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.