II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2677

To restrict assistance until certain conditions are satisfied and to support

democratic and economic transition in Zimbabwe.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 6, 2000

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. FEINGOLD, and Mr. HELMS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

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

8 (1) Deliberate and systematic violence, intimi9 dation, and killings have been orchestrated and sup-
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1 ported by the Government of Zimbabwe and the rul2 ing ZANU–PF party against members, sympa3 thizers, and supporters of the democratic opposition,

4 farmers, and employees. The violence has resulted in

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

6 collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy.

7 (2) The lawlessness, harassment, violence, in8 timidation, and killings directed at the opposition

9 and their supporters, farmers and farm employees

10 continues at President Mugabe’s explicit and public

11 urging despite two court rulings that the occupations

12 are illegal and must be ended.

13 (3) The breakdown in the rule of law has jeop14 ardized Zimbabwe’s future, including international

15 support for programs which provide land ownership

16 for the large number of poor and landless

17 Zimbabweans, other donor programs, economic sta18 bility, and direct investment.

19 (4) The orchestrated violence and intimidation

20 directed at opposition supporters has created and

21 fostered an environment which seriously com22 promises the possibility of free and fair elections.

23 (5) The crisis in Zimbabwe is further exacer24 bated by the fact that Zimbabwe is spending millions

25 of dollars each month on its involvement in the civil
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1 war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Those re2 sources could finance equitable and transparent land

3 reform, other programs to promote economic growth

4 and alleviate poverty, and programs to combat the

5 spread and effects of the world’s highest HIV infec6 tion rate.

7 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is therefore the pol8 icy of the United States to support the people of

9 Zimbabwe in their struggles to effect peaceful, democratic

10 change, achieve broad-based and equitable economic

11 growth, and restore the rule of law.

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE OR

13 DEBT RELIEF.

14 (a) PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE.—Except as pro15 vided in subsection (b)—

16 (1) no United States assistance may be pro17 vided for the Government of Zimbabwe;

18 (2) no indebtedness owed by the Government of

19 Zimbabwe to the United States Government may be

20 canceled or reduced; and

21 (3) the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct

22 the United States Executive Director to each inter23 national financial institution to oppose and vote

24 against—
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1 (A) any extension by the respective institu2 tion of any assistance of any kind to the Gov3 ernment of Zimbabwe, except for assistance to

4 meet basic human needs and for good govern5 ance; and

6 (B) any cancellation or reduction of in7 debtedness owed by the Government of

8 Zimbabwe to that institution.

9 (b) CONDITIONS FOR RESTORATION OF ELIGIBILITY

10 FOR ASSISTANCE AND DEBT RELIEF.—The provisions of

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

12 the appropriate congressional committees that—

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

14 Zimbabwe, including respect for ownership and title

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

16 of speech and association, and an end to the lawless17 ness, violence, and intimidation sponsored, condoned,

18 or tolerated by the Government of Zimbabwe, the

19 ruling party, and their supporters or entities;

20 (2) Zimbabwe has held parliamentary elections

21 which are widely accepted by the participating par22 ties and the duly elected are free to assume their of23 fices;

24 (3)(A) Zimbabwe has held a presidential elec25 tion which is widely accepted by the participating
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1 parties and the president-elect is free to assume the

2 duties of the office; or

3 (B) the government has sufficiently improved

4 the pre-election environment to a degree consistent

5 with accepted international standards for security

6 and freedom of movement and association;

7 (4) the Government of Zimbabwe has dem8 onstrated a commitment to an equitable, legal, and

9 transparent land reform program which should—

10 (A) respect existing ownership of and title

11 to property by providing fair, market-based

12 compensation to sellers;

13 (B) benefit the truly needy and landless;

14 (C) be based on the principle of ownership

15 and title to all land, including communal areas;

16 (D) be managed and administered by an

17 independent, nongovernmental body; and

18 (E) be consistent with agreements reached

19 at the International Donors’ Conference on

20 Land Reform and Resettlement in Zimbabwe

21 held in Harare in September, 1998;

22 (5) the Government of Zimbabwe is making a

23 good faith effort toward an expeditious removal of

24 its forces from the Democratic Republic of Congo
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1 and ending all other support for any of the parties

2 to the conflict in that country; 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 (including 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;

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

20 Trade Development and Assistance Act of

21 1954; and

22 (E) financing under the Export-Import

23 Bank Act of 1945.

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

25 assistance’’ does not include—
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1 (A) humanitarian assistance, including

2 food, medicine, medical supplies;

3 (B) health assistance, including health as4 sistance for the prevention, treatment, and con5 trol of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases;

6 (C) support for democratic governance and

7 the rule of law;

8 (D) support for land reform programs con9 sistent with subsection (b)(4);

10 (E) support for conservation programs;

11 and

12 (F) support for de-mining programs.

