Burkina Faso has sentenced an individual identified as K.M. to a two-year prison term and imposed a fine of approximately $3,580 under its newly enacted law governing same-sex relationships.
Following the completion of the prison term, the convict will be required to vacate Burkina Faso. This judgment follows the approval of a ban by junta leader Ibrahim Traore in September 2025.
The new legislation prescribes penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment and substantial fines for such relationships.
Same-sex relations were not previously subject to criminal penalties. Burkina Faso’s government passed a law in September banning homosexuality, with those found guilty facing two to five years in prison.
The law was unanimously passed by 71 unelected members of the country’s transitional government, which has been in place since the military seized power under President Ibrahim Traore’s leadership after two coups in 2022.
