This Wednesday, October 11, 2023, Bobolais demonstrated in front of the premises of the gendarmerie research brigade located within the Public Treasury. Objective, to support one of their own, Diabi Barro, who should be heard today following a complaint from an alleged homosexual. Observation !
A few minutes, after being questioned by the search brigade services following the complaint against him, Diabi Barro leaves the gendarmerie premises. He was immediately welcomed as a hero by a jubilant crowd who came to show him their solidarity.
Under the blows of whistles and motorcycle horns, the young man will be carried in triumph by demonstrators gathered under the leadership of the Yélèma Honronya Coalition. According to whom, their comrade is simply a victim of his commitment to the fight against homosexuality. An unnatural practice banned in Burkina Faso but carried out in the dark in places like Bobo-Dioulasso.
To hear the secretary general of the Yélèma Honronya Coalition, Rasmané Porgo, also spokesperson for the demonstrators, “Diabi Barro is truly committed to the fight against homosexuality. To carry out his work well, he first detects cases and then raises awareness so that they can abandon the practice.
In his research, the young Diabi Barro, traders in his state, suspects two individuals, in the Kôkô district, of being homosexuals. To convince himself, he asks them in turn to declare themselves. By insisting, one of them ended up declaring himself. However, some time later, the latter presented himself with a summons from the gendarmerie research brigade, the narcotics and morals unit, housed within the public treasury. On said summons, it is mentioned that Diabi Barro had to appear urgently, this Wednesday, October 11 from 8:00 a.m. The call for mobilization was launched by the Yélèma Honronya Coalition and brought together several hundred demonstrators, the majority of whom were traders from several civil society organizations in the city.
Already around 8 o’clock, theywere gathered in front of the search brigade. The stated objective is clear: Show solidarity with Diabi Barro and have him released in the event that he is imprisoned. “We also wanted to denounce all cases of homosexuality in Burkina Faso and warn all those who practice it,” insists the Secretary General of the Coalition Yélèma Honronya.
Diabi Barro was heard in the absence of the author of the complaint who did not appear. According to Rasmané Porgo, “the complainant, after learning of the call for mobilization on our whatshap platforms, did not report to the gendarmerie. The gendarmes say they do not know that the complainant in question is a homosexual, so there is no question of giving him a summons. In addition, they made us understand that the practice is not authorized in Burkina and if we know them to contact the authorities.
Ben Alassane DAO
