Burkina Faso’s military authorities announced, on 4 December, plans to reinstate the death penalty, reversing its 2018 abolition.
The Council of Ministers said the draft penal code reintroduces capital punishment for offences including high treason, terrorism and espionage. The country last carried out an execution in 1988. The death penalty was later abolished under the civilian administration of then-President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.
Burkina Faso has been under the leadership of Captain Ibrahim Traoré since the 2022 military coup, during which he adopted a more anti-Western stance and moved the country further away from its former colonial power, France. Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala described the move as part of broader reforms intended to produce a justice system aligned with what he called the “profound aspirations” of the Burkinabe people. The draft law still requires approval from the Transitional Legislative Assembly before it can take effect.