Burkina Faso’s government has taken formal steps to bring back the death penalty, seven years after it was abolished, a move that has sparked concern among human-rights groups and regional observers. 

 

At a cabinet meeting on 4 December 2025, ministers approved a draft bill revising the criminal code. Under the proposed law, capital punishment would be reintroduced for serious offences, including “high treason,” terrorism, and espionage, according to the government’s information service. 

 

“This reform aims to build a justice system that responds to the deep aspirations of our people,” said Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala in a Facebook statement posted after the decision. 

 

If passed by the transitional parliament and finalised by the courts, the death penalty clause will reverse a 2018 reform that abolished capital punishment from the penal code. 

 

ABC News reported that the decision comes amid sweeping legal changes under the country’s military-led government. Since a 2022 coup, Burkina Faso’s rulers have overseen a broad overhaul of laws, drawing criticism for increased restrictions on media freedom, arrests of journalists, and suppression of political dissent.

 

The draft law has provoked swift condemnation from international human-rights organisations. Amnesty International described the proposed reinstatement as “a serious setback for human rights in Burkina Faso,” warning that the death penalty is irreversible and can be misused as a tool for repression, especially in a context where political opponents and journalists have already faced crackdowns. 

 

Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty’s regional director for West and Central Africa, urged the Transitional National Council to scrap the bill, saying restoration of such an irreversible penalty is incompatible with international human-rights norms and regional trends toward abolition. 

 

If enacted, the new law will make capital punishment applicable again in Burkina Faso for a select list of crimes, primarily those considered a threat to national security. 

 

The bill remains a draft and must still go through the transitional parliament and judicial review before becoming law, reported AfricaNews. 

 

Burkina Faso abolished capital punishment in 2018, removing the death penalty from its penal code. The last official executions took place in 1988. Over the years, the abolition aligned the country with a growing number of African nations rejecting capital punishment entirely. 

 

Security concerns have mounted, however, as Burkina Faso grapples with jihadist violence, regional instability, and internal insecurity, factors cited by the government as justification for reinstating tougher penalties. 

 

But human-rights watchdogs warn that contentious legal reforms, including curbs on media freedom and arrests of dissenters, raise the risk that such laws could be misapplied