ALL sanctions against Zimbabwe, which were imposed
“following policy disagreements concerning the manner in which the land reform
programme was handled”, must be removed immediately as they are affecting
vulnerable people, a high-ranking United Nations (UN) official has said.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Ms Hilal
Elver, made the call at the end of her mission to Zimbabwe last week.
It becomes one of the most emphatic exhortations made by an
official of the world governing body for lifting the embargo. In her
preliminary observations made after an official 10-day visit which ended on
Thursday, Ms Elver said she had “strong conviction” that far from affecting
Government officials, sanctions hurt ordinary people. This puts paid to claims
by the United States of America and the European Union that the punitive
measures do not affect ordinary Zimbabweans.
“I am also concerned about the negative impact of the
economic sanctions and conditionalities imposed on the Government of Zimbabwe
and their indirect costs on the overall civilian population, particularly on
the right to food. Zimbabwe has been under some form of sanctions since 2001.
These targeted sanctions and conditionalities were imposed on the country
following policy disagreements concerning the manner in which the land reform
programme was handled, reflecting criticism of the political situation and
human rights abuses.
“It is my strong conviction, based on what I have learned
during the course of this mission, that these economic sanctions worsen the
existing inequalities and do not have any actual impact on their supposed
targets.”
Ms Elver’s final report is expected to be presented to the
Human Rights Council in Geneva in March next year. The expert’s observations
add impetus to the Southern African Development Community (Sadc)’s push to have
sanctions lifted, as they are having a contagion effect on the region.
The country is in the throes of the worst drought in four
decades, which has made many families food-insecure. Cyclone Idai, which
affected the eastern parts of the country in March this year, also affected
this year’s harvest. Business, trade and opportunities for the country to
receive aid are also being blighted by sanctions, Ms Elver added.
“While sanctions target certain individuals and
institutions, they contribute to creating a very adverse environment for
business, international trade and foreign investment. The conditionalities
under the Zdera Act, coupled with the failure by the Government to clear its
arrears, make it a serious challenge for the Government to access credit lines
from international financial institutions. Such conditions clearly diminish the
ability of the Government to meet its obligation to adequately feed its
people.”
The Special Rapporteur implored the concerned member states
(the US and EU), development partners and the international financial
institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, “to
ease the conditions imposed on the deployment of funds to the Government”.
“For similar reasons, I urge the termination of all
sanctions. In the same spirit, I also urge the Government to initiate the
promised legal reforms to respect, protect and fulfil its human rights
obligations, notably the rights to freedoms of expression, assembly and
association, which are the necessary foundations of a human rights based
approach to food security,” she said.
During her mission, Ms Elver visited several parts of the
country, including Harare and parts of Masvingo that are worst affected by the
drought. She met Cabinet Ministers, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission,
farmers’ unions and farm workers, lawyers, doctors and dieticians, as well as
members of non-governmental organisations and activists.
UN Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.
Special Procedures is the largest body of independent experts in the UN
human rights system. It is also the general name of the council’s independent
fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country
situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Sunday Mail
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