Burkina Faso: Ini Benjamine Esther Doli sentenced to one year in prison after incommunicado detention
12 December 2025
The OIAD is deeply concerned about the one-year prison sentence handed down to Ms. Ini Benjamine Esther Doli, who was arrested at her home in Ouagadougou and placed in incommunicado detention in September 2025.
Ms Doli was arrested on the night of 31 August to 1 September 2025 by armed men claiming to be police officers. Her place of detention was subsequently kept secret, in violation of her fundamental rights.
Ini Benjamine Esther Doli faces charges of “treason”, “insulting the head of state” and “undermining the morale of the armed forces”. These charges may be related to her publications on human rights violations, attacks on freedom of expression and the dysfunction of the country’s judicial system.
In September 2025, Batibié Bénao, President of the Burkina Faso Bar Association, denounced the deprivation of the lawyer’s liberty without prior consultation and in the absence of any legal proceedings, in violation of the rules of the legal profession. He demanded the immediate release of Ms. Ini Benjamine Esther Doli.
This case is part of a context of increasing repression of dissenting voices, including those of lawyers, journalists, activists and military personnel, since the coup d’état in September 2022. Far from being an isolated case, the situation of Ms. Ini Benjamine Esther Doli has also been denounced by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)).
The Observatory strongly condemns the arrest, arbitrary detention and conviction of Ms. Ini Benjamine Esther Doli for exercising her freedom of expression.
The Observatory calls on the Burkinabe authorities to release Ms Doli immediately and unconditionally.
The Observatory condemns the repeated violations of fundamental rights and the rights of the defence in Burkina Faso.
The Observatory urges the Burkinabe authorities to respect their international obligations under the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.
The Observatory recalls that Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights provides that: “Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one may be deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by law. In particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained.”
Furthermore, the Observatory recalls Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
