Burkina Faso's parliament unanimously votes to reinstate the death penalty

Burkina Faso's parliament has reinstated the death penalty for crimes like terrorism, espionage, and treasonThe parliament in the West African junta-run nation of Burkina Faso has adopted a new penal code reinstating the death penalty for crimes including terrorism, espionage and treason. According to the country's justice minister, Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, all 71 members of the Burkina Faso legislature unanimously voted in favor of adopting the new penal code on Tuesday. The development ends the abolition of the death penalty, which had been in effect since 2018 under the previous and democratically elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore. The last known execution in Burkina Faso took place in 1988, according to Human Rights Watch. The junta's Council of Ministers approved a bill reinstating capital punishment in December, prompting a backlash from human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which criticized the move as repressive and an effort to suppress dissent. In 2024, Bayala announced that “the issue of the death penalty … is being discussed (and) will be implemented.” The military junta has previously been accused of targeting dissi...