MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

23.4.2007

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Geoffrey Van Orden, Nirj Deva and Michael Gahler
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on the situation in Zimbabwe

B6‑0162/2007

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Zimbabwe

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its resolutions of 16 December 2004, 7 July 2005 and 7 September 2006,

–  having regard to Council Common Position 2007/120/CFSP of 19 February 2007 renewing restrictive measures against Zimbabwe until 20 February 2008,

–  having regard to Commission Regulation (EC) No 236/2007 of 2 March 2007 extending the list of those persons in Zimbabwe targeted by the restrictive measures,

–  having regard to the International Crisis Group's report of 5 March 2007, 'Zimbabwe: An End to the Stalemate',

–  having regard to the Emergency SADC Summit of 28-29 March 2007 held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas this month marks the 27th anniversary of Zimbabwean independence but the Zimbabwean people have yet to gain their freedom,

B.  whereas, according to the IMF, every African country will enjoy positive economic growth in 2007, with the exception of Zimbabwe, whose economy has contracted by 40% in the last decade and will contract by a further 5.7% this year,

C.  whereas inflation in Zimbabwe is approaching 2000%, the highest in the world, and the IMF predicts that it will average over 6000% in 2008,

D.  whereas life expectancy in Zimbabwe is now among the lowest in the world at 37 for males and 34 for females, over 80% of Zimbabweans are unemployed and subsist on less than $2 a day, and 20% of adults are HIV-positive, with over 3200 people a week dying from the disease, creating the world's highest orphan rate,

E.  whereas over half the population is either on the breadline or has left the country, with the World Food Programme providing emergency food aid to 1.5 million Zimbabweans in the first three months of 2007 but calculating that over 4.5 million suffer from malnutrition; whereas agricultural productivity has fallen by 80% since 1998, and over 3 million Zimbabweans, out of a total population of 12 million, have fled to South Africa,

F.  whereas the development of Africa is a very high priority for the EU and the wider international community, which is committed to fair trade, improved aid, debt relief and combating HIV-AIDS and malaria, and recognising that without good governance no lasting progress will be made,

1.  Deplores the continuing downward spiral of economic collapse and political oppression, which has deepened the misery of millions of Zimbabweans;

2.  Abhors and expresses profound sorrow at the murders of MDC activists Gift Tandare on 11 March 2007, Itai Manyeruke on 12 March 2007 and journalist Edmore Chikomba on 30 March 2007;

3.  Condemns the Mugabe regime's violent break-up of a peaceful prayer rally organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign in Highfield district on 11 March 2007 and the subsequent arrest of Morgan Tsvangirai, Nelson Chamisa, Grace Kwinjeh, Lovemore Madhuku, William Bango, Sekai Holland, Tendai Biti, Arthur Mutambara and many other members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and other opposition groups and parties;

4.  Deeply deplores the brutal treatment of those arrested, as well as the injuries inflicted during the suppression of meetings and during raids on the victims' homes, which have resulted in the hospitalisation of some 600 people in recent months;

5.  Protests at the re-arrest of MDC members, including Morgan Tsvangirai and others, on 28 March, renewed attacks against MDC members, such as the cowardly assault on Nelson Chamisa at Harare International Airport on 18 March, and the continued detention of many opposition activists, including Ian Makone;

6.  Notes with great concern that the Mugabe regime has threatened to revoke the licences of all NGOs in Zimbabwe and has terminated its Memorandum of Agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which will only deepen the suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans;

7.  Welcomes the new-found unity of purpose among opposition parties and groups in Zimbabwe, including all elements of the MDC, the Churches and the Congress of Trade Unions, and their determination to work together in defiance of government oppression in order to bring democracy and freedom to the people;

8.  Notes a shift in opinion across Africa, with the widespread recognition of Mugabe as a dictator who abuses pan-Africanism for his own purposes; applauds Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete's decision to convene an emergency summit of the SADC nations and supports the frank assessments of the situation in Zimbabwe by Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, Ghanaian President John Kuffour and Archbishop Desmond Tutu;

9.  Welcomes the recognition by SADC that a crisis exists in Zimbabwe and its initiative in seeking a solution that will benefit both the citizens of Zimbabwe and the region as a whole, and urges the entire international community, and particularly African nations, to seize this opportunity;

