Robinson presses Mugabe on rights

Geneva - The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, has urged President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to ensure…

Geneva - The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, has urged President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to ensure the freedoms of an independent media and judiciary, a statement said yesterday. Mrs Robinson wrote to Mr Mugabe last week after a "deterioration in the situation".

Mr Mugabe was to meet President Jacques Chirac in Paris yesterday. Mrs Robinson's letter referred to numerous complaints made to her Geneva-based office about issues including the rights to life, security, freedom of expression and opinion, and association in Zimbabwe, according to the statement.