IIB

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2677

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 26, 2000

Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

AN ACT

To restrict assistance until certain conditions are satisfied

and to support democratic and economic transition in

Zimbabwe.

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 Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows:

3 (1) Deliberate and systematic violence, intimi4 dation, and killings have been orchestrated and sup5 ported by the Government of Zimbabwe and the rul6 ing ZANU-PF party against members, sympa7 thizers, and supporters of the democratic opposition,

8 farmers, and employees. The violence has resulted in

9 death, a breakdown in the rule of law, and further

10 collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy.

11 (2) The lawlessness, harassment, violence, in12 timidation, and killings directed at the opposition

13 and their supporters, farmers and farm employees

14 continues at President Mugabe’s explicit and public

15 urging despite two court rulings that the occupations

16 are illegal and must be ended.

17 (3) The breakdown in the rule of law has jeop18 ardized Zimbabwe’s future, including international

19 support for programs which provide land ownership

20 for the large number of poor and landless

21 Zimbabweans, other donor programs, economic sta22 bility, and direct investment.

23 (4) The orchestrated violence and intimidation

24 directed at opposition supporters has created and

25 fostered an environment which seriously com26 promises the possibility of free and fair elections.
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1 (5) The crisis in Zimbabwe is further exacer2 bated by the fact that Zimbabwe is spending millions

3 of dollars each month on its involvement in the civil

4 war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Those re5 sources could finance equitable and transparent land

6 reform, other programs to promote economic growth

7 and alleviate poverty, and programs to combat the

8 spread and effects of the world’s highest HIV infec9 tion rate.

10 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is therefore the pol11 icy of the United States to support the people of

12 Zimbabwe in their struggles to effect peaceful, democratic

13 change, achieve broad-based and equitable economic

14 growth, and restore the rule of law.

15 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE OR

16 DEBT RELIEF.

17 (a) PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE.—Except as pro18 vided in subsection (b)—

19 (1) no United States assistance may be pro20 vided for the Government of Zimbabwe;

21 (2) no indebtedness owed by the Government of

22 Zimbabwe to the United States Government may be

23 canceled or reduced; and

24 (3) the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct

25 the United States Executive Director to each inter-
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1 national financial institution to oppose and vote

2 against—

3 (A) any extension by the respective institu4 tion of any assistance of any kind to the Gov5 ernment of Zimbabwe, except for assistance to

6 meet basic human needs and for good govern7 ance; and

8 (B) any cancellation or reduction of in9 debtedness owed by the Government of

10 Zimbabwe to that institution.

11 (b) CONDITIONS FOR RESTORATION OF ELIGIBILITY

12 FOR ASSISTANCE AND DEBT RELIEF.—The provisions of

13 subsection (a) shall apply until the President certifies to

14 the appropriate congressional committees that—

15 (1) the rule of law has been restored in

16 Zimbabwe, including respect for ownership and title

17 to property held prior to January 1, 2000, freedom

18 of speech and association, and an end to the lawless19 ness, violence, and intimidation sponsored, condoned,

20 or tolerated by the Government of Zimbabwe, the

21 ruling party, and their supporters or entities;

22 (2) Zimbabwe has held parliamentary elections

23 which are widely accepted by the participating par24 ties and the duly elected are free to assume their of25 fices;
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1 (3)(A) Zimbabwe has held a presidential elec2 tion which is widely accepted by the participating

3 parties and the president-elect is free to assume the

4 duties of the office; or

5 (B) the government has sufficiently improved

6 the pre-election environment to a degree consistent

7 with accepted international standards for security

8 and freedom of movement and association;

9 (4) the Government of Zimbabwe has dem10 onstrated a commitment to an equitable, legal, and

11 transparent land reform program which should—

12 (A) respect existing ownership of and title

13 to property by providing fair, market-based

14 compensation to sellers;

15 (B) benefit the truly needy and landless;

16 (C) be based on the principle of ownership

17 and title to all land, including communal areas;

18 (D) be managed and administered by an

19 independent, nongovernmental body; and

20 (E) be consistent with agreements reached

21 at the International Donors’ Conference on

22 Land Reform and Resettlement in Zimbabwe

23 held in Harare in September, 1998;

24 (5) the Government of Zimbabwe is making a

25 good faith effort to fulfill the terms of the Lusaka
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1 agreement on ending the war in the Democratic Re2 public of Congo; and

3 (6) the Zimbabwean Armed Forces and the Na4 tional Police of Zimbabwe are responsible to and

5 serve the elected civilian government.

