by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
The European Union, in a declaration issued by its presidency, has criticized the African nation of Burundi for its recent criminalization of gay sex.
"The criminalisation of consensual same-sex relations presents a violation of the rights to privacy, equality and non-discrimination as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," the EU said May 11. "Adoption of such a norm is contradictory to Burundi's obligations under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter of Human and People's Rights."
The declaration also says bans on gay sex impede the fight against HIV by driving marginalized communities underground.
In addition to the 27 member nations of the EU, the declaration was supported by Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia and Ukraine.
