MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Zimbabwe

5.4.2011

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 122 of the Rules of Procedure

Geoffrey Van Orden, Jan Zahradil, Charles Tannock, Ryszard Czarnecki, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Ryszard Antoni Legutko on behalf of the ECR Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0265/2011

B7‑0265/2011

European Parliament resolution on Zimbabwe

The European Parliament,

-     having regard to its numerous previous resolutions on Zimbabwe, most recently that of 21 October 2010 on Forced Evictions in Zimbabwe,

-     having regard to Council Common Position 2011/101/CFSP of 15 February 2011 renewing until 20 February 2012 the restrictive measures against Zimbabwe imposed under Common Position 2004/161/CFSP, and to Commission Regulation 1226/2008 of 8 December 2008, amending the Common Position,

-     having regard to the Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on Zimbabwe of 15.2.2011,

-     having regard to the Livingstone Communiqué of the SADC Summit of the Organ of the Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation of 31.3.2011,

-     having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

 

A.  Whereas Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has recently stated that President Robert Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party have failed to live up to the terms of the 2009 Global Political Agreement (GPA) and that they are violently intimidating MDC-T and MDC-M members of the Zimbabwean Government of National Unity (GNU);

B.   Whereas there has been a marked increase in intimidation, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances of political opponents of Zanu-PF over the last few months, with many MDC members, several MDC MPs, and key members of the MDC leadership, such as Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone and ousted Speaker of the Zimbabwean Parliament Lovemore Moyo, being targeted;

C.  Whereas the Zimbabwean security services have recently raided the offices of several NGOs (Human Rights NGO Forum, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition) as well as the MDC's Headquarters, have seized NGO documentation and have arbitrarily detained NGO and MDC party staff for questioning, only to release the detainees without charge;

D.  Whereas on 19 February, 6 civil society activists were arrested by the security services on charges of treason for organising a public viewing of a video showing the recent popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East; and whilst in custody, these activists were beaten, tortured, and kept in solitary confinement;

E.   Whereas the MDC's right to hold political rallies has been curtailed by the Zimbabwean security services, whilst Zanu-PF remains free to hold political rallies, which is in direct contravention of the Zimbabwean Constitution;

F.   Whereas Zanu-PF is currently engaged in a violent national campaign to force Zimbabwean citizens to sign a petition calling for the withdrawal of international restrictive measures in place against key members of the Mugabe clique; notes that those who refuse to sign the petition have been brutally beaten or arrested;

G.  Whereas the EU’s “restrictive measures” are specifically targeted against 163 key members of the exploitative Mugabe regime and those that have helped sustain it and do not impact on the people of Zimbabwe more widely, or the Zimbabwean economy;

H.  Whereas the EU, US, Australia and Canada continue to share concern about the human rights situation in the Chiadzwa (Marange) diamond fields, in particular relating to human rights abuses by members of the Zimbabwean security services, and are accordingly reticent to grant Kimberley Process certification to Chiadzwa-mined diamonds;

I.   Whereas Zimbabwe remains impoverished after years of economic mismanagement by the Mugabe regime and continues to receive extensive humanitarian and other aid both from the EU and from the UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, and Denmark, as well as the US, Australia and Norway, all of which provides for the most basic needs of a large proportion of the Zimbabwean population;

J.    Whereas Zimbabwe's Prime Minister has urged the EU not to accept the credentials of Mrs Margaret Muchada, Zimbabwe's Ambassador-designate to the EU as her unilateral nomination by President Mugabe violates the Zimbabwean Constitution and the terms of the GPA ;

1. Demands an immediate end to all politically motivated harassment, arrests, and violence by the Zimbabwean state security services and militias either directly controlled by, or loyal to, Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party;

 

2. Insists that the Zimbabwean people be given freedom of expression and of assembly and that all intimidation of politicians and civil society activists that might oppose the Mugabe regime ceases and that every elected representative, irrespective of political persuasion, as well as NGOs, political activists, the press and ordinary citizens can freely express their opinions without fear of violent persecution, arbitrary imprisonment or torture;

3. Urges the Council, Commission and Member States to keep in mind the appalling violence perpetrated by the Zimbabwean state security services and militias loyal to Mugabe and Zanu-PF in the aftermath of the first round of the 2008 Zimbabwean Presidential elections, and to actively engage with the AU and SADC, and South Africa in particular, to ensure that intimidation and violence do not take place in relation to elections in Zimbabwe and that there is a return to democracy, and respect for the rule of law and the human rights of the people of Zimbabwe;

4. Welcomes the SADC Troika's Livingstone Communiqué of 31 March and urges SADC, and South Africa in particular, to take a lead in ensuring that the Communiqué's recommendations are fully implemented by all parties in Zimbabwe, with a view to holding free and fair elections in Zimbabwe;

5. Calls on all Zimbabwe's political parties to reach an agreement on a roadmap towards holding free and fair, internationally-monitored, elections in Zimbabwe;

6. Urges all Zimbabwe's political parties to fully re-engage with the ongoing constitutional reform process, with the view to having a new Zimbabwean Constitution, acceptable to the people of Zimbabwe, in place prior to the next elections;

7. Welcomes the recent renewal (February 2011) of the EU's list of banned individuals and entities with links to the Mugabe regime; emphasises that these restrictive measures are aimed solely at the Zimbabwean kleptocracy and will in no way impact on the Zimbabwean people as a whole;

 

8. Urges the EU to keep its restrictive measures against individuals and entities with links to the Mugabe regime in place until there is real evidence of change for the better in Zimbabwe; calls on the Council and Commission and Member States to take steps to explain this reality in Zimbabwe and internationally and to be more active in winning support for a rapid change to real democracy and economic progress in Zimbabwe;

9. Calls on the EU to refuse to accept Mrs Muchada's credentials as Zimbabwean Ambassador to the EU, thereby demonstrating its support for democracy and due constitutional process in Zimbabwe; 

 

10. Insists that the Zimbabwean authorities honour their Kimberley Process obligations, fully demilitarise the Marange diamond fields, and introduce transparency concerning the proceeds of diamond production;

 

11. Applauds the EU and those Member States and other countries that continue to provide funding in direct support of the Zimbabwean people, emphasising the need to ensure that such support continues to be channelled through bona fide NGOs, is well targeted and properly accounted for, avoiding government agency;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the governments of the G8 countries, the governments and parliaments of Zimbabwe and South Africa, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Chairmen of the Commission and Executive Council of the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament, and the Secretary-General and governments of the Southern African Development Community and its Parliamentary Forum