Burkina Faso’s parliament has passed a law banning homosexuality, with people facing two to five years in prison, the state broadcaster reported late Monday.
The code was approved by the parliament on Monday in a unanimous vote, putting the legislation into effect more than a year after its initial approval by Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s military government.
Burkina Faso now joins over half of Africa’s 54 countries that have laws banning homosexuality, with penalties ranging from several years in prison to the death penalty.
The new law goes into effect immediately with individuals in same-sex relationships risking prison sentences as well as fines, Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said during a briefing broadcast by the state TV. He described homosexual acts as “bizarre behavior.”
“You will go before the judge,” the justice minister said, addressing offenders.
Burkina Faso has been run by the military following a coup in 2022 that the soldiers said was to stabilize the country amid a worsening security crisis and provide better governance.
Rights group, however, accuse the junta of clamping down on human rights with the rampant arrest and military conscription of critics.
Since coming to power in September 2022 after Burkina Faso’s second coup that year, the junta leader Traore has also positioned himself as a pan-African leader with rhetoric of independence from the West — a message that often resonates with Africa’s young population.
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