Mugabe escapes UN censure, again

Mugabe escapes UN censure, again

MUGABE

• UN resolution will sober up Mugabe

• The trial of Robert Mugabe

• Black murder, white murder

• Undermining mistrust to free Zimbabwe

• 'Get Mugabe to the Hague'

By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE avoided the top UN human rights watchdog's censure over media restrictions imposed by President Robert Mugabe's autocratic regime and political violence plaguing the increasingly impoverished country.

The U.N. Human Rights Commission voted 27-24 to block the European Union-sponsored resolution with a procedural "no-action" motion.

The resolution had expressed concern at "politically motivated violence including killings; torture; sexual and other forms of violence against women; incidents of arbitrary arrest; restrictions on the independence of the judiciary; and restrictions on the freedom of opinion, expression, association and assembly."

Mugabe's government has sought to crack down on dissent since his disputed re-election in 2002 amid reports of vote rigging and intimidation.

Opposition leaders, trade unionists and independent journalists have been arrested, and the country's only independent daily newspaper has been shut down under tough new media laws.

Mugabe has also been accused of packing the courts with sympathetic judges.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
editor@newzimbabwe.com