110TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 25

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas in 2005 the Government of Zimbabwe launched Operation Murambatsvina (‘‘Operation Throw Out the

Trash’’) against citizens in major cities and suburbs

throughout Zimbabwe, depriving over 700,000 people of

their homes, businesses, and livelihoods;

Whereas on March 11, 2007, opposition party activists and

members of civil society attempted to hold a peaceful

prayer meeting to protest the economic and political crisis engulfing Zimbabwe, where inflation is running over

1,700 percent and unemployment stands at 80 percent

and in response to President Robert Mugabe’s announcement that he intends to seek reelection in 2008 if nominated;

Whereas opposition activist Gift Tandare died on March 11,

2007, as a result of being shot by police while attempting

to attend the prayer meeting and Itai Manyeruke died on

March 12, 2007, as a result of police beatings and was

found in a morgue by his family on March 20, 2007;

Whereas under the direction of President Robert Mugabe and

the ZANU–PF government, police officers, security

forces, and youth militia brutally assaulted the peaceful

demonstrators and arrested opposition leaders and hundreds of civilians;
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SCON 25 ES

Whereas Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader

Morgan Tsvangarai was brutally assaulted and suffered

a fractured skull, lacerations, and major bruising; MDC

member Sekai Holland, a 64-year old grandmother, suffered ruthless attacks at Highfield Police Station, which

resulted in the breaking of her leg, knee, arm, and three

ribs; fellow activist Grace Kwinje, age 33, also was brutally beaten, while part of one ear was ripped off; and

Nelson Chamisa was badly injured by suspected state

agents at Harare airport on March 18, 2007, when trying to board a plane for a meeting of European Union

and Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States lawmakers in Brussels, Belgium;

Whereas Zimbabwe’s foreign minister warned Western diplomats that the Government of Zimbabwe would expel

them if they gave support to the opposition, and said

Western diplomats had gone too far by offering food and

water to jailed opposition activists;

Whereas victims of physical assault by the Government of

Zimbabwe have been denied emergency medical transfer

to hospitals in neighboring South Africa, where their

wounds can be properly treated;

Whereas those incarcerated by the Government of Zimbabwe

were denied access to legal representatives and lawyers

appearing at the jails to meet with detained clients were

themselves threatened and intimidated;

Whereas at the time of Zimbabwe’s independence, President

Robert Mugabe was hailed as a liberator and Zimbabwe

showed bright prospects for democracy, economic development, domestic reconciliation, and prosperity;
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SCON 25 ES

Whereas President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU–PF government continue to turn away from the promises of liberation and use state power to deny the people of

Zimbabwe the freedom and prosperity they fought for

and deserve;

Whereas the staggering suffering brought about by the misrule of Zimbabwe has created a large-scale humanitarian

crisis in which 3,500 people die each week from a combination of disease, hunger, neglect, and despair;

Whereas the Chairman of the African Union, President Alpha

Oumar Konare, expressed ‘‘great concern’’ about

Zimbabwe’s crisis and called for the need for the scrupulous respect for human rights and democratic principles in Zimbabwe;

Whereas the Southern African Development Community

(SADC) Council of Non-governmental Organizations stated that ‘‘We believe that the crisis has reached a point

where Zimbabweans need to be strongly persuaded and

directly assisted to find an urgent solution to the crisis

that affects the entire region.’’;

Whereas Zambian President, Levy Mwanawasa, has urged

southern Africa to take a new approach to Zimbabwe instead of the failed ‘‘quiet diplomacy’’, which he likened

to a ‘‘sinking Titanic,’’ and stated that ‘‘quiet diplomacy

has failed to help solve the political chaos and economic

meltdown in Zimbabwe’’;

Whereas European Union and African, Caribbean, and Pacific lawmakers strongly condemned the latest attack on

an opposition official in Zimbabwe and urged the government in Harare to cooperate with the political opposition

to restore the rule of law; and
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SCON 25 ES

Whereas United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, warned that opposition to President Robert

Mugabe had reached a tipping point because the people

no longer feared the regime and believed they had nothing left to lose: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That—

3 (1) it is the sense of Congress that

4 (A) the state-sponsored violence taking

5 place in Zimbabwe represents a serious viola6 tion of fundamental human rights and the rule

7 of law and should be condemned by all respon8 sible governments, civic organizations, religious

9 leaders, and international bodies; and

10 (B) the Government of Zimbabwe has not

11 lived up to its commitments as a signatory to

12 the Constitutive Act of the African Union and

13 African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights

14 which enshrine commitment to human rights

15 and good governance as foundational principles

16 of African states; and

17 (2) Congress—

18 (A) condemns the Government of

19 Zimbabwe’s violent suppression of political and

20 human rights through its police force, security

21 forces, and youth militia that deliberately inflict
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SCON 25 ES

1 gross physical harm, intimidation, and abuse on

2 those legitimately protesting the failing policies

3 of the government;

4 (B) holds those individual police, security

5 force members, and militia involved in abuse

6 and torture responsible for the acts that they

7 have committed;

8 (C) condemns the harassment and intimi9 dation of lawyers attempting to carry out their

10 professional obligations to their clients and re11 peated failure by police to comply promptly with

12 court decisions;

13 (D) condemns the harassment of foreign

14 officials, journalists, human rights workers, and

15 others, including threatening their expulsion

16 from the country if they continue to provide

17 food and water to victims detained in prison

18 and in police custody while in the hospital;

19 (E) commends United States Ambassador

20 Christopher Dell and other United States Gov21 ernment officials and foreign officials for their

22 support to political detainees and victims of tor23 ture and abuse while in police custody or in

24 medical care centers and encourages them to

25 continue providing such support;
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1 (F) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe

2 to cease immediately its violent campaign

3 against fundamental human rights, to respect

4 the courts and members of the legal profession,

5 and to restore the rule of law while adhering to

6 the principles embodied in an accountable de7 mocracy, including freedom of association and

8 freedom of expression;

9 (G) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe

10 to cease illegitimate interference in travel

11 abroad by its citizens, especially for humani12 tarian purposes; and

13 (H) calls on the leaders of the Southern

14 Africa Development Community (SADC) and

15 the African Union to consult urgently with all

16 Zimbabwe stakeholders to intervene with the

17 Government of Zimbabwe while applying appro18 priate pressures to resolve the economic and po19 litical crisis.

Passed the Senate June 26, 2007.

Attest:

Secretary.
110TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 25

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Condemning the recent violent actions of the Govparty activists and members of civil society. ernment of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition