Tatchell vows to push for Mugabe arrest

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell today said he will press authorities to arrest Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on torture charges when he arrives in Australia for an international summit next month.

Australian-born Tatchell said Mugabe should be arrested under international laws against torture.

‘‘Soon after I arrive in Brisbane on September 28, I will seek to meet and persuade the Australian attorney-general and the Brisbane police chief to arrest President Mugabe for the crime of torture under the UN Convention Against Torture 1984.

"Australia has signed, ratified and pledged to enforce the convention,’’ Tatchell said.

Mugabe will be among dozens of leaders from the Commonwealth gathering in Brisbane for an October 6-9 summit.

Tatchell said he would present police and the government with affidavits from Zimbabweans who claim to have been tortured by Mugabe’s regime.

‘‘These affidavits provide the legal basis for Mugabe’s arrest under Australian law,’’ he told Australian Associated Press.

Mugabe has long been a target of Tatchell because of his outspoken criticism of homosexuality.

Mugabe has described homosexuals as ‘‘lower than dogs and pigs’’ in a campaign reviling same sex partners in Zimbabwe, where homosexual acts are illegal.

Tatchell said if Australian authorities refused to arrest Mugabe he would try to get a court order himself.

The British-based activist was assaulted by Mugabe’s bodyguards in Brussels in February when he attempted a symbolic citizen’s arrest of Mugabe for human rights violations.