Burkina Faso’s military-led government has reinstated the death penalty for several serious offences, including terrorism, treason and espionage, following the unanimous approval of a revised Penal Code by the country’s legislative assembly.
The People’s Legislative Assembly approved the new code on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, with all 71 members who voted supporting the legislation, according to the assembly’s official announcement.
The revised legislation reverses Burkina Faso’s 2018 abolition of capital punishment and introduces tougher penalties for crimes the authorities consider threats to national security and public safety.
Other offences punishable by death under the new code include parricide, the killing of one’s father, and the importation of expired or prohibited products that result in death. The provisions also extend to individuals who participate in or facilitate terrorist acts, according to statements by Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala.
The government has defended the reform as part of broader efforts to strengthen public order, protect citizens and property, and respond to evolving security threats.
Bayala argued that the threat of life imprisonment had not sufficiently discouraged terrorist recruitment. He said the revised provisions were intended to ensure that perpetrators and accomplices involved in terrorist activities face the most severe punishment under the law.
Burkina Faso has been under military rule since a coup in 2022 brought Captain Ibrahim Traoré to power. The country continues to confront a prolonged insurgency involving armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, particularly across parts of the Sahel region.
The restoration of capital punishment marks a major shift in the country’s criminal justice system. Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 2018, and its last recorded execution took place in 1988, according to human rights organisations.
The decision has raised renewed concerns among human rights advocates, including Amnesty International, which previously urged the authorities to abandon plans to restore the punishment. The organisation has argued that capital punishment violates the right to life, carries the risk of irreversible miscarriages of justice and can be used as a tool of repression.
The new Penal Code also introduces other changes to the country’s criminal justice framework, including revised penalties for various offences and provisions addressing corruption and financial crimes.
The restoration of the death penalty places Burkina Faso among countries that retain capital punishment in their criminal laws, at a time when international human rights organisations continue to call for its abolition.
The implementation of the revised code is expected to shape the country’s approach to terrorism, serious criminal offences and public security, while its implications for human rights and the administration of justice are likely to remain subjects of debate.
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