10.  Recognises that South African President Thabo Mbeki, in agreeing to facilitate dialogue between Zanu-PF and the opposition MDC, has undertaken a significant and difficult task, putting his own reputation at stake;

11.  Trusts that, as a priority, the circumstances now will be created to enable the people of Zimbabwe freely, with confidence and without fear to elect a government and President of their choice;

12.  Calls therefore for an immediate end to violence and intimidation, and for the Zimbabwean Government to abide by its commitments, as a signatory to the SADC Treaty and Protocols, the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights, to democratic principles, human rights and the rule of law;

13.  Further calls for the necessary constitutional changes to be enacted and the Electoral Commission to be properly empowered as a genuinely independent body able to oversee the conduct of free and fair elections, through a transparent system, and considers that an essential part of this process will be complete control of ballot papers, properly audited from beginning to end with a reliable record of how many ballot papers have been printed, how many are distributed to each district and how many are validly used;

14.  Offers, in this regard, its assistance in the implementation of any agreed process that will establish the basis for truly free and fair elections, including the deployment of an EU Election Observation Mission, and trusts that other organisations, such as the Commonwealth, will also be invited to send electoral observers;

15.  Calls on the United Kingdom, which assumed the Presidency of the Security Council this month, to put Zimbabwe on the agenda of the Security Council, and anticipates that, as part of its reinvigorated dedication to resolving this issue, South Africa will play a constructive role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council;

16.  Recognises that, without doubt, Zimbabwe's problems have been created internally and are not a consequence of any external action; in particular, acknowledges the support that the Government of the United Kingdom has consistently given for an equitable redistribution of land in a transparent legal manner, having provided some GBP 44 million for an initial reform package which was subsequently abandoned by the Mugabe regime, and support for the UNDP programme that was halted by Mugabe's violent land invasions;

17.  Observes that the international community committed USD 368 million to Zimbabwe in 2005 and USD 374 million in 2006 but deeply regrets that the Mugabe regime manipulates such support, particularly food aid, using it as a political weapon with which to punish those who dare voice opposition to the regime;

18.  Pending the restoration of democracy, the rule of law and genuine respect for human rights, strongly supports the renewal of EU targeted sanctions against the Mugabe regime on 19 February 2007, and the expansion of the list of those persons targeted by the restrictive measures on 2 March 2007, but expresses disappointment that they have failed to impact severely on those directly responsible for the impoverishment of Zimbabwe and the appalling hardships endured by its people;

19.  Calls on the Council therefore to ensure that all Member States rigorously apply existing restrictive measures, including the arms embargo and the travel ban, and further calls on the Council to expand the scope of the sanctions and to further enlarge the list of individuals – which currently stands at 130 – so that it encompasses much more of Mugabe's power structure, including government ministers, deputies and governors, military, CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) and police personnel, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Zanu-PF members, supporters and workers, in addition to their family members, and businessmen and other prominent individuals associated with Zanu-PF;

20.  Insists that all aid destined for Zimbabwe must be delivered through genuine non-governmental organisations and must reach the people for whom it is intended, with the least possible involvement of the Mugabe regime;

21.  Demands that the EU take a consistent and robust stance against the Mugabe regime, emphasising that Zimbabwe cannot be treated as a separate issue from the EU's wider relations with Africa, and insists that no banned persons are invited to, or attend, the EU-Africa Summit to be held in Lisbon in December this year; considers that weakness in application of targeted sanctions severely undermines the EU's policy towards Zimbabwe and gravely disappoints those in Zimbabwe who seek the support of the international community;

22.  Repeats its demand that the Mugabe regime must derive absolutely no financial benefit or propaganda value from either the run-up to the 2010 World Cup or the tournament itself; in this regard, calls on South Africa, the host nation, and on FIFA, to exclude Zimbabwe from participating in pre-World Cup matches, holding international friendly games or hosting national teams involved in the event;

23.  Recognises that the EU and its Member States are the largest contributors to African development, providing € 15 billion annually or 60% of total aid to Africa, and insists that the Commission should now begin planning for a massive programme of urgent assistance to Zimbabwe to be implemented in the immediate post-Mugabe era, which should include the rapid provision of the most vital food, medical and fuel supplies;

24.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments 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 AU, the Pan-African Parliament, the Secretary-General and governments of the SADC, and the President of FIFA.