Burkina Faso passes law banning homosexuality
On the 1st of September, Burkina Faso became another African nation banning homosexuality by making it punishable by up to 5 years in prison – reports France24 via AFP.
Burkina Faso’s ruling junta has unanimously passed an anti-gay law, instituting a punishment that would make anyone judged to have committed homosexual acts liable to be both fined and forced to face up to 5 years in prison.
The draft law was implemented by 71 unelected members of a transitional parliament that has governed Burkina Faso since two coups in the nation in 2022.
Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said on national broadcaster RTB: “The law provides for a prison sentence of between two and five years as well as fines.”
He continued: “If a person is a perpetrator of homosexual or similar practices, all the bizarre behaviour, they will go before the judge” and added that foreign nationals would be deported under the law.
The law has been passed under the guise of a wider reform of family and citizenship legislation. Officials have said the law will be “popularised through an awareness campaign”, suggesting the law currently reflects the interests of the junta – not the people of Burkina Faso.
In March, the humanitarian group Human rights watch accused Burkina Faso’s government of killing over 100 civilians in attacks targeting the Fulani ethnic group. The setback of LGBT+ rights across Burkina Faso will further tarnish the junta’s human rights record.
This legislation also represents a broader setback for LGBT+ rights in Africa. In July, human rights groups have condemned the arrests of LGBT+ people within Tunisia, a path Burkina Faso’s junta seems eager to emulate.
Homosexuality has been made illegal in around 30 African countries but was only made illegal in Burkina Faso after the junta took power 3 years ago.
In recent years, other African nations like Ghana and Mali have been widely criticised for toughening legislation that persecutes homosexuality. In Uganda, adults in consensual homosexual relationships could receive a life sentence as a punishment.
France24 via AFP, Maghrebi.org
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