about burkina faso

official name: Burkina Faso
capital: Ouagadougou
head of state: President Blaise Compaore
state: multi-party democracy
population: 13.6 million
independence: from France in 1960
languages: French (official) and other Sudanic languages
religion: traditional African 40%, Muslim 50%, Christian (mostly Catholic) 10%
currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF)
media: NA

legal wise

status of homosexuality: legal above age of consent
age of consent: 21 homosexual 13 heterosexual
laws covering homosexual activity: No sodomy laws, underage sexual activity is punishable with up to 3 years in prison
background information and government attitudes:
9.95: At UN 4th Conference on Women in Burkina Faso opposed the (unsuccessful) proposal for inclusion of references to "sexual orientation" in the draft "Platform for Action" (DS).

After four years of revolutionary regime ended in a bloody coup led by Captain Blaise Compaor� on October 15, 1987, Burkina Faso entered a process of liberalization. At the end of the 1980s, internal and external pressures resulted in further democratic reforms. The adoption of a new constitution in June 1991 was a major step in this process.

Many opposition parties, however, raised criticisms about the new constitution, which they claimed invested too much power in the executive and unfairly gave the incumbent president the right to manage the transition to the constitutional regime. Therefore, they urged President Compaor� to convene a national conference - a constituent assembly with sovereign power to amend the new constitution - and form a government of national unity to manage the democratic transition.

Confronted with President Compaor�'s steadfast refusal to satisfy their demands, all major opposition parties boycotted the December 1991 presidential elections, resulting in an easy victory for the president, although voter turnout was less than 25 percent. His party also won the May 1992 and May 1997 legislative elections, in which the opposition participated but accused the ruling party of fraud.

The opposition largely chose to boycott the November 1998 presidential elections, although political leaders from two small parties challenged President Compaor�, who was nevertheless re-elected with 88 percent of the total votes.

The murder of the well-known journalist Norbert Zongo on December 13, 1998, launched the country into a deep socio-political crisis. A movement led by civil society groups and opposition parties protested the failure to bring Zongo's assassins to justice. The crisis, which shook the regime to its foundations, paved the way for a reinforcement of the democratic process.

Political and electoral reforms adopted in 2000 and 2001 introduced significant changes following intensive consultations among political parties. This made possible the reestablishment of a minimum of confidence between political parties and the introduction of more transparent and effective electoral rules. The result of this was a significant gain in the May 2002 legislative elections for opposition parties, which combined won 54 out of 111 seats.

Despite progress, democratization in Burkina Faso is far from complete. In spite of the electoral reforms implemented since 2001, the people's will is not fully expressed due in part to electoral corruption and the absence of equal campaigning opportunities for all candidates. The excessive power of the executive and the ruling party disrupts the balance of power among the branches of government.

In contrast, freedom of expression and civil society groups are relatively well protected, with thousands of associations and a pluralist and sometimes critical press is in operation. Civil liberties are generally guaranteed, although torture continues and often goes unpunished. The principles of equality and non-discrimination are legally ensured, but in practice some groups, such as women, have suffered from inequalities.

The rule of law is also constitutionally guaranteed but undermined by the judiciary's lack of independence and credibility and the weak democratic control over the police and military forces. An arsenal of laws intended to ensure transparency and to fight corruption lacks effectiveness, and in practice, corruption continues to increase because the political will to tackle it remains weak.

From Freedom House's Countries at the Crossroads: 2005 A Survey of Democratic Governance www.freedomhouse.org/research/crossroads/2005/burkina_faso2005.pdf

communication

mainline telephones: 36, 000 (1997)
cellular telephones: 1, 503 (1997)
internet country code: .bf
internet service providers: 1 (2000)
internet users: 4, 000 (2000)

links and contacts
N/A

un jeune bourkinab� parle de l,hommosexualit� chez lui