In troubling news, Burkina Faso has reportedly jailed an individual for same-sex intimacy, believed to be the first conviction under a recently enacted ban on homosexuality.
In September, Burkina Faso’s transitional parliament passed legislation criminalising same-sex intimacy under a new Persons and Family Code. This marked the first time the country had outlawed homosexuality and signalled a deeply regressive step for West Africa and the continent as a whole.
Under the anti-LGBTQ legislation, those found guilty face prison sentences of between two and five years, as well as hefty fines.
First Case Confirmed
The African Human Rights Coalition (AHRC) has now reported that the Burkina Faso Ministry of Justice confirmed the first conviction under the law.
The individual, identified only as KM, was found guilty of “homosexuality and related practices” and sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment, fined 2,000,000 CFA francs, and ordered to be deported from Burkina Faso after serving the sentence.
Growing Concerns Over Enforcement
AHRC’s Melanie Nathan expressed “grave concern” over the conviction, saying: “This represents the first known enforcement of the 2025 criminalisation statute and marks a significant escalation in the legal persecution of LGBTQI+ people in Burkina Faso.”
Nathan added that, “The KM case provides concrete evidence that the law is operative, enforced, and capable of producing severe consequences, underscoring that LGBTQI+ individuals in Burkina Faso live under an imminent and well-founded threat of persecution.”
She also condemned the use of the law against a foreign national, noting that it highlights the power imbalances faced by migrants, asylum seekers and internally displaced people, who already endure limited legal protections.
A Regional Pattern of Repression
The legislation was adopted under the rule of Burkina Faso’s military government, which seized power in a coup in September 2022. The country followed in the footsteps of neighbouring Mali, which criminalised homosexuality in December 2024 under a new penal code.
Amnesty International earlier condemned the legislation and warned that it “does nothing but create discrimination” and violates both the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both ratified by Burkina Faso.
