Overview

• Burkina Faso’s junta says eight INSO personnel have been detained on espionage and treason accusations, including two French nationals and a Czech official.
• INSO reports its country director was arrested on July 28 and says four national staff and three international colleagues, including its Czech global programs director, were later taken into custody.
• The government suspended INSO on July 31, alleging unauthorized collection of sensitive security data and claiming some staff continued activities despite the ban.
• INSO rejects the claims, describes its role as providing security analysis to humanitarian groups, says it has cooperated with authorities for three months, and calls for the release of all detained colleagues.
• The detentions come as Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s government tightens controls on civil society, revoking 21 NGOs’ authorizations and suspending 10 others in recent months, reflecting a broader Sahel-wide trend.