Overview

• The 71-member Transitional Legislative Assembly unanimously approved the revised Persons and Family Code on September 1, introducing criminal penalties for consensual same‑sex conduct.
• Convictions carry two to five years in prison and fines, and foreign nationals risk deportation, Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala announced on state television.
• Officials said enforcement would begin immediately, though some outlets reported the code still awaits junta leader Ibrahim Traoré’s signature.
• The measure sits within a broader rewrite that tightens rules on marriage and nationality, with authorities planning a public awareness campaign.
• Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and ILGA World condemned the criminalization as a rights violation, placing Burkina Faso within a growing regional trend after moves in Mali, Uganda and Ghana; the country previously had no such law.