II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2595 

To amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2018 

Mr. FLAKE (for himself and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery 

Act of 2001. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Zimbabwe Democracy 

5 and Economic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RECONSTRUCTION AND REBUILDING OF 

7 ZIMBABWE. 

8 Section 2 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 

9 Recovery Act of 2001 (Public Law 107–99; 22 U.S.C. 

10 2151 note) is amended by striking ‘‘and restore the rule 


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1 of law’’ and inserting ‘‘restore the rule of law, and recon2 struct and rebuild Zimbabwe’’. 

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

4 Section 4(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Eco5 nomic Recovery Act of 2001 is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘the costly deployment of 

8 troops to the Democratic Republic of the 

9 Congo’’ and inserting ‘‘private appropriation of 

10 public assets’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘Development and’’ and in12 serting ‘‘Development, International Develop13 ment Association, and, until recently,’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(6) In October 2016, the Government of 

17 Zimbabwe cleared its longstanding arrears with the 

18 IMF.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF PROVISIONS RELATED TO MULTILAT20 ERAL DEBT RELIEF AND OTHER FINANCIAL 

21 ASSISTANCE. 

22 Section 4(b) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Eco23 nomic Recovery Act of 2001 is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘RECOVERY.—’’ and all that fol2 lows through ‘‘Upon receipt’’ and inserting ‘‘RECOV3 ERY.—Upon receipt’’; and 

4 (2) by striking paragraph (2). 

5 SEC. 5. WITHHOLDING OF FUNDING FOR AFRICAN DEVEL6 OPMENT FUND. 

7 Section 4(c) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Eco8 nomic Recovery Act of 2001 is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

10 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and mov11 ing such subparagraphs, as so redesignated, two ems 

12 to the right; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘RESTRICTION.—Until’’ and in14 serting the following: ‘‘RESTRICTION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Until’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(2) WITHHOLDING OF FUNDING FOR AFRICAN

19 DEVELOPMENT FUND.—The United States Govern20 ment shall withhold funding for the African Develop21 ment Fund equivalent to any funding provided to 

22 Zimbabwe through Pillar II for arrears clearance.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 

2 ASSISTANCE. 

3 Section 4(d) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Eco4 nomic Recovery Act of 2001 is amended— 

5 (1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(2) PRE-ELECTION CONDITIONS.—The fol8 lowing pre-election conditions are met: 

9 ‘‘(A) Establishment and public release, 

10 without cost, in both paper and digital formats, 

11 of a biometric voter registration roll that is en12 dorsed by all registered political parties. 

13 ‘‘(B) An independent electoral manage14 ment body is selected, the members of which 

15 should be nominated by all political parties rep16 resented in the parliament of Zimbabwe, and 

17 permitted to entirely carry out the functions as18 signed to it in section 239 of Zimbabwe’s 2013 

19 constitution in an entirely independent manner. 

20 ‘‘(C) The Defense Forces of Zimbabwe are 

21 neither permitted to actively participate in cam22 paigning for any candidate nor to intimidate 

23 voters, and must verifiably and credibly uphold 

24 their constitutionally mandated duty to respect 

25 the fundamental rights and freedoms of all per26 sons and be non-partisan in character. 


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1 ‘‘(D) International observers, including 

2 from the United States, the African Union, the 

3 Southern African Development Community, and 

4 the European Union are permitted to observe 

5 the entire electoral process, both prior to, on, 

6 and following voting day, including by moni7 toring polling stations and counting centers, 

8 and are able to independently operate in a man9 ner enabling them to access and analyze vote 

10 tallying, tabulation, and the transmission and 

11 content of voting results. 

12 ‘‘(E) Candidates are allowed free and full 

13 access to state media, which must afford equal 

14 time and coverage to all registered parties, in 

15 an impartial manner, and must be able to cam16 paign in an environment that is free from in17 timidation and violence. 

18 ‘‘(F) Civil society organizations must freely 

19 and independently be able to carry out voter 

20 and civic education, and to monitor the entire 

21 electoral process, including by observing, re22 cording, and transmitting public-posted or an23 nounced voting results, including at the ward, 

24 constituency, and all higher levels of the vote 

25 tallying process, including through the conduct 


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1 of one or more parallel vote tabulation exer2 cises.’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (5) as 

4 paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; 

5 (3) by striking paragraph (4); 

6 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol7 lowing new paragraphs: 

8 ‘‘(3) PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.—Zimbabwe has 

9 held an election that is widely accepted as free, fair, 

10 and credible by independent international and do11 mestic civil society monitors, and the president-elect 

12 is free to assume the duties of the office. 

