Burkina/Very soon, death or long prison sentences for homosexuals

Captain Ibrahim Traoré's military junta in Burkina Faso has approved a revised family code that criminalizes homosexuality. 

The country adopted a decree for a new Personal and Family Code (CPF) which “enshrines the ban on homosexuality” in the country, the presidency said in a press release. According to the report of the meeting of Thursday, July 11, the penalties incurred were not specified and the text must still be adopted by the deputies of the Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT). 

But last August, the Superior Council of Communication, the body regulating the media, decided “to ban television channels promoting homosexuality from broadcasting.”“From now on, homosexuality and similar practices are prohibited and punishable by law,” responded the Minister of Justice, Edasso Rodrigue Bayala. 

The move makes Burkina Faso one of 22 out of 54 African countries that does not allow same-sex relations, with harsh penalties including death or long prison terms in some areas. 

Although the precise sanctions have not been specified and the text has not yet been approved by the deputies of the Transitional Legislative Assembly,

Burkina Faso could now join the ranks of Uganda which enacted one of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in May last year. 

Yaovi AGBEGNIGAN