1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état
1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Government
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Military faction NPFL Supported by: Mali[1] | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Thomas Sankara Mariam Sankara |
Blaise Compaoré Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani Henri Zongo Charles Taylor | ||||||
The 1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état was a bloody military coup in Burkina Faso, which took place on 15 October 1987. The coup was organized by Captain Blaise Compaoré against incumbent far-left President Captain Thomas Sankara, his former friend[2] and associate during the 1983 upheaval.
Compaoré has never acknowledged that a coup has taken place and claims to be a Sankara loyalist.[3]
Events
Sankara was killed by an armed group with twelve other officials, in a gun battle at the presidential palace.[4][5] Immediately, Compaoré assumed the presidency; he cited deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries as one of the reasons for the coup, and stated that Sankara jeopardised foreign relations with former colonial power France and neighbouring Ivory Coast.[6]
Aftermath
Following the coup and although Sankara was known to be dead, some CDRs (formed by Sankara, inspired by the CDRs in Cuba[7]) mounted an armed resistance to the military for several days.[8]
Compaoré described the killing of Sankara as an "accident", but the circumstances have never been properly investigated.[9] Sankara's body was dismembered and he was buried in an unmarked grave[10] while his widow Mariam and two children fled the nation.[11] The 2015 autopsy had revealed that Sankara's body was "riddled" with "more than a dozen" bullets, as reported by one of the lawyers representing Mariam Sankara.[12]
Compaoré introduced a policy of "rectification", immediately reversed the
Initially ruling in a
Liberian involvement
Prince Johnson, a former Liberian warlord allied to Charles Taylor also known for supervising the assassination of president Samuel Doe, told the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission that the coup was organized by Taylor.[16]
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President of Burkina Faso 1987-2014
Government
parliamentary election Family |
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References
- ^ "Qui a fait tuer Sankara ? Ouagadougou, l'ombre d'une main étrangère (3/6)". 9 October 2017.
- ^ "A FRIENDSHIP DIES IN A BLOODY COUP". The New York Times. 26 October 1987. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ "Burkina Faso tries alleged killers of iconic leader Sankara | DW | 11.10.2021". Archived from the original on 2021-10-11.
- ^ "Burkino Faso Leader Ousted In Coup Led by Chief Adviser". The New York Times. 16 October 1987. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ "Deposed Leader of Burkina Faso Is Executed With 12 Aides". The New York Times. 17 October 1987. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ Burkina Faso Salutes "Africa's Che" Thomas Sankara by Mathieu Bonkoungou, Reuters, 17 October 2007.
- ISBN 113-517-654-X.
- ISBN 081-572-348-2.
- ^ "United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Jurisprudence - Burkina Faso". Unhchr.ch. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
- ^ "Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man" by California Newsreel.
- ^ Sankara v. Burkina Faso by the Canadian Council on International Law, March 2007
- ^ Iaccino, Ludovica (14 October 2015). "Thomas Sankara: Body of Africa's Che Guevara riddled with bullets, autopsy reveals three decades after death". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ISBN 9781841623528.
- ^ "Burkina Faso (Upper Volta): Independence to the Present" Archived 2020-08-27 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopedia of African History
- ^ "Burkina Faso general takes over as Compaore resigns". BBC. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "US freed Taylor to overthrow Doe, Liberia's TRC hears". The M&G Online. 27 August 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2014.