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26 September 2007
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — South Africa's Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu on Tuesday launched a new attack on the authorities in Zimbabwe, saying their treatment of dissidents was reminiscent of the apartheid regime.
"The stories we are hearing of the harassment of political opponents, detentions without trial, torture and the denial of medical attention are reminiscent of our experiences at the hands of apartheid police," said Tutu, who was a leader of the struggle against South Africa's whites-only rule.
The former archbishop of Cape Town refrained from commenting on how the crisis could have been mitigated by more efficient management, saying it was "a matter for debate by people better-qualified than me."
"There is no debate, however, when it comes to the perpetration of human rights violations, reports of which, according to churches and NGOs, are on the increase."
Tutu has long been an outspoken critic of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, once calling him a "caricature of an African dictator".
Mugabe, who has been the ruler of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, has in turn called Tutu "an evil little bishop".
