Burkina Faso’s parliament has adopted a revised penal code that restores the death penalty, nearly a decade after the West African country abolished capital punishment, the Justice Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The 71-member assembly voted unanimously for the legislation after Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala presented the bill on behalf of the government, the ministry said.
The revised code reintroduces the death penalty for crimes including terrorism, espionage, treason, and importing expired or banned products that result in death, state-run media reported.
The government has presented the change as part of its response to a years-long Islamist insurgency linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions. Bayala said the relative lenience of the previous penal code had helped armed groups recruit members.
The ministry said the reform aims to strengthen public order and guarantee the safety of people and property.
Rights groups warned the change could be used against critics. Human Rights Watch said when the Council of Ministers first approved the bill last year that reinstating the death penalty could deepen repression, entrench a climate of fear, and send a chilling message to critics of the military government.
Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty in 2018. Its last known judicial execution was in 1988, according to Amnesty International. The country has been ruled by a military government led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré since a 2022 coup. The same penal code reform also toughens sentences for embezzlement and, according to the Spanish outlet Demócrata, sanctions the promotion and practices of homosexuality.
Why it matters
Reinstating capital punishment puts Burkina Faso against the global trend toward abolition and deepens the military government’s break with the civilian era. Rights groups fear the terrorism and treason clauses could be turned on journalists and dissidents as the insurgency drags on.
Sources: Reuters; Demócrata; News Central TV; Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch via those outlets.
