7th Parliament of Zimbabwe Mugabe announced his intention to open Parliament in the subsequent week, five months after the parliamentary election was held. Due to ongoing negotiations over the disputed election, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai party saw this as unacceptable, with MDC–T Secretary-General Tendai Biti stating that it would "be a clear repudiation of the Memorandum of Understanding, and an indication beyond reasonable doubt of ZANU–PF's unwillingness to continue to be part of the talks. In short, convening Parliament decapitates the dialogue." Nevertheless, Parliament was convened on 25 August 2008. That morning, Mugabe appointed 11 senators, including eight of the
Zimbabwe humanity to bring Mugabe to trial in front of the International Criminal Court. Male homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe. Since 1995, the government has carried out campaigns against both homosexual men and women. President Mugabe has blamed gays for many of Zimbabwe's problems and viewed homosexuality as an "un-African" and immoral culture brought by European colonists and practiced by only "a few whites" in his country. Opposition gatherings are frequently the subject of brutal attacks by the police force, such as the crackdown on an 11 March 2007 Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rally and several others during the 2008