Burkina Faso Speaks for Sahel Juntas at UN, Says States Back Jihadists
Key Facts
- The country. Burkina Faso is a landlocked West African country of 24 million people, ruled by the army since a 2022 coup. Its US$28 billion economy is under 1% of Britain’s.
- Why it matters. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, all under military rule, formed the Alliance of Sahel States. They left the West African bloc ECOWAS and broke with France amid jihadist insurgencies.
- Why now. Burkina’s ruler, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, holds the confederation’s rotating chair. So his foreign minister spoke for all three at this year’s UN General Assembly debate.
- What happened. On Monday 28 September, the minister said unnamed states arm and finance Sahel terrorists. He confirmed all three are leaving the International Criminal Court (ICC).
- Who is involved. The statement spoke for Captain Traoré, Mali’s General Assimi Goïta and Niger’s General Abdourahamane Tiani. All three took power in coups.
- What it means for you. Western governments advise against all or most travel to the three countries. Investors face governments that demand local processing of raw materials and stress sovereignty.
- Still open. No accused state was named and no evidence was shown. The ICC exits take effect around mid-2027, one year after notification.
Burkina Faso’s foreign minister spoke at the UN for three military governments, not one. He accused unnamed states of backing jihadists in the Sahel and confirmed the bloc is leaving the International Criminal Court.
The Alliance of Sahel States took its case to the UN General Assembly on Monday 28 September. The confederation brings together the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, three landlocked countries south of the Sahara.
Burkina Faso’s foreign minister, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, spoke in the names of all three heads of state. He shares a surname with Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina’s military ruler, who currently chairs the confederation.
The speech accused unnamed states of arming and financing terrorists in the Sahel. It also confirmed that the three countries have formally notified their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
One statement for three states
The minister said he carried the voice of Captain Traoré, Mali’s General Assimi Goïta and Niger’s General Abdourahamane Tiani. He called the joint statement proof of the three states’ ‘diplomatic cohesion’.
The joint address did not replace national ones. Niger’s prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, spoke days earlier, and Mali’s foreign minister, Abdoulaye Diop, took the rostrum the same Monday.
The bloc grew out of the Liptako-Gourma charter, a mutual defence pact signed on 16 September 2023. It became a confederation on 6 July 2024.
The three states have since left ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States. They have also expelled French troops and turned to Russia for security support.
The minister said the confederal project was ‘far from isolation’ and reflected a refusal of ‘chronic tutelage’. He cited a unified military force and a new Confederal Bank for Investment and Development as progress.
The accusations
The sharpest passage said Sahel violence is backed by ‘structured support, including from states’. Those backers, he said, want to regain ‘lost advantages and privileges’.
The minister named no country and presented no evidence. He listed attacks in Mali on 25 April and 4 July 2026, and in Niger on 18 June and 29–30 August.
Supply chains and technical capacity on that scale, he argued, ‘do not arise from nowhere’. He urged the world to condemn, ‘without geopolitical calculation’, all who ‘finance, arm, inform or protect terrorists’.
Among the dead of 25 April was Mali’s defence minister, General Sadio Camara, killed as militants attacked several Malian towns. The speech paid tribute to him by name.
The juntas have long accused foreign powers of backing insurgents, and France has rejected such claims in the past. In his own speech, Niger’s prime minister openly accused France and Ukraine.
The ICC exit, confirmed at the UN
The ICC, based in The Hague, tries individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The minister blamed ‘serious shortcomings, persistent selectivity and manifest politicisation’ for the decision to leave.
The bloc first announced its exit in September 2025. The Assembly of States Parties, the court’s governing body, issued a statement on the formal withdrawals on 1 July 2026.
Under the Rome Statute, the court’s founding treaty, a withdrawal takes effect one year after the UN receives it. Niger lodged its notice in late June 2026, after Mali and Burkina Faso, so the exits fall around mid-2027.
The timing drew attention because US President Donald Trump urged all ICC members to quit the court on 22 September. The Sahel statement framed its own exit as a rejection of ‘variable-geometry justice’.
It also attacked the European Parliament, the EU’s elected assembly, over ‘ill-founded resolutions’ against the Sahel. It backed the Ezulwini Consensus, the African Union position seeking permanent Security Council seats for Africa.
Burkina’s own balance sheet
In a national section, the minister said Burkina’s ‘progressive popular revolution’ would soon mark its fourth anniversary. Captain Traoré seized power on 30 September 2022, so the anniversary falls on Wednesday.
He claimed more than 74 percent of national territory is now under government control. He also cited reconquered villages, thousands of displaced people returning home and dozens of schools reopening.
These are government figures, and independent checks in active conflict zones are not possible. The minister also cited the RELANCE 2026–2030 development plan and six ‘presidential initiatives’ for farming, industry and local processing.
What this means for expats and investors
Western governments already advise against all or most travel to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Nothing in the speech points to a quick easing of security risks.
For mining and infrastructure investors, the bloc stresses sovereignty, local processing and domestic resource mobilisation. It says it remains open to partners, but that cooperation ‘will never mean submission’.
The ICC exit removes a layer of international legal oversight from 2027. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have warned that it will hurt victims seeking justice.
What Is Not Known
The speech did not name the states it accused or offer evidence at the rostrum. Nor did it say what action the bloc wants the UN to take.
The exact effective date of each ICC withdrawal has not been set out publicly in full. The 74 percent control figure and the claimed returns of displaced people remain unverified.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Alliance of Sahel States?
It is a confederation of the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, formed in 2023 and 2024. The three have left the West African bloc ECOWAS, broken with France and set up a joint military force.
What did the Sahel alliance say at the UN?
On 28 September 2026, Burkina Faso’s foreign minister accused unnamed states of backing terrorism in the Sahel. He also confirmed the ICC exit, criticised the European Parliament and called for Security Council reform.
When does Burkina Faso leave the International Criminal Court?
A withdrawal takes effect one year after the UN receives formal notice. The three states lodged theirs by late June 2026, so the exits should take effect around mid-2027.
Sources
leFaso.net — Full text of Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré’s statement for the Confederation of Sahel States, 81st UN General Assembly (28 September 2026, French) · UN General Assembly — Country page: Burkina Faso, 81st session · Reuters — ICC confirms Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger move to leave court (2 July 2026) · Reuters — Trump tells countries to quit ICC. Few follow his lead (24 September 2026) · World Bank — Burkina Faso population and GDP data (2025)
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