II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3297 

To update United States policy and authorities to help advance a genuine 

transition to democracy and to promote economic recovery in Zimbabwe. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2010 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. ISAKSON, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To update United States policy and authorities to help advance a genuine transition to democracy and to promote 

economic recovery 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 Transition 

5 to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2010.’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

5 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

6 Urban Affairs, and the Committee on Appro7 priations of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

9 Committee on Financial Services, and the Com10 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Rep11 resentatives. 

12 (2) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITU13 TIONS.—The term ‘‘international financial institu14 tions’’ means the multilateral development banks 

15 and the International Monetary Fund. 

16 (3) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS.— 

17 The term ‘‘multilateral development banks’’ 

18 means— 

19 (A) the International Bank for Reconstruc20 tion and Development; 

21 (B) the International Development Asso22 ciation; 

23 (C) the International Finance Corporation; 

24 (D) the Inter-American Development 

25 Bank; 


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1 (E) the Asian Development Bank; 

2 (F) the Inter-American Investment Cor3 poration; 

4 (G) the African Development Bank; 

5 (H) the African Development Fund; 

6 (I) the European Bank for Reconstruction 

7 and Development; and 

8 (J) the Multilateral Investment Guarantee 

9 Agency. 

10 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

11 Congress makes the following findings: 

12 (1) In the last decade, Robert Mugabe and his 

13 government presided over the collapse of Zimbabwe’s 

14 economy and a dramatic decline in the living condi15 tions of the people of Zimbabwe, while employing 

16 violent tactics to maintain power. 

17 (2) Through economic mismanagement and un18 democratic practices over the past decade, the Gov19 ernment of Zimbabwe rendered itself ineligible to re20 ceive new loans, credits, or guarantees from most 

21 international financial institutions, which would oth22 erwise be providing substantial resources to assist in 

23 the recovery and modernization of Zimbabwe’s econ24 omy and which would have benefitted the people of 

25 Zimbabwe. 


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1 (3) In September 2008, after months of polit2 ical violence against opposition members and their 

3 supporters following disputed national elections, 

4 Robert Mugabe’s party, the Zimbabwean African 

5 National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), signed 

6 a ‘‘Global Political Agreement’’ (GPA) with both 

7 factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic 

8 Change (MDC), respectively led by Morgan 

9 Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, to form a tran10 sitional government, which was inaugurated in Feb11 ruary 2009. 

12 (4) In the GPA, which has been enshrined in 

13 the constitution of Zimbabwe and guaranteed by the 

14 Southern African Development Community (SADC) 

15 and the African Union (AU), the parties declared 

16 their commitment to ‘‘work together to create a gen17 uine, viable, permanent, sustainable, and nationally 

18 acceptable solution to the Zimbabwe situation and in 

19 particular to implement the following agreement 

20 with the aims of resolving once and for all the cur21 rent political and economic situations and charting 

22 a new political direction for the country’’. 

23 (5) Under the direction of the new Prime Min24 ister, Morgan Tsvangirai, and Minister of Finance, 

25 Tendai Biti, both from the MDC, the transitional 


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1 government in Zimbabwe has initiated a series of 

2 critical economic reforms, putting a stop to some of 

3 the quasi-fiscal activities of the previous administra4 tion, resuming salary payments to civil servants, and 

5 directing limited budget resources toward critical so6 cial protection services and infrastructure repairs. 

7 (6) While reform-minded members of the new 

8 coalition government have made some progress in 

9 initiating reforms in the economic sector, the agree10 ment has yet to be fully implemented, and political 

11 and human rights abuses continue, in contravention 

12 of the Global Political Agreement signed by the par13 ties. 

14 (7) As of the date of the enactment of this Act, 

15 state security forces remain largely under the control 

16 of ZANU–PF and continue to harass MDC sup17 porters and civic activists in Zimbabwe, to force ille18 gal and often violent seizures of private land and 

19 property, and to exert extrajudicial control of dia20 mond fields in the Marange district of eastern 

21 Zimbabwe. 

22 (8) The continued disrespect for the rule of law 

23 and property rights in Zimbabwe deters much need24 ed private investment in the country. 


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1 (9) The formation of the transitional govern2 ment has brought changes to the political landscape 

3 in Zimbabwe and created new opportunities for the 

4 United States and others to help advance real re5 form and recovery by engaging with those in the 

6 government who share those goals, while continuing 

7 to put targeted pressure on those who are under8 mining the rule of law. 

