AFRICA - Burkina Faso (Courtesy of Tubs)

BURKINA FASO - Burkina brings back the death penalty

December 4, 2025:

December 4, 2025 - BURKINA FASO. Burkina brings back the death penalty. The country is governed by a military junta.

Burkina Faso has reinstated the death penalty over specific offenses deemed grievous infractions, 7 years after it was abolished. The Burkinabe executive adopted a draft bill for a new Penal Code during the Council of Ministers meeting on December 4, 2025. The legislation notably includes the reinstatement of the death penalty for certain serious offenses. According to Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, responsible for Relations with Institutions, the adoption of the bill is part of a broader drive for comprehensive sectoral reforms aimed at ensuring a justice system that meets the profound aspirations of the Burkinabe people. Minister Bayala specified that, among the major innovations, the draft Penal Code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offenses, including high treason, acts of terrorism, and acts of espionage, among others. The text also enshrines community service as a principal sentence and sanctions the promotion and practice of homosexual and related acts. Regarding financial penalties, fines for all offenses have been significantly increased. The minimum amounts have risen from 250,000 CFA francs to 500,000 CFA francs, applying to both misdemeanors and felonies. Furthermore, penalties for road traffic offenses have been particularly revised upwards. Minister Bayala justified this decision by highlighting that “90 to 95% of traffic accidents that cause mourning among Burkinabe families are the fault of the user.” Finally, penalties for economic crimes such as embezzlement and acts of corruption have been considerably stiffened. They can result in life imprisonment when the embezzled amount or the object of the offense is greater than or equal to 5 billion CFA francs ($8.2 million USD), the Minister of Justice indicated. The country had abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 2018, under the presidency of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, with the adoption of a new Penal Code. 

https://apanews.net/burkina-brings-back-the-death-penalty/