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Gays
Barred From UN Sponsored Zimbabwe Human Rights Meeting
22 Sept 2006-
Harare- The Zimbabwean government has banned gays and lesbians from
participating in a United Nations sponsored meeting between the
government and human rights groups.
The 3-day
meeting taking place in Kariba was organized following UN concerns about
human rights abuses in the African nation. The meetings are expected to
lay the groundwork for an independent Human Rights Commission in
Zimbabwe.
NANGOs - the
National Association of Non Governmental Organizations - an umbrella
group which represents minority organizations in Zimbabwe and a key
component of any human rights commission says it was told by the
government of President Robert Mugabe that the Gay and Lesbian
Association of Zimbabwe could not attend.
"We are
concerned and we have raised a complaint that they must be allowed to
enjoy their freedom of association as any other individuals [do]," said
Fambai Ngirande, a spokesperson for NANGOs.
The United
Nations representative in Zimbabwe, Augustino Zacharias, did not return
calls seeking comment.
The 82 year old
Mugabe has been in power for the past 26 years.
He frequently
accuses gays of being "less than dogs". In February in a rambling speech
at a rally to celebrate the birthday Mugabe told the cheering throng
that same-sex marriage is a threat to mankind and condemned churches
that bless gay unions.
He said his
government would jail and clergy who performed a blessing ceremony for
gay couples in Zimbabwe. A month later he accused British gay rights
leader Peter Tatchell of being behind an alleged coup plot.
The government
showed off a cache of arms on Zimbabwe television that is claimed had
been seized at the home of one of the plotters.
Tatchell denied
the allegations although he has been a constant critic of Mugabe's
treatment of gays and other minorities.
On several
occasions he has attempted citizen’s arrests of the Zimbabwean
strongman.
In 1999, he and
other activists from the gay activist group OutRage! ambushed Mugabe’s
motorcade and attempted to seize him in a London street. In 2001, he
swooped on the President as he was leaving the Hilton Hotel in
Brussels. Tachell was beaten unconscious by Mugabe’s bodyguards.
In 2004 a
British court refused to issue an arrest warrant for the Zimbabwean
leader.
Tatchell
presented a 52 page brief that outlined a regime of brutality,
homophobia, and repression of civil rights. It detailed accounts of
political opponents being rounded up and imprisoned and quoted
extensively from reports made by more than a half dozen international
human rights groups and contains interviews with victims of the regime.
The judge ruled
that Mugabe is immune from foreign arrest since he is a head of state.
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