Burkina Faso abolishes death penalty in new penal code

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – Burkina Faso’s parliament has abolished the death penalty by adopting a new penal code that strikes it as a possible sentence.

Justice Minister Rene Bagoro said Thursday that the revised document paves the way for “more credible, equitable, accessible and effective justice in the application of criminal law.”

The death penalty was kept in the version of the criminal code adopted in 1996, but Burkina Faso has not imposed capital punishment recently.

Many rights movements, including Amnesty International and Catholic Church activists have pressed the government for a decade to remove it from criminal statutes.

The decision to abolish the death penalty comes amid a landmark trial this year over a failed 2015 coup. Two former presidential aides are among more than 80 people facing the military tribunal.