III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 176 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on United States policy during the 

political transition in Zimbabwe, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 9, 2009 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. KERRY, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. 

BURRIS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

CARDIN, and Mr. BROWNBACK) submitted the following resolution; which 

was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on United States policy 

during the political transition in Zimbabwe, and for other 

purposes. 

Whereas, over the course of the last decade, the Zimbabwean 

African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), led 

by Robert Mugabe, increasingly turned to violence and 

intimidation to maintain power amidst government-directed economic collapse and a growing humanitarian crisis; 

Whereas the Department of State’s 2008 Country Report on 

Human Rights Practices states that the Government of 

Zimbabwe ‘‘continued to engage in the pervasive and systematic abuse of human rights, which increased during 

the year,’’ including unlawful killings, politically-motiVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:57 Jun 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR176.ATS SR176

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•SRES 176 ATS 

vated abductions, state-sanctioned use of excessive force 

and torture by security forces against opposition, student 

leaders, and civil society activists; 

Whereas Zimbabwe held presidential and parliamentary elections on March 29, 2008, with official results showing 

that Mr. 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 those elections, Mr. Mugabe and his 

allies launched a brutal campaign of violence against 

members and supporters of the MDC, voters and journalists, and other citizens of Zimbabwe, leading Mr. 

Tsvangirai to withdraw from the June 27, 2008, runoff 

presidential election, which Mr. Mugabe, the only remaining candidate, then won with 85 percent of the vote; 

Whereas, on September 15, 2008, ZANU-PF and the MDC 

signed a ‘‘Global Political Agreement’’ (GPA) to form a 

transitional government under which Mr. Mugabe would 

remain President, Mr. Tsvangirai would become Prime 

Minister, and the parties would divide control of the ministries; 

Whereas the Global Political Agreement, as written, included 

provisions to restore the rule of law and economic stability and growth, establish a new constitution, end violence by state and non-state actors, and promote freedom 

of assembly, association, expression, and communication; 

Whereas the installation of the transitional government 

stalled for five months as Mr. Mugabe and his allies refused to compromise on control of key ministries and security agencies and continued to use the state security 


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•SRES 176 ATS 

apparatus to intimidate and commit violence against political opponents; 

Whereas, according to the United Nations, the humanitarian 

situation during that time deteriorated to unprecedented 

levels, with an estimated 5,000,000 people in Zimbabwe 

susceptible to food insecurity, and collapsing water and 

sewerage services giving rise to a cholera epidemic that 

has resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 people; 

Whereas, on February 11, 2009, the parties finally formed 

the transitional government; 

Whereas there has since been some progress toward the implementation of the Global Political Agreement, including 

positive steps by the Ministry of Finance, such as the 

issuance of a Short Term Economic Recovery Program 

(STERP) and the abandonment of the Zimbabwe dollar 

in favor of foreign currencies; 

Whereas many of the reform-minded individuals within the 

new transitional government are limited by a severe lack 

of qualified personnel and material resources; 

Whereas the full implementation of the Global Political 

Agreement continues to be obstructed by hardliners in 

the government, and important issues regarding senior 

government appointments remain unresolved, notably the 

status of the current Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney General; 

Whereas ZANU-PF officials have made efforts to obstruct 

implementation of the Global Political Agreement as they 

continue to arrest legitimate journalists and human 

rights activists and delay the swearing into office of properly designated officials nominated by MDC; and 


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•SRES 176 ATS 

Whereas the security forces continue to operate outside the 

rule of law, condoning land invasions, restrictions on 

media access and freedoms, and harassment, arbitrary 

arrests, and detention of civil society activists in 

Zimbabwe: Now, therefore, be it 

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

2 United States Government, in coordination with other 

3 democratic governments and international institutions de4 siring to help the people of Zimbabwe, should— 

5 (1) continue to provide humanitarian assistance 

6 to meet the urgent needs of the people of Zimbabwe; 

7 (2) make available increased resources for non8 governmental entities to provide assistance and to 

9 pay salaries or fees to appropriately qualified people 

10 in Zimbabwe to enable progress to be made in the 

11 critical areas of education, health, water, and sanita12 tion; 

13 (3) welcome and encourage responsible efforts 

14 by the international community to support, strength15 en, and extend reforms made by ministries within 

16 the Government of Zimbabwe, especially the Min17 istry of Finance; 

18 (4) provide concrete financial and technical as19 sistance in response to requests from the people of 

20 Zimbabwe and civil society organizations in their ef21 forts to draft and enact a new constitution based on 


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•SRES 176 ATS 

1 democratic values and principles that would enable 

2 the country to hold fair and free elections at an 

3 early date; 

4 (5) work with and encourage regional govern5 ments and leaders to promote human rights, the res6 toration of the rule of law, and economic growth in 

7 Zimbabwe; 

8 (6) maintain the existing ban on the transfer of 

9 defense items and services and the suspension of 

10 most non-humanitarian government-to-government 

11 assistance until there is demonstrable progress to12 ward restoring the rule of law, civilian control over 

13 security forces, and respect for human rights in 

14 Zimbabwe; and 

15 (7) support the continuation and updating of fi16 nancial sanctions and travel bans targeted against 

17 those individuals responsible for the deliberate 

18 breakdown of the rule of law, politically motivated 

19 violence, and other ongoing illegal activities in 

20 Zimbabwe. 

Æ 


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