d Secur n ity a e S c e a r i e e s P FES Antonin Tisseron Pandora’s box. Burkina Faso, self-defense militias and VDP Law in fighting jihadism Antonin Tisseron Pandora’s box. Burkina Faso, self-defense militias and VDP Law in fighting jihadism About the author Antonin Tisseron is an associate researcher at the Thomas More Institute. He holds a PhD in History and has worked in recent years for the United Nations and the French Development Agency on security issues in West Africa. Imprint Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Peace and Security Competence Centre Sub-Saharan Africa Point E, boulevard de l’Est, Villa n°30 P.O. Box 15416 Dakar-Fann, Senegal Tel.: +221 33 859 20 02 Fax: +221 33 864 49 31 Email:
[email protected] www.fes-pscc.org © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 2021 Illustration: Amidou Badji Layout: Green Eyez Design SARL, www.greeneyezdesign.com ISBN : 978-2-490093-23-6 Commercial use of all media published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is not permitted without the written consent of the FES. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. CONTENTS Acknowledgements 04 List of acronyms 05 Executive Summary 06 Introduction 08 I. LONG-STANDING LOCAL SECURITY INITIATIVES 09 1.1. A dual process of expansion and militarization 09 1.2. Bottom-up security in the long term 10 1.3. A symptom of a security crisis 12 II. THE FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPE OF SELF-DEFENSE MILITIAS 14 2.1. Koglweogo in the plural 14 2.2.