INSO says eight staff detained by Burkina Faso’s junta have been safely released.
Eight staff members of the International NGO Safety Organization (INSO) have been released months after Burkina Faso’s military authorities detained them on spying accusations.
INSO, one of 21 NGOs banned by the junta in July, said on Friday it welcomed the “safe release” of its team and appreciated international support during the process. The arrests occurred in July but were not disclosed by authorities until October. The workers were freed at the end of that month.
Those detained included a French national, a French-Senegalese woman, a Czech national, a Malian, and four Burkinabe staff.
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Burkinabe authorities had accused INSO of gathering and sharing sensitive security information with foreign governments, and of continuing operations after its ban. INSO strongly denied the claims, saying it provides security analysis to humanitarian organizations and upholds humanitarian principles wherever it operates.
The NGO has been active in Burkina Faso since 2019, supporting aid agencies working in areas affected by a decade-long jihadist conflict. The junta has increasingly restricted civil society, media, and foreign organisations, citing national security.
At the end of 2024, Niger—also ruled by a military junta—revoked INSO’s authorisation to operate in its territory.
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