9 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

10 It is the policy of the United States to support the 

11 people of Zimbabwe in their struggle to affect peaceful, 

12 democratic change, achieve broad-based and equitable eco13 nomic growth, and restore the rule of law, including 

14 through— 

15 (1) the continued provision of humanitarian as16 sistance to meet the urgent needs of the people of 

17 Zimbabwe; 

18 (2) increased resources through non-govern19 mental entities to provide assistance to the critical 

20 agriculture, economic, education, and health sectors; 

21 (3) the promotion of trade by United States 

22 companies with Zimbabwe to stimulate the country’s 

23 economic growth and support the livelihoods of its 

24 people; 


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1 (4) engagement and close consultation with re2 gional governments and organizations, international 

3 financial institutions, and other donors to push for 

4 the full implementation of the Global Political 

5 Agreement and provide targeted support for funda6 mental reforms in Zimbabwe; 

7 (5) continued support for and engagement with 

8 civil society organizations in their efforts to promote 

9 the rule of law and respect for human rights in 

10 Zimbabwe, including through their contributions to 

11 the development of a new democratic constitution; 

12 (6) technical assistance to those within the 

13 transitional government in Zimbabwe who dem14 onstrate commitment to fundamental reforms in line 

15 with the Global Political Agreement; 

16 (7) the continuation of the ban on the transfer 

17 of defense items and services and the suspension of 

18 direct monetary assistance to the Government of 

19 Zimbabwe until there is greater progress toward re20 storing the rule of law, civilian control over security 

21 forces, and respect for human rights; and 

22 (8) the updating and renewal of targeted finan23 cial sanctions and travel bans against those found to 

24 be responsible for the deliberate breakdown of the 

25 rule of law, politically motivated violence, hindrance 


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1 of democracy, and other ongoing illegal activities in 

2 Zimbabwe. 

3 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE TRANSITIONAL 

4 GOVERNMENT OF ZIMBABWE TO SUPPORT 

5 REFORMS. 

6 (a) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with section 531 of 

7 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346) and 

8 notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President 

9 is authorized to provide technical assistance to ministries 

10 of the transitional Government of Zimbabwe and to the 

11 Parliament of Zimbabwe to provide the expertise and sup12 port necessary to ensure progress on economic, political, 

13 and security sector reforms. 

14 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that— 

16 (1) the transitional Government of Zimbabwe 

17 should work to fully enact the economic, political, 

18 and security sector reforms envisaged under the 

19 Global Political Agreement; 

20 (2) the United States should continue to pro21 vide technical assistance to build the capacity of 

22 ministries and offices within the transitional Govern23 ment of Zimbabwe that demonstrate a commitment 

24 to those reforms; 


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1 (3) the Parliament of Zimbabwe should work to 

2 make the government in that country accountable 

3 and to hasten the pace of reform; and 

4 (4) the United States should continue to pro5 vide technical assistance as needed to the Parliament 

6 of Zimbabwe to support efforts to review, and as 

7 necessary, amend or repeal legislation that— 

8 (A) violates freedom of expression, assem9 bly, or association; or 

10 (B) violates private property rights and de11 ters much-needed private investment. 

12 SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR LAND REFORM, AGRICULTURAL DE13 VELOPMENT, AND FOOD SECURITY TO LAY 

14 THE GROUNDWORK FOR ECONOMIC RECOV15 ERY. 

16 (a) LAND REFORM.—It is the sense of Congress 

17 that— 

18 (1) the absence of respect for property rights in 

19 Zimbabwe continues to hinder agricultural produc20 tivity and economic recovery; and 

21 (2) the United States should support credible 

22 efforts to conduct a comprehensive, transparent, and 

23 non-partisan land audit as a critical step toward es24 tablishing accountability and security of tenure. 


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1 (b) FOOD DISTRIBUTION AND PRODUCTION.—It is 

2 the sense of Congress that United States assistance to 

3 Zimbabwe should, to the extent possible given existing 

4 concerns about land tenure security— 

5 (1) support market-based mechanisms for the 

6 provision of credit and access to the inputs nec7 essary for agricultural production and for the han8 dling, marketing, storage, and processing of agricul9 tural commodities; 

10 (2) encourage policies that provide incentives 

11 for agricultural production; and 

12 (3) support institutions that provide technical 

13 and financial support for the agriculture sector. 

14 SEC. 7. AMENDMENT TO THE ZIMBABWE DEMOCRACY AND 

15 ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT OF 2001 TO RE16 SPOND TO ZIMBABWE’S POLITICAL TRANSI17 TION. 

18 Section 4 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 

19 Recovery Act of 2001 (Public Law No. 107–99; 115 Stat. 

20 962) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND 

22 ECONOMIC RECOVERY. 

23 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the parties to 

24 the September 15, 2008, Global Political Agreement be25 tween the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic 


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1 Front (ZANU–PF) and the Movement for Democratic 

2 Change (MDC) committed themselves by law to work to3 gether to chart a new political direction for Zimbabwe, to 

4 prioritize the restoration of economic stability and growth, 

5 and to create conditions for the drafting of a new constitu6 tion that respects human rights and democratic principles. 

7 ‘‘(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that, in order for the United States to most effec9 tively support a transition to democratic and economic re10 covery in Zimbabwe to the greatest effect, United States 

11 policy should, to the extent possible, reflect new political 

12 conditions and opportunities created by the Global Polit13 ical Agreement. 

