Burkina Faso reinstates the death penalty – rights groups object
The military government’s parliament unanimously adopts a new penal code. The death penalty will apply to crimes including terrorism, espionage and treason.
Archive image · Photo: Syced / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
Burkina Faso’s parliament has reinstated the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018. All 71 members of the assembly installed by the military government voted on Tuesday for a new penal code, Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said. The death penalty is provided for crimes including terrorism, espionage and treason and, according to Reuters, also for importing expired or banned products that cause death. The West African country’s last known execution was in 1988, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Bayala justified the change as part of the fight against terrorism, arguing that the previous, more lenient penal code had helped armed groups recruit. Burkina Faso, a country of about 23 million people, faces an insurgency by groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group; thousands have been killed and millions displaced.
Rights groups see the law as a tool against critics. “Reinstating capital punishment sends a chilling message to critics of the military junta,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi of Human Rights Watch. Earlier this year the junta dissolved all political parties, and it has been accused of detaining human rights defenders and journalists.