The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe wasted no time last week in coming out against the arrest and detention of 44 LGBT activists there. Now the United States' State Department has released a condemnation of its own:
The
United States condemns the Government of Zimbabwe's violent arrest and
detention of 44 members of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe on August 11
and a second raid by police
on August 20. Several of these members sustained serious medical
injuries from the attacks and were detained without charges. The
Government of Zimbabwe has also targeted these same members' homes and
singled out their families for interrogation and harassment.The
United States stands in solidarity with Zimbabwe's civil society,
including LGBT activists. We are deeply concerned when security forces
become an instrument of political
violence used against citizens exercising their democratic rights. We
call upon the Government of Zimbabwe to end this pattern of abuse and to
eradicate the culture of impunity that allows members of the security
sector to continue to violate the rights of
the Zimbabwean people.
Unfortunately, Zimbabwe most likely won't clean up its act until after long-ruling President Robert Mugabe is out of office, and even then it is most likely he'll install a loyalist who abides by his hateful politics.
