Sep 23, 2006Articles: Harare bans gays from human rights workshop
By VZ
(Johannesburg, South Africa) The Zimbabwean government has banned gays and lesbians from a United Nations workshop on the creation of a commission to monitor human rights there, ZimOnline reported on Friday.
(Johannesburg, South Africa) The Zimbabwean government has banned gays and lesbians from a United Nations workshop on the creation of a commission to monitor human rights there, ZimOnline reported on Friday.
"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.
The exclusion of the Gays and Lesbian Association of Zimbabwe from the four-day workshop was "an abrogation of their rights," Ngirande said.
Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and UN Development Programme representative in Zimbabwe Augustino Zacharias could not be reached for comment.
The administration of President Robert Mugabe is well-known for its anti-homosexual stance.
The workshop started in Kariba on Thursday and is expected to lay the groundwork for the creation of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.
The state-appointed commission would have the autonomy to probe human rights violations in Zimbabwe, according to Chinamasa, who attended the event with Zacharias and senior Zimbabwe government officials.
