The Politics of Suspicion in Burkinabe Society

In a press release dated August 8th, Burkina Faso's security ministry informed the "population of the strengthening of security measures throughout the national territory." In addition to calling for increased vigilance of the "valiant populations," the release urged the population to "report any suspicious individuals, movement or object," essentially ushering in suspicion into the Burkinabe social fabric..This phenomenon has occurred throughout history in various territories. From "dad's army," otherwise known as the British home guard in the Second World War, to McCarthyism in the United States and informants in Nazi Germany, the connecting factor in each of these examples is the deep suspicion that is sown within society and the oftentimes violent consequences of this suspicion on innocent civilians..Providing the Burkinabe populous with a series of numbers to contact should suspicious activity be witnessed, the security ministry is "convinced that it is together that we will achieve effective co-production of security.".Currently, more than 40 percent of Burkina Faso's 22.67 million people live below the national poverty line. Successive coups evidence the lack of faith in governmental institutions, including the police and judiciary. According to the Organized Crime Index, the Municipal Police Force is viewed as the most corrupt public service in the country..With these points in mind, it becomes clear that calling on the populous of an impoverished nation ravaged by terrorism to report on their neighbors is likely to create a situation in which a civilian may report on a bitter rival with frivolous claims to end a feud, innocent civilians may be accused of being terrorist collaborators, and regional elites may attempt to unseat a competitor from power through the labeling of said individual as 'soft on the terrorist threat.'.Moreover, the attempt to involve a population in a subdued version of policing not only illustrates the Burkinabe security force's inability to make significant gains against terrorist groups in its territory, but also its limited capacity to wage an effective counter terrorism offensive, thus relying on the word of a villager to lead counter insurgency campaigns..What Has the Burkinabe Government Asked of its Populous?.Mahamadou Sana, the Minister of Security, invited the Burkinabe population to partake in five activities with the aim of securing the territory..These include:.Scrupulously respect the instructions of the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) carried out during security checks.Avoid prolonged parking or abandonment of vehicles near sensitive sites.Avoid unnecessary shots and movements around sensitive and strategic installations.Avoid renting vehicles or houses to individuals without prior information on their identities, previous addresses, reasons, contacts etc.Avoid providing information likely to facilitate the commission of a terrorist attack (positions of the FDS or key sites, addresses of personalities, strategic routes etc.).Each of these points are indicative of a nation at war, which is not unusual for a nation ruled by a military junta. However, the dissemination of such a decree also invites the civilian population to become an unofficial guard force, sewing mistrust between neighbors..Emmanuel-Pierre Guittet for Open Democracy wrote on how generalized suspision destroys society, stating "We are all watchers and suspects at the same time.".In his 2015 work, Guittet claims that a society which extends the boundaries of security to include those within the civilian populous perverts justice. With every individual alert and on guard while at the same time being observed by others who are also alert and on guard, what exactly constitutes suspicious activity is lost, much in part due to the lack of a clear definition provided by the Burkinabe security ministry but also because an approximate 74 percent of the country's population cannot read or understand an age-appropriate text by age 10. Furthermore, just 41 percent of females and 33.6 percent of males complete secondary-level education in the country, according to UNESCO..Thus, an impoverished, uneducated population at the mercy of a military junta waging a losing war against multiple armed groups would appear as a less-than-appropriate surveillance force. But coupled with the country's March constitutional amendments which places prosecutors under the authority of the Minister of Justice, as well as the recomposition of the Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSMI), of which the country's President serves as head, has been seen as an attempt by the executive to undercut the independence of the judiciary by many legal analysts..This, side by side with the corruption of the Municipal Police, will likely result in sentences handed down to civilians falsely accused of acting suspiciously and/or collaborating with terrorists..So, What Now?.The US Department of State has labeled Burkinabe prison conditions as "harsh and at times life-threatening due to inadequate sanitary conditions and medical care." Moreover, the Organized Crime Index has claimed that "prosecution processes are often protracted, resulting in many alleged perpetrators spending years in prison awaiting trial," this has resulted in mass prison overcrowding with the Prison de Haute Securite (PHS) in the capital, Ouagadougou, holding more than double its maximum capacity..In a highly impoverished and uneducated nation where most if not all security resources are directed towards counter terrorism operations, it does logically follow that the authorities should move to incorporate the civilians populous into an unregulated surveillance force. However, the consequences of such a move need only be seen through historical examples. The British home guard killed an estimated 50 innocent civilians in cases of mistaken identity while Mcarthyism resulted in the loss of reputation for many alleged communist sympathizers while others were fired or imprisoned. In Nazi Germany, neighbors reported on neighbors, unaware that their admittances likely served as a death sentence for those they accused. The same is likely to be seen in Burkina Faso, with the sheer size of the terrorist threat in the country and the government's zeal to 'make an example of' the terrorists they can actually catch, it is likely civilians will continue to bear the brunt of the nation's collapsing security environment.