BURUNDI PRESIDENT CALLS FOR STONING OF GAY COUPLES

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Burundiā€™s President, Evariste Ndayishimiye, launched a virulent anti-gay tirade on Friday, saying same-sex couples should be publicly stoned.

He also lashed out at Western countries that press other nations to allow gay rights or risk losing aid.

Homosexuality in Burundi, a conservative Christian country in East Africa, has been criminalised since 2009 with prison terms of up to two years for consensual same-sex acts.

Ndayishimiye, a Catholic, described the marriage between same-sex couples as an ā€œabominable practice.ā€

ā€œPersonally, I think if we see these kinds of individuals in Burundi we should put them in a stadium and stone them. And it would not be a sin for those who do,ā€ Ndayishimiye said in response to a question at a public event broadcast by Burundian media in the east of the country.

He also criticised Western countries that urge smaller nations to allow gay marriage or risk losing aid, saying, ā€œLet them keep their help, let them keep it.ā€

Burundians living abroad who have ā€œchosen the devilā€ and practise homosexuality should ā€œnot come back,ā€ he added.

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 worldā€™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 Ugandaā€™s constitutional court.

In March this year, Burundi charged 24 people with ā€œhomosexual practicesā€ 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 ā€œpariahs.ā€

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 Burundiā€™s isolation under his predecessorā€™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

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