Protest against impunity on anniversary of journalist’s death

Police in Ouagadougou used teargas and clubs on Wednesday to disperse hundreds of demonstrators as they tried to march to a cemetery to commemorate the second anniversary of the death of journalist Norbert Zongo.

Policemen could be seen pursuing protesters, who had placed barricades and burning tyres in the streets near Gounghin cemetery, where Zongo was buried.

The president of the ‘Collectif contre l’Impunite’ (Collective against Impunity), which organised the protest, told IRIN he was “satisfied by the mobilisation because it shows that people have understood that you have to pay a price for freedom and justice”.

The charred bodies of Norbert Zongo, editor of ‘L’Independant’ weekly and three other persons were found on 13 December 1998 in the journalist’s car near the town of Sapouy, about 100 km south of Ouagadougou. They had been shot dead before being doused with an inflammable liquid and set on fire, according to an autopsy conducted by European experts.

Zongo had been investigating the suspicious death of the driver of President Blaise Compaore’s younger brother. In May, an independent commission of inquiry had identified six presidential guards as “serious suspects” in the death of the chauffeur, David Ouedraogo, who had been accused of stealing money from his employer.

Since Zongo’s killing, the Collectif contre l’Impunite, made up of trade unions, opposition parties and human rights organisations, has organised many protests to press for the arrest of those responsible for his death.
The Burkinabe authorities did everything possible to prevent this year’s commemoration.

On Tuesday, police prevented about 100 foreign journalists accompanied by Zongo’s widow and eldest son from going to the site of the crime, where the first stone of a monument in his honour was to be laid. The group was turned back about 10 km from the site.

A presidential decree banning all demonstrations “on public roads until further notice” had been issued on 6 December, when a schoolboy was shot dead during a protest in Bousse, 50 km north of Ouagadougou. The government also issued a communique announcing that all private and public establishments would be closed from Wednesday to Saturday “for reasons of public order”.

Security Minister Djibril Bassolet told leaders of the Collectif: “This time we shall be extremely firm and we shall stop at nothing to protect the lives of citizens. If these commemorative demonstrations are going to bring about a bloodbath with violent clashes they have to be avoided.”

The Collectif tried to pursue its programme of activities, aimed at pressing demands for justice and truth.

Wednesday’s agenda was to include a meeting at the Place de la Nation (National Square) in Ouagadougou followed by a procession to the cemetery. However, soldiers, gendarmes and police cordoned off the Place de la Nation, the cemetery and many of Ouagadougou’s streets.

The security forces were supported by youths armed with clubs and, in some cases, firearms, who drove around the town in vehicles belonging to the Ouagadougou municipality. According to observers, they are members of a private militia at the service of the mayor of the capital.