Amnesty urges Burkina junta not to reinstate death penalty

Aerial view of Djibo town, Burkina Faso, Feb. 18, 2021. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 06 December 2025
Follow

Amnesty urges Burkina junta not to reinstate death penalty

  • Amnesty’s regional director Marceau Sivieude said the military must “immediately halt” its plans “regardless of the nature of the offenses or crimes committed”

ABIDJAN: Amnesty International on Friday urged Burkina Faso’s military junta to scrap its plan to reinstate the death penalty seven years after its abolition.
The junta’s council of ministers adopted a draft law on Thursday aimed at reinstating the punishment for crimes including high treason, terrorism and espionage.
Amnesty’s regional director Marceau Sivieude said the military must “immediately halt” its plans “regardless of the nature of the offenses or crimes committed.”
“Countries that still retain the death penalty are an isolated minority as the world continues to move away from this cruel punishment,” he told AFP in a statement.
He added that the proposal if approved would “set Burkina Faso against the goal of abolition” enshrined in international law.
The last recorded execution was in 1988, according to Amnesty.
The proposed text, which requires the approval of the transitional legislative assembly created by the junta, would also punish “the promotion and practice of homosexuality and related acts.”
 

 


Russian drones, missiles hit railway hub near Ukraine’s capital, railway says

Updated 4 sec ago
Follow

Russian drones, missiles hit railway hub near Ukraine’s capital, railway says

KYIV: A railway hub near Kyiv was attacked during a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack that damaged the depot and railway carriages, Ukrainian state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said on Saturday.
The railway did not report any casualties from the overnight attack in the town of Fastiv.
Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector and infrastructure in recent weeks, targeting power stations and railway hubs.
Ukrzaliznytsia said on the Telegram messaging app that it was forced to cancel several suburban trains near the capital and the city of Chernihiv in northeastern Ukraine.
Emergency services reported a fire and destruction on the territory of the railway station and depot but gave no more details. The report also cited an attack on infrastructure in the Chernihiv region.
Power and heat generation facilities in Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions were targeted in the attack, Ukraine’s ministry for development of communities and territories said.
It said on Telegram that 9,500 customers remained without heat and 34,000 without water supply in the southern Odesa region.
“Port facilities (in Odesa) have also been attacked: part of the infrastructure has been de-energised, and operators have switched to backup power from generators,” the ministry said.
The ministry also reported damages to energy infrastructure in the Kyiv region.