An organization representing gays and lesbians has been barred from the Zimbabwe International Book Fair as a result of government pressure. Organizers of the fair on 29 August 1995 stopped Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) from running a stand at the fair, the theme of which is Human Rights and Freedom of Expression. Opening […]
An organization representing gays and lesbians has been barred
from the Zimbabwe International Book Fair as a result of
government pressure. Organizers of the fair on 29 August 1995
stopped Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) from running a stand
at the fair, the theme of which is Human Rights and Freedom of
Expression.
Opening the fair on 1 August, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
said homosexuals were “sodomists and sexual perverts” who should
not have any rights, the South African Press Association (SAPA)
reports. “I find it extremely outrageous and repugnant to my
human conscience that such immoral and repulsive organizations,
like those of homosexuals that offend against the laws of nature
and the morals of religious beliefs espoused by society, should
have any advocates in our midst,” Mugabe is quoted as saying.
Earlier in the day, secret police visited the fair and tore down
posters protesting against GALZ’s exclusion, SAPA reports. Four
trustees of the fair have resigned because of the decision to
exclude GALZ, and questions now hang over the future of the fair.
Explaining her decision to resign from the fair’s board of 18
trustees, Susan McMillan, general manager of the United
Kingdom-based publisher Harper Collins, said on 31 July that her
fellow trustees had “no grasp of human rights….As long as this
position remains (to exclude groups like GALZ), the Book Fair
trust will be regarded with cynicism and derision, and I cannot
put my name to such a sham,” McMillan told SAPA. Fair executive
director Trish Mbanga last week said the decision held
“disastrous consequences” for the organization.
Meanwhile, SAPA reports that the Publishers Association of South
Africa (PASA) will advise its members not to attend next year’s
fair unless the Zimbabwean government guarantees freedom of
expression. “South Africa’s own history of discrimination and
censorship compels PASA to warn of the dangerous consequences of
applying authoritarian measures such as these,” said PASA.
According to SAPA, GALZ was granted a stand at the fair several
months ago, but last week the government’s Director of
Information, Bornwell Chakoadza, insisted the group be barred
because they would be “forcing gay and lesbian values on to the
Zimbabwean culture.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
fair
which contradict with his own — an intolerance which has grave
implications for freedom of expression in Zimbabwe
Appeals To
President Robert Mugabe
Private Bag 7700
Causeway
Harare, Zimbabwe
Telex: 24478
Bornwell Chakoadza
Director of Information
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
PO Box 8232
Causeway
Harare, Zimbabwe
Fax: +263 4 707213
Tel: +263 4 703891
Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.
