Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye made vehement anti-gay remarks, advocating for public stoning of same-sex couples during a speech on Friday.
He strongly criticized Western nations pressuring countries to embrace gay rights, threatening aid cuts for non-compliance.
In this conservative Christian East African nation, homosexuality has been outlawed since 2009, attracting up to two-year prison terms for consensual same-sex acts. President Ndayishimiye, a Catholic, condemned same-sex marriage as an “abominable practice.”
“Personally, I believe those individuals should be gathered in a stadium in Burundi and stoned, without it being considered a sin,” he proclaimed during a public event broadcast by Burundian media in the eastern part of the country.
He rebuked Western nations insisting on gay marriage acceptance, asserting, “Let them keep their aid.”
Ndayishimiye also emphasized that Burundians engaging in homosexuality abroad should not return.
Homosexuality is illegal in many East African countries, which have a history of repression and stigmas against gay people, often encouraged by conservative Muslims and Christians.
Uganda in May adopted what has been described as one of the world’s harshest laws against homosexuality, prompting outrage among rights groups and Western powers.
In response, Washington has said it would remove Uganda from a key trade deal and has imposed visa restrictions on some officials, while the World Bank suspended new loans to the country.
The legislation is currently being challenged at Uganda’s constitutional court.
In March this year, Burundi charged 24 people with “homosexual practices” in a crackdown on same-sex relationships.
The move followed a call by Ndayishimiye for citizens to root out homosexuality and treat gay people as “pariahs”.
Ndayishimiye took power in June 2020 after the death of President Pierre Nkurunziza and has been lauded by the international community for slowly ending years of Burundi’s isolation under his predecessor’s chaotic and bloody rule.
But he has failed to improve a wretched human rights record and the country of 12 million people remains one of the poorest on the planet.
AFP