The guilty verdict on Blaise Compaoré should be celebrated as a landmark victory for democracy and peoples’ movements in Africa.
Demonstrators hold a picture of Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba who led the coup against Burkina Faso president Roch Kabore.
Photo by Olympia De Maismont/AFP via Getty Images
The latest coup now presents a fork in the road for West African, French, and American policymakers.
Graffiti in Ouagadougou reads “Compaore, you’re the thug!” It appeared a few days after President Blaise Compaore stepped down.
Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images
The role of the military in toppling authoritarian rulers, after intensive popular protests, raises questions about how the AU’s policy against coups should be applied.
Keur Gui - Thiat, left, and Kilifeu, right.
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Professor of Francophone Studies (Africa, Caribbean), Faculty Affiliate with Africana Studies, World Literature Program and Human Rights Pracice, University of Arizona