Remove Zim sanctions – UN
RYAN CHIGOCHE
A UN envoy has called for the lifting of the unilateral sanctions against Zimbabwe in a major boost on Harare’s drive for the embargo to be removed.
Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, called for structured dialogue on political reform, human rights and the rule of law.
The call comes after Douhan ended a two-week visit to Harare and Bulawayo where she held meetings with state officials, trade unions, members of the civil society, faith-based organisations, political parties, private companies and business associations, among others.
She observed that unilateral sanctions and over-compliance with sanctions in their complexity had exacerbated pre-existing social and economic challenges with devastating consequences for the people of Zimbabwe, “especially those living in poverty, women, children, elderly, people with disabilities as well as marginalised and other vulnerable groups”.
Douhan said over the last 20 years, sanctions and various forms of over-compliance had an insidious ripple effect on the economy of Zimbabwe and on the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, including access to health, food, safe drinking water and sanitation, education and employment.
The US and other states should lift their sanctions on targeted individuals and entities and end over-compliance,” she said.
“The time is now ripe for sanctioning states and key national stakeholders to engage in a meaningful structured dialogue on political reforms, human rights, rule of law and abandon rhetoric on sanctions as an advocacy tool.”
Douhan added that many companies, as well as foreign banks applied zero risk policies and were overly compliant fearing heavy penalties for breaching the sanctions. This, she said, had resulted in inefficient high-cost bank transactions, serious challenges in accessing credit lines and major disruptions in supply chains which impinge the ability to secure infrastructure financing and business continuity.
Zimbabwe has been under US sanctions since 2001 when the world’s biggest economy signed the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act into law in response to the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.
The European Union (EU) also imposed sanctions, which they described as targeted. This year, the EU renewed its sanctions on Zimbabwe, imposing an arms embargo and a targeted asset freeze against the Zimbabwe Defence Industries for one year until February 20, 2022 in light of the “continued deterioration of the humanitarian, economic and social situation” in Zimbabwe, and “the continuing need to investigate the role of security force actors in human rights abuses”.
The UK government also slapped an asset freeze and travel ban on four Zimbabwean senior security sector officials, who are said to be responsible for committing serious human rights violations and, as such, undermining the rule of law.
Among Zimbabweans on the sanctions list are members of the securocrats, and line ministers who stand accused of human rights violations, including deploying the army to kill civilians, particularly on August 1, 2018, during the post-election disturbances, and in the January 2019 anti-fuel price hike riots.
This development comes at a time when the US is being pressured by China, Palestine, and various African countries to remove the sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Last month, during the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, African Union (AU) chairperson and South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa and Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi also reiterated their calls for the removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe.
On Monday Zimbabwe observed the Anti-Sanctions Day, which was set aside by the Sadc in 2019 to pile pressure for the sanctions to be removed.
