US condemns Zimbabwe anti-gay actions

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesperson
For Immediate Release August 23, 2012
2012/1337

STATEMENT BY VICTORIA NULAND, SPOKESPERSON

Arrest and Harassment of Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered Activists in Zimbabwe

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.