Edinburgh University stripped Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday of his honorary degree after reviewing evidence of a tribal massacre soon after he took power.
The decision by the university's senate comes after years of campaigning by students and Scottish lawmakers.
Three senior professors recommended that the degree be revoked after reviewing evidence about Zimbabwe in the early 1980s - including the massacre of at least 20 000 people in Matabeleland - which the university says was not available when the degree was conferred.
The Zimbabwe army's North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade are accused of slaughtering the civilians, who were accused of harbouring rebels of the minority Ndebele tribe loyal to former opposition leader Joshua Nkomo.
Most Fifth Brigade soldiers were of Mugabe's majority Shona tribe.
"The university has been acutely aware of ongoing developments in Zimbabwe," a spokesperson for the university said while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the institution's policy. He described the move as "unprecedented".
Mugabe, 83, will be told of the decision in writing and be requested to return the certificate he received for "services to education in Africa" in 1984.
"When he was given this degree, the West thought he was a saint, but all the time his people knew he was a monster, a tyrant and a killer," said Jaison Matewu, organising secretary for the United Kingdom branch of the Movement for Democratic Change, Zimbabwe's opposition party.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons earlier in that day that he "fully endorsed" the decision to revoke the degree.
The decision by the university's senate comes after years of campaigning by students and Scottish lawmakers.
Three senior professors recommended that the degree be revoked after reviewing evidence about Zimbabwe in the early 1980s - including the massacre of at least 20 000 people in Matabeleland - which the university says was not available when the degree was conferred.
The Zimbabwe army's North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade are accused of slaughtering the civilians, who were accused of harbouring rebels of the minority Ndebele tribe loyal to former opposition leader Joshua Nkomo.
Most Fifth Brigade soldiers were of Mugabe's majority Shona tribe.
"The university has been acutely aware of ongoing developments in Zimbabwe," a spokesperson for the university said while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the institution's policy. He described the move as "unprecedented".
Mugabe, 83, will be told of the decision in writing and be requested to return the certificate he received for "services to education in Africa" in 1984.
"When he was given this degree, the West thought he was a saint, but all the time his people knew he was a monster, a tyrant and a killer," said Jaison Matewu, organising secretary for the United Kingdom branch of the Movement for Democratic Change, Zimbabwe's opposition party.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons earlier in that day that he "fully endorsed" the decision to revoke the degree.
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