Zimbabwe: Update to ZWE35597.E of 21 November 2000 on Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ); whether membership is restricted to gays and lesbians; whether gays and non-gays have been arrested for membership in GALZ; and incidents of GALZ members being sexually assaulted by members of the Zimbabwean Police Force

The information contained in this Response was provided by the Programme Officer of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) in Harare, Zimbabwe (30 Nov. 2000). According to this source,

Membership of the organisation is not restricted to lesbians and gay men; nevertheless, heterosexual people who wish to join must support the aims and objectives of GALZ ...

No one has been arrested simply on the grounds of he or she being a member of GALZ. Men are arrested on account of alleged homosexual acts or because they exhibit homosexual 'traits' in public. GALZ exists legally under the law of Zimbabwe as an association and there is nothing in Zimbabwean law that prevents people forming a membership organisation around sexual issues. This means that the police would have no law at their disposal to arrest someone for being a member of GALZ: it would be thrown out of court immediately and the police would risk being sued for wrongful arrest both individually and severally.

The police have acknowledged that it is not possible to arrest a woman for sexual acts with another woman -not even if the sexual act occurs in public. In the recent case of Banana v State, the supreme court judgement set in stone that sexual acts between two women do not constitute a crime in Zimbabwe. This should not be viewed as decriminalisation but rather as abrogation by disuse since no cases involving sexual acts between women have come before courts in this country.

There was one incident where the police arrested a member of GALZ because he "looked gay." They attempted to use a law which prohibits men from wearing women's clothing in public. They claimed that the arrested person's shoes were women's shoes - in fact they were unisex clogs. The individual was harassed and gun shots were fired ... The GALZ member was threatened with incarceration for the night accompanied by the words and "we know what will happen to you and you will get what you deserve" ...

The arrested member was immediately released when it was clear that legal assistance was at hand and that the police and the arresting officer risked a law suit for wrongful arrest and harassment. GALZ started proceedings against the police but the case was dropped when the arrested member refused to appear in court fearing the publicity and the effect on his mother ...

Another young man was assaulted by the police and then driven to the outskirts of the city and abandoned there. He obtained a medical report which confirmed that the injuries were consistent with a brutal attack. GALZ offered to take up the case but the young man declined, again fearful of the effect that the publicity might have on his mother ...

There is a strong tendency for the police to arrest victims of blackmail rather than the blackmailer himself ... The Magistrates court has, on occasion, exhibited extreme prejudice against GALZ ...

There were no reported incidents of cases of sexual brutality against members of GALZ by the police. However, there is tangible evidence to support the fact that members of the police force are in league with blackmailers and use their position to threaten older professional gay men. In two cases which came before GALZ, the police offered to withdraw the docket once money was paid over ... the demands were dropped once GALZ become involved (ibid.).

This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Reference

Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) [Harare]. 30 November 2000. Correspondence.