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Alert

French courts refuse to hear complaint against Burkina Faso president

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF press release:

BLAISE COMPAORÉ'S VISIT TO FRANCE

French courts refuse to hear complaint against Burkina Faso president

Reporters sans frontières attempts to bring forward an independent action for damages

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has taken note of the French state prosecutor's decision to shelf the organisation's complaint against Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré. RSF is surprised by this decision, as the accusations against the head of state are extremely serious and his responsibility is seriously called into question. The acts of torture that led to David Ouédraogo's death are not the result of over-zealousness or an unfortunate mistake. They were orchestrated and executed by members of the presidential guard, who are under the head of state's direct authority.




RSF recalls that Judge Vandermeersch's ruling, delivered on 6 November 1998 in the context of the legal procedure brought against Augusto Pinochet, specifies, concerning torture, that, "such criminal acts cannot be considered to fall within the normal exercise of a head of state's duties. In fact, one of the head of state's duties consists precisely in the protection of his fellow citizens."

Moreover, RSF cannot understand the French courts' reluctance to hear the organisation's complaint. In fact, developments in international law today suggest that no distinction should be made between a serving head of state and a former head of state, since torture is an international crime that should be universally suppressed.

In addition, RSF has decided to bring forward an independent action for damages against President Blaise Compaoré. On 12 October 2001, the organisation filed its action with the most senior examining judge. In consideration of the situation's urgency, RSF is asking the French state prosecutor to immediately open a preliminary investigation, so that a decision can be taken by an examining judge before President Blaise Compaoré's departure from France.

Review of the facts:

On 13 December 1998, Norbert Zongo, director of "L'Indépendant" newspaper, and three of his companions were assassinated in Sapouy (100 kilometres south of Ouagadougou). The journalist had long been investigating the death of David Ouédraogo, the chauffeur of François Compaoré, presidential advisor and the head of state's brother. Suspected of robbery, Ouédraogo and three of François Compaoré's other employees were arrested in December 1997 by guardsmen who were close to Blaise Compaoré. The four employees were detained for several weeks inside the buildings which house the presidential guard. Ouédraogo died as a result of the torture to which he was subjected.

The independent commission of inquiry that was created in order to shed light on Norbert Zongo's death concluded in its final report, which was made public on 6 May 1999, that the journalist was assassinated "following his investigative work in the Ouédraogo affair." The commission implicated six members of the presidential guard in Zongo's assassination