AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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Gendarmes arrested journalists during the year (see Section 2.a.). Gendarmes also
arrested several student activists following protests in and around the University
of Ouagadougou; the students were held for several days without being charged (see
Section 2.b.).
The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.—The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary;
however, in practice the judiciary was subject to executive influence. The
President has extensive appointment and other judicial powers. The Constitution
stipulates that the Head of State also was the President of the Superior Council of
the Magistrature, which can nominate and remove high-ranked magistrates and can
examine the performance of individual magistrates.
The Zongo killing (see Section 1.a.) and its aftermath focused attention on the systemic
weaknesses in the justice system, including removability of judges, outdated
legal codes, an insufficient number of courts, a lack of financial and human resources,
and excessive legal costs.
The 2000 amended Constitution replaced the Supreme Court with four higher
courts: The Supreme Court of Appeal, the Council of State, the Audit Court and Office,
and the Constitutional Council. All of the higher courts were operational by
year’s end. Beneath these higher courts were 2 Courts of Appeal and 10 provincial
courts. There also was a High Court of Justice, with jurisdiction to try the president
and senior government officials for treason and other serious crimes. The ostensibly
independent military court system, which tried only military cases, was subject to
executive influence. In June 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that civil courts lacked
jurisdiction in a wrongful death case brought by the widow of murdered former
Chief Executive Captain Thomas Sankara. The Court ruled that jurisdiction was
vested in the military court system. No further action was taken by year’s end.
In addition to the formal judiciary, customary or traditional courts presided over
by village chiefs, handled many neighborhood and village problems, such as divorce
and inheritance disputes. Citizens generally respected these decisions, but they also
may take a case to a formal court.
The Constitution provides for the right to public trial, access to counsel, a presumption
of innocence, and has provisions for bail and appeal. While these rights
generally were respected, the ability of citizens to obtain a fair trial remained restricted
by their ignorance of the law and by a continuing shortage of magistrates.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence.—The
Constitution prohibits such actions, and the Government generally respected these
prohibitions in practice. However, in national security cases a law permits surveillance,
searches, and monitoring of telephones and private correspondence without
a warrant. By law and under normal circumstances, homes may be searched only
with the authority of a warrant issued by the Attorney General.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press.—The Constitution and the law provide for freedom
of speech and of the press; however, the Government at times restricted these
rights and intimidated journalists into practicing self-censorship. The President and
his government remained sensitive to criticism. Journalists charged with libel may
defend themselves in court by presenting evidence in support of their allegations.
The independent press, particularly the written press, continued to exercise greater
freedom of expression. However, the suspicious death in 1998 of internationally respected
journalist and newspaper editor Norbert Zongo, who was well known for his
investigative reports on government scandals, raised serious questions on the limits
to the exercise of this freedom (see Section 1.a.).
All media were under the administrative and technical supervision of the Ministry
of Communication and Culture. The audiovisual media were regulated further by
the Superior Council of Information (CSI).
The official media, including the daily newspaper Sidwaya, and the national radio
and television, displayed progovernment bias. The independent press included five
daily and approximately a dozen weekly newspapers; some newspapers appeared
only occasionally. There were numerous independent radio stations and a religious
television station. The Government licensed several private radio stations during
the year. These media outlets included stations that were critical of the Government.
Voice of America, Radio France International, Africa Number 1, and the British
Broadcasting Corporation broadcast without government interference.
Despite self-censorship, independent newspapers and radio stations often criticized
the Government, reporting allegations of corruption and mismanagement by
authorities and accusing the Government of human rights violations. The inde-
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