Human rights promotion ministry created

Burkina Faso has created a ministry for human rights promotion as a "sign of strong commitment to human rights protection," Prime Minister Ernest Paramanga Yonly told a news conference on Tuesday.

The ministry, headed by law professor Monique Ilboudo, is part of a new 31-member government appointed by presidential decree on Monday, following parliamentary elections on 5 May. The ministry replaces a department headed by a secretary of state for human rights promotion.

"[We gave] full autonomy to a ministerial department so that it can start working out policies and action plans for human rights protection in our country to allow the government to play an efficient role in the field," Yonly said in the capital Ouagadoudou.

The former human rights secretary was named 18 months ago as part of a 36-member national unity government, at the climax of an unprecedented crisis created by the murder of journalist Norbert Zongo in December 1998. Zongo was investigating the suspect death of the driver of President Blaise Compaore's brother.

The new government has no members from opposition parties. The ruling Congress for Democarcy and Progress party which won 57 seats in the 111-member parliament, said the national unity government was ended so that "the majority in parliament rule while opposition parties remain in opposition". The prime minister said the new government was "build around the new political context".

Three ministers from the opposition Alliance for Democracy and Federation/African Democratic Rally (ADF/RDA), were among those dropped.

Opposition parties were divided on whether to participate in the new government, but the ADF/RDA which got 17 seats, led by Herman Yameogo, said it was "premature to leave the government because there was need to fight for more political reforms".