Catholic bishops in Africa have denounced Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, and have called on South African leaders to stop supporting him or be “complicit in passive genocide,” according to the International Herald Tribune. The bishops called for Mugabe to step down, and he should. Many international aid agencies, human rights groups and others also have called on Mugabe to step down.

The bishops’ statement came as the the Southern African Development Community met in Pretoria, South Africa, to talk about the Zimbabwe crisis. Mugabe and Zimbabwean opposition leaders were included in the meeting. As the group met, about 1,500 protesters gathered outside, facing rubber bullets from police. A few protesters suffered minor injuries.

Meanwhile, European Union officials added individuals and companies associated with the Mugabe regime to a blacklist, freezing assets of the companies and individuals and restricting travel of the individuals.

The humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe has been growing for years. Rampant inflation has led to unemployment and chronic hunger. A recent cholera epidemic has spread to all parts of the nation (and to neighboring nations as Zimbabweans flee their own country) and has killed more than 2,000 Zimbabweans.

And the political crisis only worsens the effects: Mugabe’s government, widely considered to be illegitimate, is thought to be repressing international aid. Mugabe’s political party is though to have rigged the March election. His main opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, dropped out of a run-off election because of violence against his supporters. He and Mugabe, who has been in power in Zimbabwe since 1980, had reached a power-sharing agreement in September, but Mugabe has refused to cede power.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she is “very concerned” about the situation.