Diplomats ready to extend sanctions against Zimbabwe

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 28/07/05

Work has begun to step up the EU's sanctions against Zimbabwe in response to the government-sponsored eviction programme which the United Nations estimates has affected up to 700,000 Zimbabweans.

EU diplomats are working on a list of those responsible for the mass clearances, dubbed 'Operation Restore Order', who would be subject to an EU travel ban and the freezing of any European assets they held.

But it emerged this week that fewer than ten people are likely to be added to the list of those subject to EU sanctions.

No final decision has yet been taken, but diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said that with many of the senior politicians responsible for the operation already on the EU's sanctions list, those added were likely to be officials who worked at a municipal level.

More than 70 Zimbabweans, including President Robert Mugabe, are currently banned from travelling to and from the EU and have their assets inside the Union frozen.

The majority of the names currently on the list are members of the ruling Zanu-PF party or close allies of the government.

According to a recent UN report some 700,000 people have been evicted. Many of them have been made homeless and lost their livelihoods because of the operation.

Since the publication of the 100-page report, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has accused the Zimbabwean government of acting "with indifference to human suffering".

In a statement last week EU foreign ministers said that the situation in Zimbabwe was "of the deepest concern" and indicated that the sanctions situation would be under constant review. Before that, the EU's sanctions were not expected to be reviewed until early next year.

An extension in sanctions is not likely to take place until the autumn when Council meetings resume after the summer break.

Although foreign ministers will have an informal Council meeting in Wales on 1 September, their next formal meeting is not scheduled until 3 October. But a decision to extend sanctions could be taken by any Council formation.

Article reports that the EU was preparing sanctions against Zimbabwe in response to the government-sponsored eviction programme which the United Nations estimates affected up to 700,000 Zimbabweans. EU diplomats were working on a list of those responsible for the mass clearances, dubbed 'Operation Restore Order', who would be subject to an EU travel ban and the freezing of any European assets they held.