Burundi Faces Criticism Over Law Banning Homosexuality

As many countries around the world are relaxing laws which previously restricted the rights enjoyed by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, the East African country of Burundi has in recent months made homosexuality illegal.

In a move which organizations such as Amnesty International greeted with some dismay, in April of this year the government of Burundi decided to outlaw homosexuality. What made the new law even more perplexing was the fact that it was announced at the same time as the death penalty was abolished in the country, a move that was widely welcomed by human rights groups around the world. Indeed, in its statement at the time of the announcements, Amnesty noted that the abolition of the death penalty helped strengthen "the international trend away from executions". With torture, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity also declared illegal a significant step forward seemed to have been taken. But the law making homosexuality illegal was denounced by Amnesty on the grounds that not only did it violate Burundi's obligations under international human rights laws, it also violated the country's own constitution which guarantees the right to privacy. Now, in a new report issued by Human Rights Watch, an international organization headquartered in New York City and in existence since 1978, Burundi faces fresh criticism for making the lives of the LGBT community even more difficult than they were before the law was passed. Georgette Gagnon heads up Human Rights Watch in Africa and she highlighted the fact that the efforts of LGBT activists in Burundi to achieve equality for their community had been all but destroyed by the new legislation, saying:

The government needs to listen to these voices to understand the harm it is doing to Burundians with its state-sanctioned discrimination. The government should rescind this law and instead work to promote equality and understanding

The report notes that the LGBT community in Burundi faces various difficulties. Principally, violence from their families and youths in their local community and the possible loss of both their jobs and their homes. Not that Burundi is alone amongst African nations in its strong disapproval of homosexuality. Many other countries, whose laws were shaped during the days of the British Empire, have actually extended laws against sodomy to include consensual sex between gay and lesbian couples. According to Scott Long of Human Rights Watch, it is the Victorian view of morality introduced by the British that is still influencing many countries in Africa when it comes to shaping legislation and the attitudes that prevail in their societies. Religion too is deemed to be a factor and CNN quotes Professor Olatunde Ogunyemi, from Grambling, Louisiana as saying of Africa in general:

Christianity and Islam are the dominant religions in the continent, and in some cases, constitutions are based on religion, which justifies making it illegal

Africa's most populous country Nigeria is another whose laws ban homosexual activity whilst South Africa has become something of an exception in the region, including in the constitution it wrote after the apartheid period laws specifically banning discrimination based on someone's sexual orientation.