Mugabe Administration
Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe since 1987, has actively carried out actions against LGBT people and spoken out in public against homosexuality.
Mugabe received worldwide criticism for comments he made on 1 August 1995 after coming across a stall set up by the Association of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) at the country's annual International Book Fair in Harare. GALZ, founded in 1989 to facilitate communication within the gay community, had not received much attention from the government beforehand. Mugabe's comments after seeing the stall at the book fair were:
| “ | "I find it extremely outrageous and repugnant to my human conscience that such immoral and repulsive organizations, like those of homosexuals, who offend both against the law of nature and the morals of religious beliefs espoused by our society, should have any advocates in our midst and elsewhere in the world." | ” |
Two weeks later during Zimbabwe's annual independence celebrations Mugabe proclaimed:
| “ | "It degrades human dignity. It's unnatural, and there is no question ever of allowing these people to behave worse than dogs and pigs. If dogs and pigs do not do it, why must human beings? We have our own culture, and we must re-dedicate ourselves to our traditional values that make us human beings. … What we are being persuaded to accept is sub-animal behavior and we will never allow it here. If you see people parading themselves as Lesbians and Gays, arrest them and hand them over to the police!" | ” |
Since then, President Mugabe has increased the political repression of homosexuals under Zimbabwe's sodomy laws. Mugabe has blamed gays for many of Zimbabwe's problems and views homosexuality as an "un-African" and immoral culture brought by colonists and practiced by only "a few whites" in his country. During his 82nd birthday celebrations, Mugabe told supporters to "leave whites to do that." Mugabe has instructed journalists, most of whom work for state-owned institutions, to report unfavorably about gay relationships. Some critics believe that Mugabe is using gays as a scapegoat to deflect attention from Zimbabwe's economic problems.
GALZ has been the target of infiltration by government spies and extortion attempts by both strangers and casual acquaintances. Homosexuals have been repeatedly bribed, detained, beaten and sometimes raped by the authorities. The Central Intelligence Organisation has reportedly been used to beat and arrest homosexuals.
In 1996, former President Canaan Banana was arrested based on accusations made during the murder trial of his former bodyguard, Jefta Dube, and found guilty of eleven charges of sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent assault in 1998. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, defrocked, and served 6 months in an open prison.
In 1999, British gay rights activists, led by Peter Tatchell, attempted a citizen's arrest of Mugabe for the crime of torture. In 2001, Tatchell again tried to arrest the president in Brussels but was beaten unconscious by Mugabe's security guards.
Read more about this topic: LGBT Rights In Zimbabwe