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UK increases pressure on Zimbabwe | UK increases pressure on Zimbabwe |
(about 1 hour later) | |
UK foreign secretary Margaret Beckett is pressing for action over attacks on opposition activists in Zimbabwe. | |
She has asked the UN Human Rights Council to track down those responsible for the attacks - allegedly carried out in police custody. | |
She also wants the EU to make sanctions against Zimbabwe more effective. | |
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested after a rally and appeared in court days later with a badly bruised face and head wound. | |
Mr Mugabe blamed the opposition for the violence and told critics to "go hang". | Mr Mugabe blamed the opposition for the violence and told critics to "go hang". |
But Mrs Beckett said president Mugabe appeared to be indifferent to the "real horror" felt across the world at the attacks. | |
She said the UN human rights council was "the right place to call for action against the government of Robert Mugabe, and so that is what we're doing". | |
Britain was also trying to "gather information about the people who are personally responsible for the beatings" and the alleged torture of Mr Tsvangirai and other Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists, she added. | |
International 'horror' | International 'horror' |
She told the BBC's Politics Show that Mr Mugabe should be held responsible for the violence. | |
"He is in charge of the government, he's made it very clear that this is a deliberate act of policy on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe, he is indifferent I think to the real horror that's felt right across the international community," she said. | |
Labour MP, Kate Hoey, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on Zimbabwe welcomed Margaret Beckett's comments but said Tony Blair should get more involved. | |
"What we want to see now of course is the Prime Minister directly engaging with President Mbeki of South Africa, who is the key player in all of this and is the one person who could make the difference," she said. | |
"He hasn't even yet condemned what's happened and I think that's something that the prime minister and Mbeki should be having a conversation about. " | |
On Friday Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC, left hospital in a wheelchair. | |
Badly bruised | Badly bruised |
He and colleagues were arrested after police broke up a banned rally on Sunday and was seen two days later with a badly bruised face and stitches in a head wound. | |
He told the BBC that Mr Mugabe's government could not defend itself against what it had done. | |
Mr Tsvangirai arrived at court with a bruised face and head wound | Mr Tsvangirai arrived at court with a bruised face and head wound |
"It has strengthened the view nationally and internationally that this regime is a rogue regime which is behaving in a manner which is intolerant," Mr Tsvangirai said. | "It has strengthened the view nationally and internationally that this regime is a rogue regime which is behaving in a manner which is intolerant," Mr Tsvangirai said. |
"And we can not move forward with this regime." | "And we can not move forward with this regime." |
Four other MDC officials remain in hospital. | Four other MDC officials remain in hospital. |
British Foreign Office minister, Lord Triesman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Mugabe's actions looked "to be bordering on crimes against humanity". | British Foreign Office minister, Lord Triesman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Mugabe's actions looked "to be bordering on crimes against humanity". |
He dismissed calls for military intervention in Zimbabwe but supported calls for those responsible for assaulting Mr Tsvangirai and the other activists to be identified and added to the list of those subject to an EU travel ban and assets freeze. | |
He also said President Mbeki and other African leaders should be applying more pressure on the government in Harare. | |
But President Mugabe said there had been no Western criticism of the MDC, which he said had instigated the violence. | But President Mugabe said there had been no Western criticism of the MDC, which he said had instigated the violence. |
"When they criticise the government when it tries to prevent violence and punish perpetrators of that violence we take the position that they can go hang," he said. | "When they criticise the government when it tries to prevent violence and punish perpetrators of that violence we take the position that they can go hang," he said. |
Police have blamed the MDC for what they said was a firebomb attack on a Harare police station which left two policewomen in hospital. | Police have blamed the MDC for what they said was a firebomb attack on a Harare police station which left two policewomen in hospital. |