Burkina Faso’s military junta has announced the adoption of a draft amended family code that outlaws homos3xuality.
Previously, the West African nation was one of only 22 out of 54 countries on the continent where same-s3x relations were legal. In many other states, these relations are punishable by death or long prison sentences.
Following two successive coups in 2022, Burkina Faso has been under military rule and is part of a confederation with juntas in neighboring Mali and Niger.
None of the three interim governments have managed to organize elections and have shifted away from their traditional Western allies.
Late Wednesday, Burkina Faso’s junta announced in a statement that it had approved the draft of the amended family code during a weekly council of ministers meeting led by interim military leader Ibrahim Traore.
“Effective immediately, homos3xuality and associated practices are banned and subject to legal penalties,” interim Justice Minister Edasso Rodrique Bayala stated in a presidential statement following the meeting.
The law must pass a parliamentary vote and be enacted by Traore to take effect.
Over the last 14 months, there has been a significant increase in measures targeting LGBTQ rights across Africa.
Uganda enacted one of the world’s strictest anti-LGBTQ laws in May last year, and in February, lawmakers in Ghana unanimously approved legislation that heightens restrictions on LGBTQ individuals.
Last month, Brenda Biya, the daughter of Cameroon’s president, publicly identified as a lesbian and has since advocated for reforms to amend the country’s laws banning homos3xuality.