Burkina Faso Parliament Votes to Restore Death Penalty, Eight Years After Abolition

Burkina Faso Parliament Votes to Restore Death Penalty, Eight Years After Abolition

Burkina Faso's parliament has voted unanimously to bring back the death penalty, nearly eight years after the West African country abolished capital punishment. The 71-member assembly adopted a revised penal code on Tuesday, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

The new law reintroduces capital punishment for crimes including terrorism, espionage and treason, as well as for importing expired or banned products that result in death, according to state-run media. Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala presented the bill on behalf of the government. The government framed 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.

Rights groups condemned the move. Human Rights Watch had warned 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, and its last known judicial execution was in 1988, according to Amnesty International.

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