Two years after the disappearance of investigative journalist Atiana Serge Oulon, an investigation by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has reignited concerns about his fate. Abducted from his home in Ouagadougou on June 24, 2024, by men who identified themselves as government agents, the editor-in-chief of the investigative newspaper L'Événement is believed to have been held incommunicado and subjected to torture.
Twenty-five years after the assassination of the iconic journalist Norbert Zongo, the gains made in terms of press freedom are nothing more than an illusion in Burkina Faso.
The country's recent history is shaped by two legacies: that of Thomas Sankara, associated with revolution and sovereignty, and that of Norbert Zongo, who turned investigative journalism into a counterforce.
By silencing journalists like Oulon, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, head of the junta that has been in power since 2022, is turning his back on Burkina Faso's legacy: freedom of the press.
Norbert Zongo's Legacy: Free and Committed Journalism
Norbert Zongo left his mark on the Burkinabé media landscape through his commitment to truth and his fight against corruption. He founded the weekly newspaper L'Indépendant in June 1993, which focused primarily on government corruption. He is considered the first to have practiced investigative journalism there.
On December 13, 1998, he was killed along with three companions on the road to Sapouy. The bodies were found in a burned-out vehicle, and the official theory that it was an accident is contradicted by independent investigations that found a car with no signs of collision. RSF believes he was likely killed by members of the presidential guard, under the command of François Compaoré, brother of the head of state at the time, and possibly with international assistance.
In 2006, the case was dismissed without a conviction; this crime, which has gone largely unpunished, symbolizes the price paid by defenders of freedom of expression.
The Norbert Zongo National Press Center (CNP-NZ) trains journalists and defends press freedom, while the Norbert Zongo Center for Investigative Journalism in West Africa (CENOZO) extends this work to the regional level. In 2017, the public university in Koudougou was renamed after Norbert Zongo, and the singer Alpha Blondy dedicated a song to him, "Journalists in Danger."
Atiana Serge Oulon, a Pillar of Independent Journalism in Burkina Faso
The investigative newspaper L'Événement, led by Oulon, is a direct successor to that publication. It was founded in 2001 by a team of journalists who had worked for Norbert Zongo's L'Indépendant before his death.
Oulon follows in this tradition through his career path and methods:
A graduate in journalism and political science from the University of Ouagadougou, he began his career in 2011 at Radio Liberté, the radio station of the Burkinabè Movement for Human and Peoples' Rights (MBDHP), the organization that Zongo had helped found.
In October 2023, he was still signing copies of his books at the Norbert Zongo Press Center in Ouagadougou.
This commitment is evident in his work and in the awards he has received:
His books: General Gilbert Diendéré Speaks (2018), The October 2014 Popular Uprising in Burkina Faso: The Betrayals (2018), Understanding the Armed Attacks in Burkina Faso (2020), Ethnicity in Burkina Faso: Generalizations and Excesses (2021), and The Secrets of Two Coups (2023).
His awards: the REN-LAC Anti-Corruption Award in 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024, followed by the RSF African Investigative Journalism Award, Mohamed Maïga, in 2025.
The investigation that defined his career: In December 2022, he accused an army captain of the alleged embezzlement of approximately 400 million CFA francs intended for the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP). The rank and region matched President Traoré's profile, and the newspaper was suspended just before its editor was kidnapped, after it retracted those accusations.
Repression and Enforced Disappearances of Journalists in Burkina Faso
What happened to Oulon is not an isolated incident, but an example of a broader decline. Twenty-five years after Zongo's assassination, Burkinabé journalists are once again being targeted with suspensions, kidnappings, and self-censorship and the country has fallen from 58th place in RSF's World Press Freedom Index in 2023 to 86th in 2024.
Two years after his disappearance, Oulon's family has still not heard from him, and no recent proof of life has been provided; numerous NGOs are calling for his immediate release. In a country held up as a continental model of journalistic ethics, a reporter who directly carries on the legacy of Norbert Zongo has gone missing.
By targeting him, Captain Traoré's administration is turning its back on a tradition of a free and independent press, a tradition that is, after all, one of the things Burkina Faso takes pride in. We can celebrate a new Sankara; we cannot, at the same time, silence Zongo's heirs. Oulon's family, like the Burkinabè public, has a right to expect truth and justice.
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Mustapha Bature Sallama.
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal investigation and Intelligence Analysis.
International Conflict Management and Peace Building.USIP
[email protected]
+233-555-275-880
Sources
Human Rights Watch "Burkina Faso: Possible Enforced Disappearance of a Journalist and Critics" https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2024/07/10/burkina-faso-possible-disparition-forcee-dun-journaliste-et-de-detracteurs-de-la
Global Voices https://fr.globalvoices.org/2025/05/31/295830/
Wikipedia Norbert Zongo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Zongo
Communicant News Blog "Norbert Zongo: une plume libre, une conscience africaine" https://communicant.news.blog/2025/12/13/norbert-zongo-une-plume-libre-une-conscience-africaine/
Media Foundation for West Africa https://mfwa.org/fr/24-ans-apres-les-burkinabes-attendent-toujours-la-justice-pour-le-meurtre-du-journaliste-norbert-zongo/
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) https://rsf.org/fr/affaire-norbert-zongo-depuis-neuf-ans-le-gouvernement-cherche-à-masquer-la-vérité
Norbert Zongo National Press Center https://cnpress-zongo.org/
CNP-NZ – CENOZO creation https://cnpress-zongo.org/2015/07/13/creation-de-la-cellule-norbert-zongo-pour-le-journalisme-dinvestigation-en-afrique-de-louest/
Communicant News Blog (same as #4)
AllAfrica.com Koudougou University renaming https://fr.allafrica.com/stories/201712040490.html
Burkina24 "L'Événement a 20 ans" https://burkina24.com/2021/05/28/burkina-faso-levenement-a-20-ans/
Communicant News Blog (same as #4)
CADTM https://cadtm.org/spip.php?id_article=23464&page=imprimer
Human Rights Watch (same as #1)
Wikipédia (French) Atiana Serge Oulon https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atiana_Serge_Oulon
Burkina24 REN-LAC Anti-Corruption Award https://burkina24.com/2024/06/29/lutte-contre-la-corruption-au-burkina-faso-atiana-serge-oulon-et-jean-baptiste-bouda-sont-les-laureats-de-la-21e-edition-du-plac/
Afrique XXI https://afriquexxi.info/Au-Burkina-Faso-les-journalistes-face-a-leurs-vieux-demons
YouTube – https://youtu.be/_18Z-Vlt7nk
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