neighbourhoods, stating that they violated residents’ rights to equality and freedom of movement.
RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX (LGBTI) PEOPLE In a homophobic attack in Plovdiv in September, a group of young football fans physically attacked and injured several teenagers, some as young as 14, whom they perceived to be LGBTI. The attackers reportedly wanted to “cleanse” the city centre of LGBTI people. The Plovdiv Prosecutor initiated a criminal investigation which was ongoing at the end of the year. According to an EU Fundamental Rights Agency survey, over 70% of LGBTI people in Bulgaria felt compelled to hide their sexual orientation and 40% avoided certain locations for fear of being assaulted or threatened. 1. Stigmatizing quarantines of Roma settlements in Slovakia and Bulgaria (EUR 01/2156/2020) 2. Policing the pandemic: Human rights violations in the enforcement of COVID-19 measures in Europe (EUR 01/2511/2020)
BURKINA FASO Burkina Faso Head of state: Roch Marc Christian Kaboré Head of government: Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré
Armed groups committed human rights abuses, including killings and abductions, in the context of the armed conflict. Security forces also perpetrated extrajudicial executions and torture. Impunity remained pervasive. The right to education was hindered. Freedoms of expression and assembly were restricted.
BACKGROUND The armed conflict continued, particularly in the northern and eastern regions. In January, the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland Act was passed which allowed for
Amnesty International Report 2020/21
the recruitment of local “volunteers” to support military operations. Seven of the 13 regions remained under a state of emergency, giving the authorities extensive powers to arrest and detain people and limit their movements. In March, a national curfew was imposed to control the spread of COVID-19. The government also released 1,207 prisoners to reduce prison overcrowding and mitigate the risk of infection. In September, the Electoral Code was amended ahead of the presidential elections and stipulated that where polling stations were closed for exceptional security reasons, election results would be based on votes cast in stations which remained open. In November, President Kaboré was re-elected for a second term.
ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS There were regular clashes between armed groups, and attacks against civilians were committed, often along ethnic lines, which could amount to war crimes. Since the beginning of the year, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) had blockaded the city of Djibo, in Soum province, Centre-North region, restricting access and peoples’ movement along a 37km stretch. In March, the Koglweogo, an armed “selfdefence” group, raided three villages in the Barga department in the Northern region, killing at least 43 inhabitants and destroying buildings. In the same month, at least 10 civilians were taken from a mosque in Cissé village in the Sahel region and killed by unidentified gunmen, according to media reports. In May and August, at least 45 people were killed when unidentified assailants fired indiscriminately at cattle markets in Kompienbiga town and Namoungou village in the Eastern region. In July, the Mayor of Pensa and 10 others were killed following an ambush on their convoy between the towns of Barsalogho and Pensa in the Centre-North region, believed to be carried out by GSIM members. One
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