III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 611 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on the crisis in Zimbabwe, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 14, 2008 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Mr. KERRY, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. 

BOXER, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Ms. 

SNOWE, Mrs. DOLE, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. 

MARTINEZ, and Mr. SMITH) submitted the following resolution; which 

was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on the crisis in 

Zimbabwe, and for other purposes. 

Whereas, over the last eight years, the Zimbabwean African 

National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), led by Robert Mugabe, has increasingly turned to violence and intimidation to maintain power amidst a deteriorating crisis; 

Whereas the gross domestic product of Zimbabwe has decreased over 40 percent in the last decade, inflation is estimated by United Nations Deputy Secretary-General 

Asha-Rose Migiro at over 10,500,000 percent, unemployVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:53 Jul 15, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR611.ATS SR611

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•SRES 611 ATS 

ment is now over 80 percent, and more than 4,000,000 

people have fled the country; 

Whereas presidential and parliamentary elections were held 

on March 29, 2008, in Zimbabwe amidst widespread reports of voting irregularities and intimidation in favor of 

the ruling ZANU-PF party and Robert Mugabe; 

Whereas the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission refused to release results, despite calls to do so by the African Union 

(AU), the European Union (EU), the Republic of South 

Africa, the Southern African Development Community 

(SADC), United Nations Secretary-General Ban KiMoon, and the United States; 

Whereas the official results of the election, announced five 

weeks later, showed that Robert Mugabe won 43.2 percent of the vote, while Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the 

opposition party Movement for Democratic Change 

(MDC), won 47.9 percent of the vote; 

Whereas, in the wake of the elections, Robert Mugabe 

launched a brutal campaign of state-sponsored violence 

against opposition members, supporters, and other civilians in an attempt to consolidate his power; 

Whereas United States Ambassador to the United Nations 

Zalmay Khalilzad stated on April 16, 2008, that he was 

‘‘gravely concerned about the escalating politically motivated violence perpetrated by security forces and ruling 

party militias’’; 

Whereas Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated on April 

17, 2008, that Robert Mugabe has ‘‘done more harm to 

his country than would have been imaginable’’ and that 

‘‘the last years have been really an abomination’’ and 


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•SRES 611 ATS 

called for the AU and SADC to strengthen efforts to 

achieve a political resolution to the crisis; 

Whereas Human Rights Watch reported on April 19, 2008, 

that the Mugabe regime had developed a network of informal detention centers to intimidate, torture, and detain political opponents; 

Whereas the Mugabe regime has, in violation of the Vienna 

Convention on Diplomatic Relations, done at Vienna 

April 18, 1961 (23 U.S.T. 3229), harassed United States 

and other diplomats in retaliation for their repeated protest of recent violence, including by detaining the United 

States ambassador’s vehicle for several hours on May 13, 

2008, and detaining five United States embassy staff and 

two local embassy workers on June 5, 1998, one of whom 

was physically assaulted; 

Whereas reports of killings, abductions, beatings, torture, and 

sexual violence against civilians in Zimbabwe have continued, resulting in some 10,000 people being assaulted and 

at least 30,000 displaced; 

Whereas the MDC and Presidential candidate Tsvangirai 

withdrew from the June 27, 2008, runoff presidential 

election, citing intensified political repression and killings 

of their supporters; 

Whereas the Mugabe regime persisted with the runoff election, despite the protest of many leaders in Africa, the 

EU, SADC, the United Nations Security Council, and 

the United States Government; 

Whereas results from the runoff election unsurprisingly declared Robert Mugabe, the only standing candidate, as 

the winner with 85 percent of the vote, and he was sworn 

into office; 


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•SRES 611 ATS 

Whereas SADC, the Pan-African Parliament, and AU Observer missions to Zimbabwe made statements on June 

29 and 30, 2008, finding that the elections fell short of 

accepted African Union standards, did not give rise to 

free, fair, or credible elections, and did not reflect the will 

of the people of Zimbabwe; 

Whereas, on June 4, 2008, the Mugabe regime banned the 

operations of non-governmental organizations in 

Zimbabwe, including those who provide food and aid to 

millions of Zimbabweans suffering at the result of a 

ZANU-PF’s policies, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and leaving newly displaced victims of political violence without assistance; 

Whereas Nelson Mandela has described the situation in 

Zimbabwe as a ‘‘tragic failure of leadership,’’ while the 

Government of Botswana has refused to recognize the 

election outcome as legitimate and has said that representatives of the administration should be excluded 

from SADC and African Union meetings; 

Whereas the African Union passed a resolution on July 1, 

2008, expressing concern for the loss of life in Zimbabwe 

and the need to initiate political dialogue to promote 

peace, democracy, and reconciliation; 

Whereas the MDC reported on July 9, 2008, that 129 of its 

supporters have been killed since the first round of elections, including 20 since the runoff election, 1,500 of its 

activists and officials are in detention, and 5,000 are 

missing or unaccounted for; and 

Whereas the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, at 

their annual summit, issued a joint statement on July 8, 

2008, rejecting the June 27, 2008, election and legitVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:53 Jul 15, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR611.ATS SR611

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•SRES 611 ATS 

imacy of the Mugabe regime, as well as committing to 

further measures against those responsible for the violence: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate— 

2 (1) to support the people of Zimbabwe, who 

3 continue to face widespread violence, political repres4 sion, a humanitarian emergency, and economic ad5 versity; 

6 (2) to condemn the Mugabe regime for its ma7 nipulation of the country’s electoral process, includ8 ing the March 29, 2008, election and the June 27, 

9 2008, runoff election and the regime’s continued at10 tacks against, and intimidation of, opposition mem11 bers and supporters and civil society; 

12 (3) to reject the results of the June 27, 2008, 

13 presidential runoff election in Zimbabwe as illegit14 imate because of widespread irregularities, system15 atic violence by the Mugabe regime, and the boycott 

16 of the MDC; 

17 (4) to encourage the President’s continued ef18 forts to tighten and expand sanctions on those indi19 viduals responsible for violations of human and polit20 ical rights in Zimbabwe; 

21 (5) to applaud the Governments of Benin, Bot22 swana, Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra 

23 Leone, and Zambia for condemning the violent deVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:53 Jul 15, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR611.ATS SR611

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•SRES 611 ATS 

1 railment of the runoff election at the African Union 

2 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh; 

3 (6) to encourage all members of the United Na4 tions Security Council to vote in favor of the pro5 posed resolution that would authorize a United Na6 tions Special Representative to support the negotia7 tions process, impose an international arms embar8 go, and strengthen financial penalties on those indi9 viduals most responsible for undermining democratic 

10 processes; 

11 (7) to encourage the African Union to initiate 

12 an inclusive political dialogue between both parties 

13 and deploy a protection force to prevent attacks, as14 sist victims, and prevent the security situation from 

15 further deteriorating; 

16 (8) to urge leaders in Africa to engage directly 

17 in the effort to achieve an expeditious political reso18 lution to the crisis; 

19 (9) to urge the United States Government and 

20 the international community to assemble a com21 prehensive economic and political recovery package 

22 for Zimbabwe in the event that a political resolution 

23 is reached and a truly democratic government is 

24 formed; and 


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1 (10) to support a lasting democratic political 

2 solution that reflects the will and respects the rights 

3 of the people of Zimbabwe, including mechanisms to 

4 ensure that future elections are free and fair, in ac5 cordance with regional and international standards. 

Æ 


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