Zimbabwe’s nonagenarian outspoken President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the country for over three decades, went on a tirade against extended human rights to gay people in his country during a speech at the UN General Assembly on Monday.
“We reject attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs,” said Mugabe, rallying against perceived international interference in his country’s affairs. “We are not gays,” he declared.
Mugabe’s heated statement drew audible laughter from some in the crowd, but the comments are no laughing matter: Homosexuality is a crime in Zimbabwe. Those found “guilty” of sexual acts with a member of the same sex can be imprisoned or fined. International human rights groups have condemned the policies that allow LGBT Zimbabweans to be regularly attacked and harassed by officials.
Mugabe, 91, has been in power for 35 years and has taken a personal stance against homosexuality in the country. After the U.S. legalized same-sex marriage across the nation earlier this year, Mugabe lashed out saying, “Even Satan wasn’t gay.”
“Respecting and upholding human rights is an obligation of all states and is enshrined in the United Nations charter,” Mugabe said. “No where does the charter arrogate the right to some to sit in judgement over others in carrying out this universal obligation.”
While speaking to the UN, he also denounced what he sees as “illegal” sanctions imposed on his country by the U.S. and the European Union, calling for their immediate and unconditional removal. “We have peace in Zimbabwe just now. We don’t want war. We don’t want interference. We don’t want to hear of regime change at all,” he said.
Mugabe also believed interference in the domestic affairs of independent nations has triggered the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. He said the journey of those seeking shelter from instability and war has been caused by “destabilizing policies of external forces.”