13 ‘‘(4) UPDATING STATUTES.—Laws enacted 

14 prior to passage of Zimbabwe’s new Constitution in 

15 March 2013 that are inconsistent with the new Con16 stitution are amended or repealed so that they are 

17 consistent with the Constitution. 

18 ‘‘(5) UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION.—The 

19 Secretary of State has certified that all elements of 

20 the Constitution, including devolution, are being im21 plemented. 

22 ‘‘(6) ECONOMIC REFORMS.—The Government of 

23 Zimbabwe has demonstrated a sustained commit24 ment to reforming Zimbabwe’s economy in ways that 


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1 will promote economic growth, address unemploy2 ment and underdevelopment, and restore livelihoods. 

3 ‘‘(7) DIAMOND REVENUES.—The Secretary of 

4 State has certified that a transparent and credible 

5 accounting for all diamond revenues since 2000 has 

6 taken place.’’; and 

7 (5) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by para8 graph (2) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘consistent 

9 with’’ and all that follows through ‘‘September 

10 1998’’. 

11 SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF AUTHORITY TO PAY LAND ACQUISI12 TION COSTS. 

13 Section 5(a)(2) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and 

14 Economic Recovery Act of 2001 is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘, including the payment of costs’’ and all that follows 

16 through ‘‘thereto’’. 

17 SEC. 8. INCLUSION OF AUSTRALIA IN CONSULTATIONS 

18 ABOUT ZIMBABWE. 

19 Section 6 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 

20 Recovery Act of 2001 is amended by inserting ‘‘Australia, 

21 and the United Kingdom’’ after ‘‘Canada,’’. 

22 SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PAST ATROCITIES AND 

23 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that the Government of 

25 Zimbabwe should take immediate action to— 


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1 (1) unify the people of Zimbabwe by— 

2 (A) acknowledging that human rights have 

3 been abused, including during the urban land 

4 clearances of Operation Murambatsvina, and 

5 the violence perpetrated in the wake of the 

6 2008 election against the opposition and citi7 zens of Zimbabwe; 

8 (B) undertaking a genuine process of na9 tional reconciliation up to and including ac10 knowledging and apologizing for atrocities in 

11 Matabeleland (Gukurahundi); and 

12 (C) taking steps to offer redress or com13 pensation to victims of abuses identified in sub14 paragraphs (A) and (B), in a manner rec15 ommended by the Zimbabwe Human Rights 

16 Commission and the National Peace and Rec17 onciliation Commission; and 

18 (2) order an immediate inquiry into the dis19 appearance of prominent human rights activists, in20 cluding Patrick Nabanyama, Itai Dzamara, and 

21 Paul Chizuze. 

22 SEC. 10. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENFORCEMENT OF SADC 

23 TRIBUNAL RULINGS. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that the Government of 

25 Zimbabwe and the Southern African Development ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Mar 29, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2595.IS S2595

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1 munity (SADC) should enforce the SADC tribunal rulings 

2 from 2007 to 2010, including 18 disputes involving em3 ployment, commercial, and human rights cases sur4 rounding dispossessed Zimbabwean commercial farmers 

5 and agricultural companies. 

6 SEC. 11. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON STEPS THAT MIGHT IN7 CREASE POSSIBILITY OF INCREASED TIES. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

9 Government would be more optimistic about the possibility 

10 for increased ties with Zimbabwe, including in the areas 

11 of trade and investment, if— 

12 (1) the government of Zimbabwe takes the 

13 steps outlined in section 6 and takes concrete, tan14 gible steps outlined in paragraphs (2) through (7) of 

15 section 4(d) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Eco16 nomic Recovery Act of 2001, as added by section 6 

17 of this Act; and 

18 (2) takes concrete, tangible steps towards— 

19 (A) good governance, including respect for 

20 opposition, rule of law, and human rights; and 

21 (B) economic reforms such as respect for 

22 contracts and private property rights. 

Æ 


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