censorship, violence, threats… how information finds itself gagged in the Sahel

Freedom of expression is being drastically reduced in the Sahel, while this vast region has shifted between jihadist pushes and military coups.

The Sahel, a vast region of West Africa, is on the verge of becoming “Africa’s largest blackout zone“. It was Reporters Without Borders which drew up this bitter observation, in 2023, and the situation is far from improving since. It even tends to get worse, to the point of pushing the NGO published, Tuesday September 24 , the call from 547 community radio stations in the region A cry of warning, and an exhortation to protect journalists and media collaborators, in an area where the spread of jihadist fighters and armed groups makes the slightest speech dangerous. .

In Niger, Chad, Mali or Burkina Faso, trying to inform too often now means putting yourself in danger, faced with increased pressure, intimidation, and in the worst cases, kidnappings or assassinations. This is what happened a few months ago in central Chad. Idriss Yaya worked for Mongo Community Radio, and notably covered conflicts between communities in the region. First threatened then attacked, he ended up being assassinated, shot dead in cold blood with his wife and their son by an armed commando who burst into his village. A few days earlier, his name had been thrown around on social networks.

The tragedy is unfortunately not an isolated case. In 10 years, at least seven journalists have been killed in the Sahel. Kidnappings are increasing, because an article displeases or because journalists are used as bargaining chips, and these threats are not the sole responsibility of armed groups.

Local authorities participate in this intimidation. In Burkina Faso or Mali, the juntas in power today quickly designate those who dare to investigate or testify as “enemies of the country“, “traitors” Or “spies“The increasingly significant presence of Russian militiamen from the Wagner group is no stranger to this.

If the local media are on the front line, the French-speaking media are in the sights of these military juntas and part of the population, in line with a consummate political and diplomatic break with France. Latest example, Thursday September 26, with this complaint for “apology for terrorism” targeting our colleague from France 24, Wassim Nasr, specialist in jihadist movements, targeted simultaneously by the judicial authorities of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

France 24, like RFI, must now deal with antenna suspensions or broadcast bans, as in Mali. In 2023, they are the newspaper’s correspondents The World and of Release who were expelled from Burkina Faso. This is how, little by little, speech dries up, access to information declines, and the lives of these populations and this part of the world escape our gaze.