By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW YORK (IDN) \u2014 It\u2019s been justice delayed for Thomas Sankara, the man they called Africa\u2019s Che Guevara. It should not be justice denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirty-five years ago, Sankara, an iconic figure of revolution, the youthful president of the West African nation of Burkina Faso, was shot and killed at the height of his popularity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For years, his friend and colleague, Blaise Compaore, was suspected of arranging the killing but no investigation was allowed, and the fiction was promoted that Sankara died of natural causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Human rights groups and the victims\u2019 families claimed to know otherwise. Compaore, who ruled with an iron fist, has been overthrown after trying to rewrite the constitution and give himself additional years in power, and his flight into exile in neighbouring Ivory Coast has made it possible for a serious investigation could begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Compaore\u2019s trial, which began this past October, comes as the West African country reels from its latest military coup last month, brought on by public anger over a stalled economy, entrenched poverty, and relentless jihadist attacks in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the many who remember him, Thomas Sankara was a fiery Marxist-Leninist and a strong voice against imperialism and colonialism. The international community, whose interests were vested in the status quo, was unhappy with Sankara\u2019s radicalism, not least when he started calling for African countries to reject debt repayments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the testimony of some involved in his assassination, Sankara\u2019s death was ordered by former Liberian president Charles Taylor with the support of the French and American governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSankara rode a bicycle to work before he upgraded, at his Cabinet\u2019s insistence, to a Renault 5\u2013 one of the cheapest cars you could find,\u201d recalled Nigerian-born Paula Akugizibwe. \u201cHe lived in a small brick house and wore only cotton that was produced, weaved and sewn in Burkina Faso.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feminism was a core element of his political ideology, manifested through improved access to education for girls, and inclusion of women in leadership roles\u2026 It was Africa\u2019s greatest success story,\u201d Akugizibwe recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If convicted, Compaore faces 30 years behind bars if he returns to Burkina Faso. But even if Compaore\u2019s trial ends with an acquittal or, less likely, a dismissal of all charges, it will still send a message to human rights violators\u2014military or civilian\u2014that it is no longer business as usual in the region. [IDN-InDepthNews \u2013 15 March 2022]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: Thomas Sankara, widely known as Africa\u2019s Che Guevara. Credit: Patrick Durand \/ Sygma<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) \u2014 It\u2019s been justice delayed for Thomas Sankara, the man they called Africa\u2019s Che Guevara. It should not be justice denied. Thirty-five years ago, Sankara, an iconic figure of revolution, the youthful president of the West African nation of Burkina Faso, was shot and killed at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,18,16,32],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-injustice-corruption","9":"category-news","10":"category-regions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6023"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6025,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6023\/revisions\/6025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}