The Zimbabwe Information Centre (ZIC) in Sydney, Australia, has launched an online anti-sanctions campaign to request the Australian Government to remove its now misnamed ‘smart sanctions’ against a few Zimbabwe personalities, because they are now perversely blocking the entire country’s development trajectory.
The link to the petition is https://chng.it/tm62HLSy.
Australia imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe in 2002 following similar actions by the United States and the European Union at the behest of Britain, at the onset of Mugabe’s violent land reform program. Mugabe aimed to block the electoral challenge from the Movement for Democratic Change at that time. For more details follow the link https://saynotosanctions.com/
Australia adjusted these sanctions in 2012 and 2013 due to progress made and the change of circumstances ushered in by the Inclusive Government 2009-13.
This regime of sanctions harked back to the long-running, British-sponsored, mandatory United Nations economic sanctions (see UNSC Resolution 232 of 16 December, 1966) imposed on the minority white Smith regime.
The Australian sanctions are out-of-date. Australians, Zimbabweans and people from other parts of the world are urged to add their voice to the petition by signing it in support of social justice, restoration of dignity of the Zimbabwean people and a new chapter of psycho-social and economic development, in line with the rest of the international community.
"By lifting these residual ‘smart sanctions’, Australia would increase pressure on the USA, UK and Europe to also lift these outdated measures with their perverse sweeping impacts on ordinary Zimbabweans,” reads the petition which is addressed to Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Penny Wong.
The sanctions are significantly affecting the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans by:
- Cutting off foreign aid
- Discouraging tourism
- Stopping Zimbabweans from participating in international trade
- Restricting foreign investment into the Zimbabwean Economy
The sanctions on Zimbabwe are now hurting the lives of the people they were supposed to protect, and must be lifted now.
https://saynotosanctions.com/
Australian ‘smart sanctions’ are out-of-date
- ‘Smart Sanctions’ target specific people to stop them travelling to Australia or having assets in Australia. ‘Smart Sanctions’ are ‘smart’ because they are not supposed to impact on the general population. They were imposed in 2002 because of Dictator Robert Mugabe’s gross human rights violations. But Mugabe was deposed in November 2017, and died in September 2019. His dictatorship is long over.
- Apart from Grace Mugabe, the five people still listed for sanction were removed from power in 2017, or helped remove Mugabe in 2017.
Australian ‘smart sanctions’ are now hurting ordinary Zimbabweans
- Australia’s ‘smart sanctions’ mean that Telstra does not connect to Zimbabwe! This and other unintended consequences discourage tourism and reduce foreign aid.
- US banks avoid all Zimbabwe transactions for fear of heavy fines for breaching similar US sanctions, and this stops local businesses and foreign investment in Zimbabwe.
By lifting these residual ‘smart sanctions’, Australia would increase pressure on the USA, UK and Europe to also lift these outdated measures with their perverse sweeping impacts on ordinary Zimbabweans. Please add your name to the petition.
Explainer
Article 41 of the United Nations Charter provides that sanctions are “'measures not involving the use of armed force', including a 'complete or partial interruption of economic relations...”
The aims of sanctions defined in Australia’s Autonomous Sanctions Bill 2010 are:
- 'to limit the adverse consequences of the situation of international concern (for example, by denying access to military or paramilitary goods, or to goods, technologies or funding that are enabling the pursuit of programs of proliferation concern);
- to seek to influence those responsible for giving rise to the situation of international concern to modify their behaviour to remove the concern (by motivating them to adopt different policies); and
- to penalise those responsible (for example, by denying access to international travel or to the international financial system).'
In 2002 Australia imposed sanctions in relation to Zimbabwe citing concerns about political violence and human rights violations. Adjustments were made to the sanctions in 2012 and 2013 as some progress was made with the Government of National Unity (GNU), however the sanctions regime still imposes a restriction on
- supply of arms and related services to Zimbabwe; and
- providing or dealing with assets of designated persons or entities listed in the Consolidated list.
As at June 2023, there are five (5) individuals and one (1) entity listed on the Consolidated list, i.e. Augustine Chihuri, Constantine Chiwenga, Grace Mugabe, Happyton Bonyongwe, Phillip Valerio Sibanda, and Zimbabwe Defence Industries (PVT) Ltd. It is important to note that three, Chihuri, Bonyongwe and Grace Mugabe, were deposed in 2017, and Chiwenga and Sibanda played crucial roles in deposing them.
On March 4, 2024, US President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order to terminate Executive Orders from 2003, 2005 and 2008 which placed sanctions on a large number of individuals and companies by declaring that there was a state of emergency in Zimbabwe. But at the same time the US Treasury placed new sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act on the President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, his wife Auxilia, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, eight other individuals, and three entities.
These people and entities are alleged to be engaged in corrupt smuggling of gold and diamonds, and of violations of human rights.
One perverse effect is that sanctions are lifted from individuals closely associated with the now-deceased dictator Robert Mugabe, and placed on the people who removed the Mugabe group from power in November 2017.
While this move is broadly welcome, it will not change the risk assessment of US banks that any transaction with a person or company in Zimbabwe may breach the sanctions and lead to a heavy fine. And so there is no practical improvement in the economic situation for Zimbabwe. The sanctions are supposed to be “targeted” and not aimed at the broad population, but the effect has been the opposite, to cut off all Zimbabweans from the mainstream financial world.
The sanctions did impact on Mugabe, but are no longer relevant following the removal of Mugabe in 2017. The sanctions however are significantly affecting the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans by:
- restricting foreign investment into the Zimbabwean Economy
- discouraging tourism
- cutting off foreign aid
- stopping Zimbabweans from participating in international trade
- encouraging corruption.
The sanctions on Zimbabwe are now hurting the lives of the people they were supposed to protect, and must be lifted now.
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