Tutu blasts African silence on Zimbabwe crackdown

Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu today lambasted African silence about the brutal treatment of democracy activists in Zimbabwe.

“We Africans should hang our heads in shame,” said Tutu, who is widely regarded as South Africa’s moral conscience.

“How can what is happening in Zimbabwe elicit hardly a word of concern let alone condemnation from us leaders of Africa?” he said in Cape Town.

There has been mounting criticism of South Africa’s refusal to condemn the police arrest and beatings of scores of opposition demonstrators, including the main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The foreign ministry earlier this week urged the Zimbabwean government to ensure respect for “the rule of law” and work with the opposition toward “a lasting solution to the current challenges faced by the people of Zimbabwe”.

But there has been total silence from President Thabo Mbeki, who has consistently said South Africa will not meddle in its neighbour’s affairs and that quiet diplomacy is preferable to public condemnation.