Burkina Faso is the latest country, one of the 22 out of 54 African countries where homosexuality is punishable by law, with severe penalties such as death or long prison sentences imposed in some regions.
The revised family code approved by the military junta Captain Ibrahim Traoré in Burkina Faso now criminalises homosexuality.
The council endorsed a decree for a new Personal and Family Code (CPF) that “enshrines the ban on homosexuality” in the country, as the presidency announced in a statement.
“From now on, homosexuality and related practices are prohibited and punishable by law,” Minister of Justice, Edasso Rodrigue Bayala emphasised.
While the details of the exact consequences were not specified, and the document has not yet been approved by the members of the Transitional Legislative Assembly, Burkina Faso is now part of a group of countries, including Uganda, that have implemented some of the strictest laws against the LGBTQ community on a global scale in May of last year.