Death of Burkinabe activist in detention in Côte d'Ivoire reignites tensions
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The death last Thursday of Burkinabe activist Alain Christophe Traoré, alias Alino Faso, while being held in prison in Côte d'Ivoire, has sparked strong emotions and questions in Burkina Faso.
“The Government of Burkina Faso has learned with dismay and deep indignation of the death in unclear circumstances of our compatriot Alain Christophe Traoré, alias Alino Faso”, said Gilbert Ouédraogo, spokesperson for the Burkinabe government, on Monday on Burkina Faso's public television station (RTB).
According to a statement from the Public Prosecutor of Côte d'Ivoire, widely shared on social media, Alino Faso died ‘on Thursday, 24 July 2025’ at the Gendarmerie School.
On Monday, the Burkinabe government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabe Abroad, urgently summoned the Chargé d'Affaires of the Ivorian Embassy in Burkina Faso to explain what happened.
The Burkinabe government said it was surprised that the tragedy had occurred in a gendarmerie school and in these circumstances, even though the spokesperson for the Ivorian government had gone to great lengths to deny the practices of forced abduction, summary execution and torture in Côte d'Ivoire during a press briefing on 15 January 2025.
For the Burkinabe authorities, all the statements of intent on transparency and respect for human rights contrast paradoxically with the murky handling of this case, which ended in the highly suspicious death of our compatriot Alain Traoré.
The Burkinabe government “strongly condemns this disappearance, which amounts to a heinous murder” and “is outraged by this blatant attempt to distort the facts”.
It demanded that the Ivorian authorities repatriate the body of Alain Traoré without delay so that he can receive a dignified and honourable funeral, Mr Ouédraogo added, adding that Alino Faso's death “will not go unpunished”.
Alino Faso, who had dual nationality at the time of the events, was arrested on 10 January 2025 and was prosecuted for "colluding with agents of a foreign state in a manner likely to harm the military or diplomatic situation of Côte d'Ivoire or its essential economic interests, conspiracy against the authority of the State, dissemination of false news likely to undermine the morale of the population, gathering of information likely to harm national defence with the intention of delivering it to a foreign State, and espionage".
Apart from the prosecutor's statement, the Ivorian authorities have not yet responded.
-0- PANA TNDD/JSG/BBA/MA 29July2025
