Raymond Buys died two weeks after this picture was taken Two men are on trial for murder over the death of a teenager who was allegedly tortured at a “conversion camp” in South Africa. Raymond Buys, 15, died two weeks after being put on life support two months into a three-month "training course" provided by Alex de Koker's Echo Wild Game Rangers camp. Alex de Koker assured parents he could help teens to “man up,” at his camp in the bush, south of Johannesburg. When he was taken to hospital, Buys had brain damage and a broken arm and bruises, and had emerged severely malnourished, dehydrated and covered in cigarette burns, according to The Telegraph. One 19-year-old source claimed that Buys was chained to his bed every night, not allowed to use the toilet and on one occasion, was forced to eat his own faeces. He claims he would also be beaten when he failed to carry out manual labour jobs, and was tied to a chair naked with his head covered in a pillowcase, and electrocuted him with a stun gun. Gay Star News reports two others, 25-year-old Erich Calitz and Nicolas Van Der Walt, 19, reportedly died of severe brain injuries in 2007 after enrolling at the camp, where they were promised to "be turned into men." GLBT activist Melanie Nathan says the three young men were all perceived as ‘gay and clearly effeminate’. “With a little bit of digging, the gay reparative undertones start to emerge.” Echo Wild Game Rangers camp employees de Koker and Michael Erasmus are now on trial for charges of murder, child abuse and neglect in connection with Buys' death. The trial has been postponed until the end of May.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 1st May 2013 - 12:34pm