burundian gays thrilled as senate rejects anti-gay bill

Nomancotsho Pakade (BTM Link Programme Coordinator)

BURUNDI – 18 February 2008: In what many gay and human rights activists believe to be a preliminary victory for gay rights, 43 members of the Burundian House of Senate have voted against the amended Penal Code which among other things, criminalises homosexuality.

Only 36 senators voted for the code to be passed, and according to gay rights activists who have been following the matter, the bill will go back to the Burundian National Assembly for consideration.

This comes after activists put pressure on the Burundian government by writing letters to the Senate that indicated that criminalizing homosexuality would violate the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Burundi is a signatory member.

After the National Assembly voted in support of the penal code on 22 November 2008, the plenary session of Senators held on 17 February 2009 overturned its ruling.

If the Senate had approved the bill, the next step would be for the President to sign the penal code and enact it into law.

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, who has been rather silent during these discussions, would have been compelled to respond.

According to a 16 February statement by Human Rights Watch, amongst other possible options he would have to challenge the Penal Code by demanding a second reading or to submit the code to the Constitutional Court.

“LGBTI People in my country are so happy to hear that the Senate voted against that law, they have called me more than 41 times to confirm the news”, Georges Kanoma Chairperson of Association pour le Respect et les Droits des Homosexuels (ARDHO), a Burundian gay organisation, said. 

“Now the bill has to return to the National Assembly for confirmation, so we still have much work to do in the National Assembly”, he concluded.