Mugabe banned me, says UN torture inquiry leader

The United Nations’ torture investigator blamed Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe for banning him from entering the country today.

Manfred Nowak was forced to return to South Africa in what he described as a “serious diplomatic incident” that reflected a split in Zimbabwe’s coalition government.

“There are certainly some parts of the government who do not want me to assess the current conditions of torture,” he said, adding he thought Mugabe was behind the decision.

“There are strong indications that this was not just done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs without at least the knowledge or instruction by President Mugabe,” Mr Nowak said.

He had been due to meet Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, long Mugabe’s rival but now joined in a rocky coalition, at the start of a mission to investigate alleged attacks on Tsvangirai supporters by militants linked to Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party.

Mr Tsvangirai, a long-time opposition leader, joined the government with Mugabe in February, but withdrew temporarily from Cabinet earlier this month after accusing ZANU-PF of human rights violations.

Mr Nowak called his treatment “alarming” evidence of the split in the southern African country’s coalition government.

He had received word from other Zimbabwean officials that he should not go there only after he had flown from Austria to South Africa en route to neighbouring Zimbabwe.

However Mr Nowak flew to Zimbabwe yesterday, citing his invitation from Mr Tsvangirai. When he arrived, airport immigration officials told him the foreign ministry had not cleared his meeting with the prime minister, he said. He spent the night in the airport.

“I have never been treated as rudely by any government as the government of Zimbabwe,” he said.

Mr Nowak said that he contacted Mr Tsvangirai’s office from the airport, which sent a high-level delegation to fetch him but it was barred by airport security.

Mr Tsvangirai’s spokesman said the trip had been cleared and that he could not immediately say why he had been barred.

Under Zimbabwe’s coalition agreement, the foreign ministry is controlled by Mugabe’s party, in power for nearly three decades and accused of trampling on human rights and democracy.

Home Affairs, which oversees immigration as well as police, is shared by ZANU-PF and Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change after the rivals were unable to agree on which would control the key ministry.