Committee of elders to investigate impunity

President Blaise Compaore has set up a committee of elders to look into unpunished political crimes committed since independence nearly four decades ago in Burkina Faso, news organisations reported. The appointment came in the wake of a report released on 7 May by an independent commission which found that independent journalist Norbert Zongo had been the victim of a political killing. The commission named six presidential guards as suspects. Zongo’s body was found along with three others in his car on 13 December in Sapouy, about 100 km from the capital, Ouagadougou. The release of the commission’s report was followed by protests by people calling for the trial of his suspected killers. Last Friday, a coalition of opposition and human rights groups formed in reaction to the killings repeated an earlier call for a general strike on 8 June to pressure the state into taking action against the suspects, PANA reported. On Tuesday, Compaore announced the formation of the committee of elders, which includes ex-presidents Sangoule Lamizana (1966-1980), Saye Zerbo (1980-1982) and Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo (1982-1983). Their brief is to propose “the treatment to be reserved for all unpunished crimes and homicides resulting or presumed to have resulted from political violence for the period stretching from 1960 to date,” according to an official communique. The elders, who also include eight traditional and religious leaders as well as five resource persons, have 45 days to submit their report.