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Harare bans gays from human rights workshop
ZimOnline
September 22, 2006

http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=155

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s government has banned gays and lesbians from a United Nations facilitated workshop to discuss the setting up of statutory commission to monitor human rights in Zimbabwe.

The four-day consultative workshop that began in the resort town of Kariba on Thursday will lay the groundwork for the establishment of a Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission to be appointed by the state but which Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa says shall have autonomy to probe human rights violations and act on findings.

Chinamasa, other senior government officials, local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative Augustino Zacharias are attending the workshop that was twice postponed after civic society objected to the process saying it could lead to a commission subservient to the state.

The National Association of NGOs (NANGOs) said it was participating in part because the government had revised the workshop agenda and also because it believed dialogue was critical to resolving Zimbabwe’s humanitarian and human rights crisis.

But NANGOs, which represents the country’s pro-democracy and civic bodies, lamented the decision by the government to ban the Gays and Lesbian Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) and said the ban was an abrogation of the rights of homosexual people.

NANGO spokesperson Fambai Ngirande told ZimOnline: "We have received communication that GALZ will not be part of this gathering. We are concerned and we have raised a complaint that they must be allowed to enjoy their freedom of association as any other individuals. This is an abrogation of their rights."

Chinamasa, who is spearheading the formation of the state rights commission, could not be immediately reached to shed light on why the government had banned the GALZ from the Kariba meeting.

The UNDP’s Zacharias was also not available to comment on the matter.

But the Harare administration is well-known for its anti-homosexual stance with Mugabe at one time describing gays and lesbians as "worse than pigs and dogs".

While same-sex couples can enjoy each other’s company in the privacy of their homes, it is almost impossible and also dangerous for such couples to venture out and openly declare their relationships in public. A large section of Zimbabweans remain averse to same-sex relationships.

An exhibition stand set aside for the GALZ at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair last August was trashed by unknown people – suspected to be state agents – forcing the group to pull out of the exhibition. - ZimOnline

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