(TALKZIMBABWE) The sanctions debate goes on

The sanctions debate goes on
Floyd Nkomo
Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:34:00 +0000

THE Zimbabwe sanctions draft which was authored by Britain and the U.S. and was vetoed by China and Russia, had sought to condemn the Zimbabwean government for ‘the suspension of medical assistance to HIV/AIDS patients’― an allegation found by the U.N. Security Council to be not true and exposing Gordon Brown’s desperation for regime change in Zimbabwe.

Inner City Press reports that the U.S. and Britain had sought to exaggerate the need for sanctions against Zimbabwe by inserting a clause into the sanctions draft condemning Zimbabwe for denying its citizens access to HIV/AIDS assistance.

The Zimbabwean government had banned all Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) activity in the country alleging that they were supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC-T) in its election campaign.

NGOs working with HIV/AIDS patients had been given an exemption and continued their work unhindered.

The HIV/AIDS clause was dropped from the draft after it faced stiff resistance from members of the Security Council who knew about the NGO exemption.

Inner City Press asked South Africa's Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo for his explanation of why the clause was dropped. "They took it out because it's not true," he was reported as saying bluntly implying that the two countries had sought to exaggerate the need for further sanctions against Zimbabwe and to seek support for the draft resolution.

It emerged that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown did not tell the truth about what had been resolved at the G8 Summit.

According to ambassador Kumalo, there was no mention of the U.N. Security Council in the G8 Statement and the Statement should not have been seen as a precursor to a Security Council resolution on Zimbabwe.

“Read the last paragraph of the G8 Statement it says, ‘We members of the G8…’ It doesn’t mention anything about the Security Council,” said Ambassador Kumalo.

According to Brown, G8 members had agreed to support a sanctions resolution on Zimbabwe. Speaking after the G8 Summit the British prime minister said the world was now ready to rally behind new sanctions against the "illegitimate regime" of President Mugabe.

"The mood is outrage against what is happening in Zimbabwe, disgust at the behaviour of the Zimbabwe regime, an acceptance by all of them that this is an illegitimate regime that has got blood on its hands," he said.

This statement has now been proven to have been far-fetched and incorrect and could have been political posturing by the British Prime Minister to influence public opinion on sanctions for Zimbabwe.

Gordon Brown’s miscalculation was also evident in his comments expressing confidence that China was not going to seek to block fresh sanctions against Zimbabwe.

The president of the Security Council also revealed that Britain and the U.S. were in a rush to get sanctions slapped on Zimbabwe and this might have raised suspicion among the members of the 15-nation body.

Le Luong Minh confirmed that the U.S. had asked for a vote on the Zimbabwe resolution ‘on Wednesday evening.’ He said that "some members have asked for more time," and Friday was still too early considering some other urgent matters the Security Council had on its plate, including the killing of peacekeepers in Sudan and Iran’s testing of weapons.

It is now clear that Britain and the U.S. were desperate to get a resolution on Zimbabwe and had exaggerated some of the reasons for that adoption and the support they had.

While French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert emphasized that Russia had signed on to the G-8 statement, implying this meant they would vote for sanctions, Russia's Permanent Representative Vitaly Churkin pointed out that the statement they signed on to contained no reference to the UN Security Council — a statement echoed by Kumalo.

Kumalo quoted the French presidency of the European Union as saying that the only acceptable outcome in Zimbabwe was the inauguration of MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai as leader of Zimbabwe.

“That is not helpful,” Kumalo said, “the French trying to choose leaders for Africans.”

In a face-saving move, Gordon Brown announced Monday that Britain would unilaterally step up sanctions on Zimbabwe's government and will call on the European Union to do the same.

"I have this morning asked the treasury to work with the Financial Action Task Force to track the wealth and the assets that are owned by members of the Mugabe regime which we know are held in different continents" including Asia, Africa, and Europe, he said, "so that we are in a position to take tougher action against them at a later date."

Brown also vowed to return to the United Nations with a new resolution "if mediation does not succeed" in Zimbabwe.

A report in the The Statesman – a Ghanaian newspaper said “Prime Minister Gordon Brown is apparently bewildered, frustrated and desperate.”

The report continued: “In 1966 President Clinton 'helped' two recalcitrant presidents, Jerry Rawlings and Boris Yeltsin, to reconsider their threats not to relinquish power. Gordon Brown should consult him and stop insulting and threatening Robert Mugabe.

“He and Tony Blair are more to blame for the present situation in Zimbabwe than Robert Mugabe, and it is to the eternal shame of our African leaders (President Mbeki excepted) not to have collectively made that abundantly clear to him.”