Source: Amnesty International –
Responding to an announcement on 04 December that Burkina Faso’s government has decided to reintroduce the death penalty seven years after it was abolished for ordinary crimes as part of a reform of the Penal Code, Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa said:
“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and an irreversible denial of the right to life.
“This punishment has no unique deterrent effect, it disproportionately affects those from disadvantaged backgrounds and carries the danger of being used as a repressive tool to punish dissent.
Burkina Faso must immediately halt any plans to reinstate the death penalty regardless of the nature of the offences or crimes committed.
Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa
“The Transitional National Council must oppose the reintroduction of death penalty in the Penal Code, which would set Burkina Faso against the goal of abolition of the death penalty enshrined under various international and regional human rights treaties and instruments.
“Burkina Faso must immediately halt any plans to reinstate the death penalty regardless of the nature of the offences 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.”