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In April 2004, Navy captain Luther Ouali was sentenced to 10
years in prison after admitting his participation in the
coup plans in October 2003. Six others received shorter
sentences, while four others were released - including
opposition leader Norbert Tiendrebeogo. Ouali stated to the
military court that what particularly motivated his
participation in the coup plans was the desire to deal with
the country's social inequalities. He also admitted that he
had received US $ 93,000 from the Government of Côte
d'Ivoire. President Gbabgo denied any interference in the
coup attempt and stated that he had given the money to Ouali
as payment for transportation from the company Ouali worked
in.
In July, Burkina accused Ivory Coast of violating its
airspace with military aircraft. According to
Countryaah data,
the government at the same time accused that if the planes
crossed the border, they would be shot down. Gbagbo replied
that the accusations were false.
In August, authorities arrested 14 people accused of
genital mutilation of young girls. The circumcisions were
made without any medical presence, and in circumstances that
endangered the lives of the girls. One of those arrested was
Adama Barry, who was sentenced to 3 months in prison and a $
1,500 fine - for the third time in a row. Barry has no
health education.
Acc. Amnesty International, about 70% of young people in
Burkina have been subjected to genital mutilation. A member
of the Gender Transformation Committee, Hortense Palm stated
that the time had come to impose harsh penalties on those
who practice genital mutilation.
The Pan-African Film and TV Festival in Ouagadougou in
2005 clearly showed that the festival that had been running
since 1969 had become the continent's most important film
event. To emphasize its importance, Campaoré participated in
the awards ceremony at this 19th festival.
After 18 years in power, Compaoré regained office in the
November 2005 presidential elections. With 80% of the vote,
he can remain in the post for another 5 years. Opposition
candidates drew attention to the large sums invested in the
presidential election campaign. He distributed T-shirts and
hats throughout the country and his election posters were to
be found in every street. Compaoré moved in 2000 to a new
presidential palace in the "millionaire district" Ouga on
the outskirts of the capital.
In June 2007, former Finance Minister Tertius Zongo was
appointed Prime Minister. Upon his appointment, he worked as
the country's ambassador to the United States.
In November 2010, President Compaoré was re-elected. The
electoral boycott was about 80% - only approx. 1.6
million voted.
In February 2011, soldiers in Ouagadougou revolted in
protest of failure to pay their rent. The uproar led
Compaoré to seek refuge in his hometown of Ziniaré for a few
days. In April, the soldiers' revolt spread to Po in the
southern part of the country and a curfew was imposed. The
soldier rebellion was mixed with popular protests inspired
by the "Arab Spring" demanding Compaore's departure. In
April, the president instead removed unpopular Prime
Minister Zongo and replaced him with Luc-Adolphe Tiao.
However, the popular protests were scattered and not
nearly as extensive as northern Sahara. They led to the
burning down of businesses and significant police
violence. The government was able to mitigate this
development by giving pay raises to public servants and by
depositing 13 unpopular regional governors in
June. Subsequently, the government declared that it would
set up a committee of 68 members to draft amendments to the
constitution. This move was rejected by the opposition,
which criticized Compaoré for seeking to cling to power -
even after 2015.
About 100,000 refugees sought refuge in northern Burkina
due to the crisis in Mali . |
