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Sunday, Jun 26, 2005

International

International

African Union defends Mugabe

Ewen MacAskill, Vikram Dodd and Eric Allison

Britain frustrated at the failure of South Africa and other A.U. members to act against Harare

LONDON: The African Union on Friday rejected calls by Britain and the U.S. to intervene in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe is conducting a slum clearance programme that has left hundreds of thousands homeless.

Desmond Orjiako, a spokesman for the A.U., which represents 53 African states, said: ``I do not think it is proper for the A.U. Commission to start running the internal affairs of members' states.'' He suggested there were various good reasons for the demolitions, including preventing Harare from turning into a slum.

The U.K.'s Foreign Office, which has been leading a campaign against Mr Mugabe, has expressed frustration over the last four years at the failure of South Africa and other A.U. members to act against — or even criticise — Mr Mugabe in spite of human rights abuses and rigged elections.

But Britain's position was weakened on Friday by a Zimbabwean archbishop, who urged it to stop sending failed asylum seekers back to the Mugabe regime.

The Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius A Ncube, said those deported would be persecuted by the Mugabe regime as ``traitors''. ``People who were asylum seekers in Britain and are returned have been detained by police in Zimbabwe, some being tortured and forced to confess that they were in anti-Government activities.''

The U.K.'s Home Office has temporarily backed down on its threat to send an opponent of Mr Mugabe back to Zimbabwe, which critics said could have led to his possible torture or death.

But on Friday it refused to reverse its policy of deporting people to whom Britain had refused asylum, which has triggered hunger strikes by at least 16 Zimbabweans held in detention.

The most high-profile detenu, Crespen Kulingi, who was due to be deported on Saturday, has been given a reprieve. Mr Kulingi (32), is an adviser to the leader of Zimbabwe's main Opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change. He claims he suffered injuries so severe at the hands of Mr Mugabe's henchmen while detained in Zimbabwe that he is now in a wheelchair.

The delay in deporting him came after an intervention by the British Labour MP Kate Hoey.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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