Captain Ibrahim Traoré did not mince words. In a televised interview in late September 2026, he announced that Burkina Faso will apply the death penalty to anyone caught spying, aiding spies, or colluding with foreign subversive networks.

"If we catch a spy again, the death penalty will be applied," he said. "The accomplices too, if we catch them, it's the same thing. We will not joke about this" .‌

He was not speaking in abstract terms. Burkina Faso severed diplomatic relations with France on June 26, 2026, accusing Paris of "incessant activism" against Burkinabè interests and support for "subversive networks" . Traoré explained that diplomatic missions of former colonial powers often serve as cover for introducing intelligence agents into the country . Past agents, he said, had been arrested and simply expelled. That era is over.‌‌

The law was already in place. In December 2025, Burkina Faso's Council of Ministers adopted a new penal code reinstating the death penalty for high treason, terrorism, and espionage . The death penalty had been abolished in 2018. The last execution was in 1988 .‌‌‌

Traoré extended the warning beyond spies. He said he has ordered the maximum penalty for smugglers who bring explosives and detonators into the country, because those materials end up with armed groups making improvised explosive devices. "Those who import them must bear direct criminal responsibility for the deaths caused by their trafficking," he said .‌

Human rights organizations have warned that the death penalty could be used as a tool of political repression in a country where civil society has been silenced, journalists arrested, and critics conscripted . The government's response is that it is fighting a war and will not allow networks—foreign or domestic—to undermine it from within.‌

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