial detention of journalists and civil society actors.

The MFWA made the demand in its report launched at the regional conference on press freedom and democratic governance in West Africa held in Abuja on Tuesday, adding that this was part of urgent measures to reverse the deteriorating state of media freedom and freedom of expression across the four countries.

The new MFWA report examined the “state, determinants, dynamics and future of media and free expression rights in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Guinea.”

Speaking at the conference, MFWA Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, warned that journalists, media professionals, activists and other civic actors have increasingly become targets of restrictions, intimidation, surveillance, arrests and other forms of repression.

He called for a collective, sustained action to tackle the menace.

In the report led by Dr Gilbert Tietaah and Dr Hima Badie, and its key recommendations to governments, the MFWA specifically urged authorities to “end arbitrary arrests and prolonged pretrial detention of journalists and civil society actors” and immediately clarify the whereabouts and legal status of all persons detained in connection with the exercise of their expression rights.

The report also called for investigations and accountability for attacks against journalists, including enforced disappearances, while urging authorities to conduct credible, independent and transparent investigations into documented cases.

The report specifically named the cases of Habib Marouane Camara, Foniké Mengué and Mamadou Billo Bah in Guinea, alongside other documented cases of enforced disappearance across the four countries.

According to the MFWA, the situation in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Guinea should not be viewed as isolated national developments, but as part of an emerging regional pattern in which military governance, security emergencies and the growing use of digital communication technologies are interacting to create new risks for journalists while making their work increasingly important.

“The four countries examined are not isolated cases but part of an emerging pattern within the subregion in which military governance, security emergencies, and the enablement of digital communication technologies are interacting in ways that are simultaneously creating new risks for journalists and renew the imperative of their work,” the report stated.

The foundation said understanding those dynamics was critical to supporting local actors, guiding national and international interventions and contributing to the longer-term restoration of democratic norms and institutional accountability across the Sahel and West Africa.

The report traced the worsening media environment partly to the political and governance changes that have taken place across the region.

It noted that the late 1990s to the mid-2010s represented a period when West Africa embraced the global wave of democratisation. By 2015, virtually all 15 ECOWAS member states had transitioned to democratic regimes of varying degrees, with electoral politics based on free and open competition.

The MFWA said media freedom and freedom of expression consequently became important indicators of democratic effectiveness because democratic legitimacy depends on free and open discourse, deliberation and decision-making.

However, it said the democratic trajectory has come under increasing pressure over the past decade as the region has experienced prolonged geopolitical tensions, violent extremism, concerns over state sovereignty and national security, as well as conflict-related disinformation and foreign information manipulation.

The report identified Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger as countries whose military regimes have formed the Alliance of Sahel States, describing the developments as contributing to what it termed a “coup contagion” within the ECOWAS region.

It also pointed to Guinea and Guinea-Bissau as countries that have experienced military takeovers or attempts, while noting that a reported coup attempt in Benin was foiled.

Against this backdrop, the MFWA said media and free expression rights frequently become “first-line casualty” when democratic orders are disrupted.

“Journalists, social commentators, and civil society activists experience various forms of victimisation and rights violations,” the report stated, listing censorship, arbitrary restrictions on independent media outlets, surveillance, intimidation, arrests of critical journalists and political commentators, and legislative measures aimed at controlling the internet and social media.

The foundation said such restrictions were particularly troubling because the media is also pivotal to any prospects for democratic resilience and renewal.

The report said the MFWA had documented multiple accounts over the past six years showing what it described as the progressive erosion of media and free expression rights associated with political instability and democratic recession in West Africa and the Sahel.

Among the cases cited were abductions of journalists who later resurfaced as conscripts deployed to conflict zones in Burkina Faso.

The report also listed the suspension of international broadcasters over alleged bias in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger; arrests of citizens criticising regional governments in WhatsApp groups in Niger; and what it described as arbitrary and discriminatory suspensions of critical media outlets in Burkina Faso and Guinea.

