France, Dec. 5 -- The reform, approved at a Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday, reverses the country's 2018 abolition of the death penalty and forms part of a wider legal overhaul undertaken by the junta, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore.

The bill must still pass parliament before entering into force.

Burkina Faso's Justice Minister, Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, said the revisions were designed to create a justice system that responded to "the deep aspirations of our people".

He also argued that the absence of capital punishment had created fertile ground for insecurity, claiming that armed groups used the abolition to reassure young recruits and invoked international conventions to shield themselves in the event of arrest.

Without toug...