As military-led governments tighten their grip across parts of West Africa, human rights organizations are raising the alarm over the use of enforced disappearances and colonial-era laws to crush political opposition and stifle civic freedoms. A growing body of evidence, including findings from Amnesty International, suggests that these regimes are increasingly relying on intimidation tactics rooted in historical repression, now repurposed to silence modern dissent.
In a region already reeling from democratic setbacks, enforced disappearances have emerged as a chilling tool of state control. Victims—often journalists, activists, or opposition leaders—are abducted without charge, held incommunicado, and denied access to legal counsel or family members.
Enforced Disappearances as a Weapon of Fear
According to Amnesty International, enforced disappearances are being used by military governments to send an unmistakable message: dissent will not be tolerated. In its latest report, Amnesty documents several cases from countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, where opposition figures and civil society leaders were taken by security forces, only to vanish for days or weeks before resurfacing—or not at all.
In one documented case, a prominent student leader in Guinea was seized outside a campus rally in late 2023 and held in an undisclosed location for nearly two weeks. His family was never officially notified, and legal aid was denied throughout his detention.
Colonial Laws, Contemporary Repression
Many of these abuses are legally justified using statutes inherited from colonial administrations, including outdated laws on sedition, criminal defamation, and unlawful assembly. Though originally designed to protect imperial rule, these laws remain embedded in the legal systems of numerous West African states and are now being wielded to criminalize peaceful protest and political criticism.
Countries like Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia have long been urged to repeal such laws, yet they remain on the books—often revived during times of political crisis to justify arrests, media blackouts, and bans on public gatherings.
NGO Forum: Civil Society Calls for Legal Reform
The cumulative effect of these trends is a shrinking civic space that threatens to normalize authoritarian governance across the region. When critics can be silenced without charge and civil society is restricted under outdated legal frameworks, the foundation of democratic participation begins to erode.
The recent NGO Forum held ahead of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ 79th Ordinary Session amplified calls for urgent reform. Civil society groups emphasized the need to repeal repressive colonial-era laws and replace them with rights-based legal frameworks.
Organizations such as the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), the West African Human Rights Defenders Network, and other regional coalitions stressed the importance of Pan-African solidarity in pushing back against legal repression and defending civic space.
Key messages from the forum included:
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The immediate end to enforced disappearances.
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A moratorium on the use of colonial-era laws.
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Stronger accountability mechanisms for abuses committed by security forces.
Violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Such practices are in direct conflict with Africa’s premier human rights treaty. Under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, states are obligated to uphold:
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Article 6: Protection against arbitrary arrest and detention.
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Article 7: Right to a fair trial and access to legal remedy.
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Articles 9, 10, and 11: Rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.
Yet enforcement remains inconsistent, and many governments have failed to align their domestic laws with these obligations.
“The gap between commitment and compliance is staggering,” said one legal expert attending the Commission session. “Without enforcement, these rights are just ink on paper.”
A Call to Action: Break the Colonial Legacy
The wave of crackdowns in West Africa signals a dangerous trajectory if left unchecked. Civil society leaders and regional human rights bodies are calling for African heads of state to take a definitive stand, to break from the colonial legacy of legal repression and uphold the rights enshrined in the African Charter.
