Sankara and Charles Taylor cases

On April 26, 2012 in Ouagadougou, a hearing on the presumed confinement of Thomas Sankara was put off until May 24, 2012 by the judge because the general rapporteur would be absent on a mission.

The complaint was first filed in 2002 by Me Dieudonnée Nkounkou and has been pending in the courts of Burkina. It has since been pursued by CIJS lawyers Sankara and Farama. The room was filled with Sankarists and curious onlookers who sang the national anthem and then booed the bench when the judge delayed the case.

On April 25, 2012, after five years on trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Charles Taylor—suspected of being involved in the disappearance of Thomas Sankara—was found criminally responsible for having abetted and ordered crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone. This makes Charles Taylor the first former head of State to be convicted by an international court.

Meanwhile, the International Justice for Sankara Campaign is still waiting from the State party Burkina Faso to follow up on a request for a DNA forensic report as a follow up stipulated in the UN decision.

The CIJS wishes to thank all those who have shown their support in this 15-year struggle against impunity and calls for ongoing general mobilization.