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Special briefing on Zongo affair on CPJ website

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 4 April 2001 CPJ press release:

Special Briefing On Burkino Faso and the Zongo Affair Now On CPJ Web Site

New York, April 4, 2001 - A special report on the circumstances surrounding the 1998 murder of Norbert Zongo, editor of the weekly L'Indépendant in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, is now available at www.cpj.org, the Web site of the Committee to Protect Journalists.




Zongo aggressively investigated allegations that President Blaise Compaoré's brother and chief advisor, François Compaoré, took part in the January 1998 torture and killing of his chauffeur. After Zongo's reports appeared, his bullet-ridden body and those of three other men were found in Zongo's burned-out vehicle on December 13, 1998.

The report, "Refuse to Forget," was written by CPJ Africa program coordinator Yves Sorokobi. According to the report, "In May, an independent commission of inquiry concluded that Zongo had been killed for investigating the chauffeur's murder...[But] the government tried to short-circuit further investigations."

Journalists and human rights activists in Burkina Faso have been galvanized by the Compaoré government's apparent efforts to suppress evidence that security officials murdered Zongo in order to silence him.

"More than two years later," writes Sorokobi, "l'affaire Zongo still arouses passions. The case sparked a mass movement led by journalists and activists fed up with the Compaoré government's alleged corruption and casual use of extreme violence to stifle dissent. After Zongo's death, 'people lost their fear, started a whole movement, and began to question authority, forcing the government to take small steps toward democracy,' said Jean Claude Meda, president of the Burkina Faso Journalists' Association."

Apparently hoping that the country was ready to move on, the government declared March 30 a national "Day of Forgiveness." CPJ executive Director Ann Cooper wrote a letter to President Compaoré, to say that "while this is a laudable undertaking, it will inevitably fail if suspected human rights abuses by your administration, such as the grisly murder of Zongo, are not fully investigated."

"By all accounts," writes Sorokobi, "the people of Burkina Faso are not ready to forgive their brutal government. Human rights campaigners largely boycotted the March 30 observances. Norbert Zongo's grieving relatives did not attend...and opponents instead declared a "National Day of Mourning."

For more information about press conditions in Burkina Faso, to read the briefing, "Refuse to Forget," and to read CPJ's protest letter to President Compaoré, visit www.cpj.org.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom around the world.