13 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND

14 THE RULE OF LAW.

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

16 component of a comprehensive approach towards sup17 porting democratic institutions and the rule of law in

18 Zimbabwe, the President is authorized to use funds appro19 priated to carry out the provisions of part I and chapter

20 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to fi21 nance the legal and related expenses of—

22 (1) individuals and democratic institutions chal23 lenging restrictions to free speech and association in

24 Zimbabwe, including challenges to licensing fees, re25 strictions, and other charges and penalties imposed
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1 on the media or on individuals exercising their right

2 of free speech and association;

3 (2) individuals and democratic institutions and

4 organizations challenging electoral outcomes or re5 strictions to their pursuit of elective office or demo6 cratic reforms, including fees or other costs imposed

7 by the Government on those individuals or institu8 tions; and

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

10 otherwise victimized by political violence.

11 (b) AUTHORITY FOR RADIO BROADCASTING.—

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

13 Governors shall further the communication of infor14 mation and ideas through the increased use of radio

15 broadcasting to Zimbabwe to ensure that radio

16 broadcasting to that country serves as a consistently

17 reliable and authoritative source of accurate, objec18 tive and comprehensive news.

19 (2) TERMINATION.—The authority of this sub20 section shall terminate upon a certification by the

21 President under section 3(b) that the conditions

22 specified in that section have been satisfied.

23 (c) ASSISTANCE FOR DEMOCRACY TRAINING.—Dur24 ing fiscal year 2001, the President is authorized to use

25 not less than $6,000,000 of the funds made available to
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1 carry out the provisions of part I and chapter 4 of part

2 II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for democracy

3 and governance programs in Zimbabwe.

4 (d) ELECTION OBSERVERS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that the President should provide support, including

6 through the National Endowment for Democracy, for

7 international election observers to the Zimbabwean par8 liamentary elections in 2000 and the presidential election

9 scheduled for 2002, including assessments of the pre-elec10 toral environment in each case and the electoral laws of

11 Zimbabwe.

12 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND ECO13 NOMIC RECOVERY.

14 Upon the certification made by the President under

15 section 3(b)—

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

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

18 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, is authorized to

19 be made available, notwithstanding any other provi20 sion of law, for support for alternative schemes

21 under the Inception Phase of the Land Reform and

22 Resettlement Program, including costs related to ac23 quisition of land and resettlement, meeting the

24 standards in section 3(b)(4); and

25 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury shall—
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1 (A) undertake a review of the feasibility of

2 restructuring, rescheduling, or eliminating the

3 sovereign debt of Zimbabwe held by any agency

4 of the United States Government;

5 (B) direct the United States Executive Di6 rector of each international financial institution

7 to which the United States is a member to pro8 pose that such institution undertake a review of

9 the feasibility of restructuring, rescheduling, or

10 eliminating the sovereign debt of Zimbabwe

11 held by that institution; and

12 (C) direct the United States Executive Di13 rector of each international financial institution

14 to which the United States is a member to pro15 pose to undertake financial and technical sup16 port for Zimbabwe, especially that intended to

17 promote Zimbabwe’s economic recovery and de18 velopment, the stabilization of the Zimbabwean

19 dollar, and the viability of Zimbabwe’s demo20 cratic institutions; and

21 (3) there shall be established a Southern Africa

22 Finance Center located in Zimbabwe that will co-lo23 cate regional offices of the Overseas Private Invest24 ment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of the

25 United States, and the Trade and Development
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1 Agency for the purpose of facilitating the develop2 ment of commercial projects in Zimbabwe and the

3 southern Africa region.

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