Kinnock demands sanctions against Mugabe

Date: 10/01/02

By David Cronin

SANCTIONS must be imposed on Zimbabwe following President Robert Mugabe's latest move to clamp down on democratic dissent, Socialist MEP Glenys Kinnock said this week.

The Welsh deputy's call comes ahead of tomorrow's (11 January) visit to Brussels by the Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stanislaus Mudenge. He is due to take part in talks with EU officials over the recent decision by the Union's foreign ministers to invoke the 'human rights clause' against Harare.

This provision in the Cotonou Agreement on relations between member states and former colonies enables the EU to take punitive measures against a government if guarantees on improving its record cannot be obtained within a period of formal consultations.

Kinnock said that she would be disappointed if the Union doesn't take such steps against Harare as cutting off development aid to the country, freezing the foreign assets of its ruling elite and banning Mugabe's henchmen from travelling to Europe. 'I hope that patience has run out,' she said. 'The EU has been extremely tolerant and generous to Zimbabwe. But now we have to say that enough is enough.'

On Tuesday, Mugabe's ZANU-PF party sought to speed up the passage of new laws restricting the rights of foreign journalists to work in Zimbabwe and granting the security forces far-reaching powers to quell political activities. Members of the rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have claimed the draconian bills are aimed at ensuring that Mugabe will be re-elected in the presidential poll on 9-10 March. He has refused to bow to EU demands that international observers be allowed to inspect the election.

A spokesman for Zimbabwe's EU embassy declined to state what arguments the Mudenge-led delegation will make at Friday's meeting. 'I do not think it would be appropriate to give a definitive answer about this at the moment,' the spokesman said.

UK Conservative Geoffrey Van Orden said he was concerned that the EU may dither on taking effective action against Mugabe before the March election. 'Clearly, a Zimbabwean president elected under authoritarian conditions should not be recognised by the EU or its member states,' he added.

According to the MEP, there is 'daily evidence that President Mugabe intends to hamstring any opposition in order to fix the election'.

'The massive pay increases announced on New Year's Day for the security forces are designed to guarantee their loyalty over the coming months. Meanwhile, acts of violence against members of the Movement for Democratic Change have continued unabated. At least six MDC supporters have been killed over the Christmas period.'

In a separate development, a report due to be debated by the European Parliament next week criticises some aspects of the Cotonou Agreement as being one-sided.

Drafted by French Green Didier Rod, it bemoans the fact that countries from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc do not have any power of sanction when their nationals suffer human rights abuses at the hands of EU states.

Rod also contends that the environmental clauses in Cotonou are a 'step backwards' from its precursor, the Lomé Convention.

His report says: 'In Cotonou, the environment is relegated to the background. There are no longer any bans on the export of hazardous waste [to ACP countries]; there is merely the mention of taking account of 'issues relating to the transport and disposal of hazardous waste'. And no connection is made between environmental protection, sovereignty in respect of food and reduction of poverty.'

Sanctions must be imposed on Zimbabwe following President Robert Mugabe's latest move to clamp down on democratic dissent, says Socialist MEP Glenys Kinnock.