6 (c) UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE DEFINED.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), in this section, the term ‘‘United States

9 assistance’’ means—

10 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As11 sistance Act of 1961 (excluding programs under

12 title IV of chapter 2 of part I, relating to the

13 Overseas Private Investment Corporation);

14 (B) sales, or financing on any terms, under

15 the Arms Export Control Act;

16 (C) the licensing of exports under section

17 38 of the Arms Export Control Act; and

18 (D) the provision of agricultural commod19 ities, other than food, under the Agricultural

20 Trade Development and Assistance Act of

21 1954.

22 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘United States

23 assistance’’ does not include—

24 (A) humanitarian assistance, including

25 food, medicine, medical supplies;
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1 (B) health assistance, including health as2 sistance for the prevention, treatment, and con3 trol of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases;

4 (C) support for democratic governance and

5 the rule of law;

6 (D) support for land reform programs con7 sistent with subsection (b)(4);

8 (E) support for conservation programs;

9 and

10 (F) support for de-mining programs.

11 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the provi12 sions of subsection (a) if he determines that it is in the

13 national interest of the United States to do so.

14 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND

15 THE RULE OF LAW.

16 (a) ASSISTANCE FOR LEGAL EXPENSES.—As one

17 component of a comprehensive approach towards sup18 porting democratic institutions and the rule of law in

19 Zimbabwe, the President is authorized to use funds appro20 priated to carry out the provisions of part I and chapter

21 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to fi22 nance the legal and related expenses of—

23 (1) individuals and democratic institutions chal24 lenging restrictions to free speech and association in

25 Zimbabwe, including challenges to licensing fees, re-
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1 strictions, and other charges and penalties imposed

2 on the media or on individuals exercising their right

3 of free speech and association;

4 (2) individuals and democratic institutions and

5 organizations challenging electoral outcomes or re6 strictions to their pursuit of elective office or demo7 cratic reforms, including fees or other costs imposed

8 by the Government on those individuals or institu9 tions; and

10 (3) individuals who are the victims of torture or

11 otherwise victimized by political violence.

12 (b) AUTHORITY FOR RADIO BROADCASTING.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Broadcasting Board of

14 Governors shall further the communication of infor15 mation and ideas through the increased use of radio

16 broadcasting to Zimbabwe to ensure that radio

17 broadcasting to that country serves as a consistently

18 reliable and authoritative source of accurate, objec19 tive and comprehensive news.

20 (2) TERMINATION.—The authority of this sub21 section shall terminate upon a certification by the

22 President under section 3(b) that the conditions

23 specified in that section have been satisfied.

24 (c) ASSISTANCE FOR DEMOCRACY TRAINING.—Dur25 ing fiscal year 2001, the President is authorized to use
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1 not less than $6,000,000 of the funds made available to

2 carry out the provisions of part I and chapter 4 of part

3 II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for democracy

4 and governance programs in Zimbabwe.

5 (d) ELECTION OBSERVERS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that the President should provide support, including

7 through the National Endowment for Democracy, for

8 international election observers to the Zimbabwean par9 liamentary elections in 2000 and the presidential election

10 scheduled for 2002, including assessments of the pre-elec11 toral environment in each case and the electoral laws of

12 Zimbabwe.

13 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND ECO14 NOMIC RECOVERY.

15 Upon the certification made by the President under

16 section 3(b)—

17 (1) up to $16,000,000 of funds appropriated to

18 carry out the provisions of chapter 4 of part II of

19 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, is authorized to

20 be made available, notwithstanding any other provi21 sion of law, for support for alternative schemes

22 under the Inception Phase of the Land Reform and

23 Resettlement Program, including costs related to ac24 quisition of land and resettlement, meeting the

25 standards in section 3(b)(4); and
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1 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury shall—

2 (A) undertake a review of the feasibility of

3 restructuring, rescheduling, or eliminating the

4 sovereign debt of Zimbabwe held by any agency

5 of the United States Government;

6 (B) direct the United States Executive Di7 rector of each international financial institution

8 to which the United States is a member to pro9 pose that such institution undertake a review of

10 the feasibility of restructuring, rescheduling, or

11 eliminating the sovereign debt of Zimbabwe

12 held by that institution; and

13 (C) direct the United States Executive Di14 rector of each international financial institution

15 to which the United States is a member to pro16 pose to undertake financial and technical sup17 port for Zimbabwe, especially that intended to

18 promote Zimbabwe’s economic recovery and de19 velopment, the stabilization of the Zimbabwean

20 dollar, and the viability of Zimbabwe’s demo21 cratic institutions; and

22 (3) there shall be established a Southern Africa

23 Finance Center located in Zimbabwe that will co-lo24 cate regional offices of the Overseas Private Invest25 ment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of the
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1 United States, and the Trade and Development

2 Agency for the purpose of facilitating the develop3 ment of commercial projects in Zimbabwe and the

4 southern Africa region.

Passed the Senate June 23, 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.