Published on :
In the aftermath of the coup in Burkina Faso, the community raises its voice against the military, starting with French President Emmanuel Macron who condemned the putsch on Tuesday, while the UN calls for the “immediate release” of the ousted president Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Tuesday, January 25 the coup in Burkina Faso, where soldiers announced that they had ousted the president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, whose UN calls for “immediate release”.
“I had initial discussions with the leaders of the region, I will have some in the coming days”, declared the French president on the sidelines of a trip to Limousin. “Very clearly, as always, we are on the side of the regional organization that is ECOWAS [Communauté économique des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest] to condemn this military coup”.
Uniformed soldiers announced on public television on Monday burkinabe having seized power in the country and ousted President Kaboré, plunging into a new crisis this Sahelian country, undermined by incessant jihadist attacks.
Emmanuel Macron, responding to journalists in the small town of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat (Haute-Vienne), stressed that President Kaboré “had been democratically elected by his people twice”.
A demonstration planned in support of the putschists
A demonstration in support of the putschists was already scheduled for Tuesday in Ouagadougou, where calm has returned after days of tension. Several dozen people converged early on the Place de la Nation in the center of the capital, where a demonstration in support of the military is planned for the morning, according to an AFP journalist.
Life seemed to have resumed its normal course in Ouagadougou: the large market, shops and gas stations were open, with no particular military presence in the city center.
Public television RTB published a handwritten letter signed by his hand in which he indicates “to deposit his resignation”, “in the higher interest of the nation, following the events which take place there [depuis dimanche 23 janvier]”.
The ousted president, however, tweeted on Monday “inviting those who have taken up arms to lay them down in the superior interests of the Nation” to “settle our contradictions” and “safeguard our democratic achievements”.
Our Nation is going through difficult times.
At this precise moment, we must safeguard our democratic achievements.
I invite those who have taken up arms to lay them down in the Higher Interests of the Nation.
It is through dialogue and listening that we must resolve our contradictions.RK— Roch KABORE (@rochkaborepf) January 24, 2022
“I was told that his physical integrity was not threatened,” said Emmanuel Macron, specifying a little later: “It was confirmed to me last night that he was in good health and that he was not threatened”. The French head of state then asked that this information be “officially confirmed to him in the next few hours”.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also reacted on Tuesday, calling for the “immediate release” of the Burkinabè president “as well as other senior officials who have been arrested”.
The French president deplored a putsch which “is part of a succession of several military coups which are extremely worrying, at a time when the region [sahélienne] must have a priority which is the fight against Islamist terrorism”.
“There is nothing that leads today to think […] that there are today additional troubles or threats for our nationals”, moreover estimated the French president, adding that if the situation were to evolve, France would take “all the necessary measures”.
With AFP