Burundian authorities detain 24 people for “homosexual practices”.
The Burundian authorities recently arrested 24 people accused of “homosexual practices”, a judicial source and a human rights activist told AFP on Friday.
Source: AFP
The arrests took place on February 23 in the country’s capital, Gitega, where members of MUCO Burundi, an NGO that fights against AIDS, held a seminar, That activist explained to AFP that he wanted to preserve his anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“They are accused of homosexual practices and of inciting adolescent boys and girls to homosexual practices,” said the activist, denouncing “absurd and baseless accusations”.
The governor of Gitega province, Venant Manirambona, confirmed the arrests but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
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The police found on the premises condoms and documents on the rights of homosexual people, A judicial source told AFP, confirming the 24 arrests on suspicion of “homosexual practices” and “incitement to homosexual practices.”
Burundi Penal Code of 2009 punishes “sexual relations with people of the same sex” with between three months and two years in prison.
President Évariste Ndayishimiye charged against the collective on Wednesday: “I ask all Burundians to curse those who indulge in homosexuality because God cannot bear it. They must be banned, treated as pariahs in our country, because they will bring us curses, ”he declared.
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In East Africa and in many countries on the continent, LGBTQ people live discriminated against in strongly conservative societies, both Christian and Muslim majority, in which homosexuality remains a taboo subject.
