President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi has triggered a diplomatic row with Washington following his idea of rounding up of all gay persons and stoning them in public.
While addressing residents in the country’s eastern Cankuzo Province, last Friday, President Ndayishimiye said, “I think that if we find these kinds of people in Burundi, it is better to take them to a stadium and stone them.”
He was responding to questions from Journalists and members of the public adding, “That’s what they deserve.”
The United States on Friday criticized Burundi’s President Ndayishimiye’s remarks that seek to remove gay persons on Burundi soil.
Matthew Miller the US State Department spokesman said, “the United States is deeply troubled by President Ndayishimiye’s remarks targeting certain vulnerable and marginalized Burundians.”
“We call on all of Burundi’s leaders to respect the inherent dignity and inalienable rights, including equal access to justice, of every member of Burundian society,” Matthew said.
A gay human rights activist in Burundi who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, expressed concern that the president’s statement sets the stage for extrajudicial killings and “worsens an already unsafe environment.”
Landlocked, Burundi has had a shaky relationship with Washington which imposed sanctions in 2015 over a deadly crackdown on dissent as Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza controversially sought a third term.
In his remarks, President Ndayishimiye also railed against Western countries that, he suggested, had conditioned aid on accepting gay rights.
“Let them keep it,” President Ndayishimiye said of their assistance.
African government officials have in the recent months made provocative statements directed at L.G.B.T.Q. people. Many African nations are increasingly proposing tougher legislation where consensual same-sex intimacy among adults can already be penalized with up to two years in prison.
Uganda last year passed what activists called one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world, which prescribed the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” a term that was defined as homosexual acts committed by anyone infected with H.I.V. or those involving children, disabled people or anyone who was coerced.
