How an EU-funded security force helped Senegal crush democracy protests

An opposition supporter reacts in front of a burning barricade during demonstrations called by the opposition parties in Dakar on February 4, 2024 [Seyllou/AFP]

Dakar, Senegal / Madrid, Spain – The Senegalese government deployed a special counterterrorism unit, created, equipped, and trained with funding from the European Union, to violently suppress recent pro-democracy protests, a joint investigation between Al Jazeera and porCausa Foundation reveals.

Since 2021, the trial of popular and controversial opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has led to demonstrations across the West African nation, in which dozens have been killed. Al Jazeera and porCausa obtained visual evidence, Spanish government contracts, a confidential evaluation report, and testimonies from multiple sources suggesting that the EU-funded Rapid Action Surveillance and Intervention Group, also known as GAR-SI, was used to violently crush those protests.