It further raised concern over the increasing use of legal, administrative and digital surveillance mechanisms to impose restrictions on dissent.

According to the report, while some of these developments are country-specific, they could become regional in scale and scope if they are normalised.

The MFWA therefore recommended that governments review and harmonise the legal frameworks governing the media and create a clear distinction between press laws and cybercrime legislation.

It urged governments to ensure that journalistic work is governed exclusively by media-law frameworks reflecting recognised rights and standards rather than criminal provisions designed for other purposes.

The foundation also called for the repeal or fundamental revision of cybercrime provisions that enable the criminalisation of expression or define offences in vague terms, including references to “distributing public order” or “infringing human dignity.”

It said such provisions, as demonstrated by its study of Niger, could be applied arbitrarily or used to punish even truthful reporting.

The report also called for the restoration or guarantee of judicial discretion in expression-related cases, including a reversal of provisions such as Niger’s Ordinance 2024-28, which it said eliminates mitigating circumstances and suspended sentences.

Beyond physical arrests and restrictions on traditional media, the MFWA identified digital repression as an increasingly important component of the challenges facing journalists and civil society.

It said the rise of social and digital media has created new opportunities for communication, but has also exposed journalists and civic actors to manipulation, surveillance and digital threats by both state and non-state actors.

Women journalists, according to the report, face particular and disproportionate risks, including body and honour shaming and cyberstalking.

The MFWA said the regulatory response to the rise of social and digital media had been “broadly repressive” across the four countries.

“In all four countries, legislation governing cybercrime and digital communications has been adopted and applied in ways that criminalize legitimate journalistic work and threaten freedom of expression and media freedom generally,” the report stated.

It warned that the result was a “chilling effect” on public debate at a time when democratic participation and accountability advocacy were most needed.

The foundation therefore recommended that authorities end internet shutdowns and the blocking of social media platforms.

It also called on governments to cease using electronic surveillance and communications interception against journalists, activists and civil society organisations while they perform their professional or civic functions.

The MFWA further called for reforms within media regulatory institutions to prevent regulatory powers from being used to suppress independent journalism.

It urged regulators to ensure that decisions concerning licences, accreditations and sanctions are transparent, properly reasoned and independently appealable.

The foundation called for an end to indefinite suspensions without clearly stated grounds or timelines and urged regulatory authorities to refrain from using licensing and suspension powers as instruments of editorial control.

Instead, it said regulatory decisions should be based exclusively on professional and technical standards.

The report also recommended that regulators develop and publish clear standards governing permissible restrictions on expression so journalists can predict, with reasonable certainty, what is and is not permitted.

For media organisations and professional bodies, the MFWA recommended greater financial independence as a means of protecting editorial freedom.

It urged media organisations to diversify their funding sources and reduce dependence on state advertising and politically connected patrons.

Among the alternatives suggested were reader-supported models, international solidarity networks and philanthropic partnerships.

The foundation also called for stronger physical and digital security protocols in newsrooms, alongside systematic training for journalists in risk assessment, digital security, source protection and secure communications.

The report also urged media organisations to develop and enforce internal editorial policies that protect journalists from owner-imposed censorship, while strengthening professional standards, editorial accountability and journalism ethics.

It also called for engagement with ECOWAS, the African Union and sub-regional bodies to establish explicit and enforceable commitments on media freedom as part of democratic governance norms.

After the conference, a memorandum was adopted which called on governments across West Africa to respect, protect and fulfil constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression, press freedom and access to information.

Th memorandum urged authorities to repeal or amend laws that criminalise legitimate journalistic work, particularly cybercrime and national security provisions that permit arbitrary interpretation.

The MFWA also demanded an end to arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, intimidation and harassment of journalists, while calling for immediate investigations into unresolved cases involving missing media professionals.

The organisation further called for the restoration of judicial oversight over surveillance powers and an end to what it described as the unlawful interception of journalists’ communications.

Meanwhile, the report was launched by Hamadou Tidiane Sy, Director of E-jicom and founder of award-winning Ouestaf News.