Source: Amnesty International –
The Senegalese authorities must deliver justice, truth and reparation to the thousands of victims of the violent crackdown on protests between 2021 and 2024, said Amnesty International on the first anniversary of a law granting an amnesty to security forces.
The amnesty law, passed on 6 March 2024, covers all acts likely to be classified as crimes or offences relating to ‘demonstrations or politically motivated events’, which took place between 1 February 2021 and 25 February 2024. During this period, during protests triggered by the arrest of then opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, security forces routinely deployed excessive and lethal use of force against protesters. According to figures gathered by Amnesty International and other civil society organizations, at least 65 people were killed, the majority by firearms, with at least 1,000 wounded. A further 2,000 people were arrested.
“Justice, truth and reparation require that security forces allegedly responsible for excessive and illegal use of force during protests be prosecuted. The amnesty law constitutes an obstacle that must be removed by the current Senegalese authorities, as they pledged to do,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s interim regional director for West and Central Africa.
Justice, truth and reparation require that security forces allegedly responsible for excessive and illegal use of force during protests be prosecuted.
Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International Interim Regional Director for West and Central Africa
“The financial assistance paid in 2024 to some of the victims of detentions and announced in 2025 to families of people killed during protests is a first step. However, it does not meet their need for justice, nor does it constitute a guarantee that such events will not be repeated. Senegalese authorities must repeal the amnesty law and provide justice to all victims of human rights violations during protests,” said Seydi Gassama, executive director of Amnesty International Senegal.