Burkina Faso reinstates death penalty, ministry says

Burkina Faso's justice ministry said on October 20 that the country's ruling junta has reinstated the death penalty after a unanimous vote by its unelected legislature.

The ministry said the new penal code reintroducing capital punishment aims to strengthen public order, consolidate national values and guarantee security for people and property.

Burkina Faso abolished capital punishment in 2018. The country has been ruled by a military junta since a 2022 coup, and junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore announced plans last year to bring back the death penalty.

State news agency AIB said crimes punishable by death would include acts of terrorism, espionage, treason, patricide and importing expired or banned products causing death.

Amnesty International has said the last recorded execution in Burkina Faso was in 1988 and had urged the country not to restore capital punishment.