Senegal: Complaint filed against 25 accounts and 18 individuals for hate speech targeting foreigners

Three Senegalese citizen movements have filed a complaint against persons unknown for xenophobia before the Dakar High Court, after documenting three months of racial hate speech originating from 25 accounts belonging to 18 individuals on social media. The information was reported on October 29, 2026, by RFI, in an article by Léa-Lisa Westerhoff republished by AllAfrica.

Two of the three movements were identified by RFI: Naw-Lé Against Racism, led by Thierno Sokha Ndiaye, and FRAPP, represented by one of its members, Souleymane Guèye. The latter cites "public insults toward communities, calls for murder" and is asking the prosecutor to have the authors of these remarks arrested and to put an end to this discourse.

Guinean shopkeepers targeted by boycott calls

The complaint is part of a series. On August 27, the National Federation of Shopkeepers also filed a complaint for incitement to racial hatred after the circulation of videos calling for a boycott of shops run by Guineans, RFI reports. These videos were signed by an influencer linked to a Senegalese nationalist party, who is currently being held in custody. He has not been tried at this stage and is presumed innocent.

RFI also describes a street altercation during which a passerby shouted that "Senegal belongs to the Senegalese" and that "immigration has lasted too long," forcing law enforcement to intervene.

What the complaint defends

"Senegalese values are not values of exclusion," replies Thierno Sokha Ndiaye, as quoted by RFI.

The case touches on a sensitive point of the pan-African project. The free movement of people is one of the achievements of the Economic Community of West African States, and the Guinean, Malian, or Bissau-Guinean shopkeepers settled in Senegal are one of its most concrete manifestations. Africans who live and work in another African country: this is also a diaspora, and it has the same rights to dignity and security as those in Paris or New York.

The fight against the racism experienced by Africans in Europe or the United States loses its strength if xenophobia between Africans is not addressed. Three Senegalese organizations have just done so, at home, before a judge. It is now up to the Dakar prosecutor to decide on the next steps.