III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 25 

Condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe 

against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil society. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2007 

Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

KERRY, and Mr. DODD) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Condemning the recent violent actions of the Government 

of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition party activists 

and members of civil society. 

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 announceVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:53 Mar 30, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SC25.IS SC25

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ment 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; 

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; 


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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; 

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 


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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 

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 


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1 the Constitutive Act of the African Union and 

2 African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights 

3 which enshrine commitment to human rights 

4 and good governance as foundational principles 

5 of African states; and 

6 (2) Congress— 

7 (A) condemns the Government of 

8 Zimbabwe’s violent suppression of political and 

9 human rights through its police force, security 

10 forces, and youth militia that deliberately inflict 

11 gross physical harm, intimidation, and abuse on 

12 those legitimately protesting the failing policies 

13 of the government; 

14 (B) holds those individual police, security 

15 force members, and militia involved in abuse 

16 and torture responsible for the acts that they 

17 have committed; 

18 (C) condemns the harassment and intimi19 dation of lawyers attempting to carry out their 

20 professional obligations to their clients and re21 peated failure by police to comply promptly with 

22 court decisions; 

23 (D) condemns the harassment of foreign 

24 officials, journalists, human rights workers, and 

25 others, including threatening their expulsion 


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1 from the country if they continue to provide 

2 food and water to victims detained in prison 

3 and in police custody while in the hospital; 

4 (E) commends United States Ambassador 

5 Christopher Dell and other United States Gov6 ernment officials and foreign officials for their 

7 support to political detainees and victims of tor8 ture and abuse while in police custody or in 

9 medical care centers and encourages them to 

10 continue providing such support; 

11 (F) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe 

12 to cease immediately its violent campaign 

13 against fundamental human rights, to respect 

14 the courts and members of the legal profession, 

15 and to restore the rule of law while adhering to 

16 the principles embodied in an accountable de17 mocracy, including freedom of association and 

18 freedom of expression; 

19 (G) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe 

20 to cease illegitimate interference in travel 

21 abroad by its citizens, especially for humani22 tarian purposes; and 

23 (H) calls on the leaders of the Southern 

24 Africa Development Community (SADC) and 

25 the African Union to consult urgently with all 


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1 Zimbabwe stakeholders to intervene with the 

2 Government of Zimbabwe while applying appro3 priate pressures to resolve the economic and po4 litical crisis. 

Æ 


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