14 ‘‘(c) DEBT RELIEF.—The Secretary of the Treasury, 

15 in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall gather 

16 information on the debt incurred by Zimbabwe held by 

17 international financial institutions and private financial 

18 institutions, and the feasibility and advisability of restruc19 turing, rescheduling, or eliminating such debt in the fu20 ture, including by using the resources of the International 

21 Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruc22 tion and Development, and other appropriate international 

23 financial institutions. 

24 ‘‘(d) MULTILATERAL FINANCING CONDITIONS.—The 

25 Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States 


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1 executive director to each international financial institu2 tion to oppose any extension by the respective institution 

3 of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of 

4 Zimbabwe unless the proposed extension meets the fol5 lowing conditions: 

6 ‘‘(1) There are sufficient controls for trans7 parency and international oversight of the use of rel8 evant funds. 

9 ‘‘(2) Relevant funds, in cases where the inter10 national financial institutions are providing direct 

11 funding to or through the Government of Zimbabwe, 

12 will not be administered through or in coordination 

13 with— 

14 ‘‘(A) ministries that have not demonstrated 

15 a commitment to reform and responsible fiscal 

16 management; or 

17 ‘‘(B) the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, un18 less there are sufficient guarantees and a pat19 tern of evidence that governance problems with20 in the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe have been 

21 addressed such that relevant funds will not be 

22 redirected for extra-legal purposes. 

23 ‘‘(3) Relevant funds will not be administered by 

24 or directly accessible to individuals or financial insti25 tutions sanctioned by the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the United States votes 

3 in favor of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Gov4 ernment of Zimbabwe by an international financial 

5 institution, the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordi6 nation with the Secretary of State, shall notify the 

7 appropriate congressional committees within 30 days 

8 of such vote and provide appropriate information on 

9 such vote pertaining to the conditions in subsection 

10 (d). 

11 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘ap13 propriate congressional committees’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

15 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

16 Urban Affairs, and the Committee on Appro17 priations of the Senate; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

19 the Committee on Financial Services, and the 

20 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

21 Representatives. 

22 ‘‘(f) WAIVER.—The President may waive the provi23 sions in subsection (d) and (e) if the President determines 

24 that it is in the national interest of the United States to 

25 do so.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. AMENDMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, FOR2 EIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PRO3 GRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT OF 2010 TO UP4 DATE RESTRICTIONS ON UNITED STATES AS5 SISTANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF 

6 ZIMBABWE. 

7 Subsection 7070(i) of the Department of State, For8 eign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations 

9 Act of 2010 (division F of Public Law 111–117; 123 Stat. 

10 3388) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘None of the funds 

11 appropriated by this Act may be made available for assist12 ance for the central Government of Zimbabwe, except for 

13 macroeconomic growth, health, and education assistance, 

14 unless the Secretary of State determines and reports in 

15 writing to the Committees on Appropriations that the rule 

16 of law has been restored in Zimbabwe, including respect 

17 for ownership and title to property and freedom of speech 

18 and association.’’ 

19 SEC. 9. ACTIONS TO STOP ILLEGAL DIAMOND FLOWS. 

20 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find21 ings: 

22 (1) According to credible human rights organi23 zations, the armed forces of Zimbabwe continue to 

24 exert control over diamond mines in the Marange 

25 district of eastern Zimbabwe, and have committed 


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1 horrific abuses against miners and local residents, 

2 including extrajudicial killings, beatings, and torture. 

3 (2) A review mission of the Kimberley Process 

4 traveled to Zimbabwe from June 30 to July 4, 2009, 

5 and documented extensive smuggling of diamonds 

6 and abuses against civilians by the police and army 

7 forces of the Government of Zimbabwe. The review 

8 mission reportedly found there to be ‘‘credible indi9 cations of significant non-compliance’’ by the Gov10 ernment of Zimbabwe with the minimum standards 

11 of the Kimberley Process. 

12 (3) On December 11, 2009, the United States 

13 Senior Advisor to the Permanent Representative of 

14 the United States to the 64th Session of the General 

15 Assembly stated that the United States has ‘‘serious 

16 concerns about Zimbabwe’s non-compliance with the 

17 minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process, 

18 particularly relating to smuggling and grave violence 

19 in and around the Marange diamond fields’’. 

20 (4) The army and police forces of the Govern21 ment of Zimbabwe continue to serve primarily as in22 struments of ZANU–PF, and their illegal activities 

23 involving diamonds continue to fuel the efforts of 

24 ZANU–PF to undermine democratic processes and 

25 institutions. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—In order to promote re2 spect for the rule of law and to prevent further human 

3 rights violations by state security forces in Zimbabwe, it 

4 is the sense of Congress that, until the Secretary of State 

5 can certify that Zimbabwe is in full compliance with the 

6 Kimberley Process, the President should— 

7 (1) press for Zimbabwe to be suspended from 

8 the Kimberley Process diamond certification scheme; 

9 (2) work with Zimbabwe’s neighbors as well as 

10 with regional organizations to help stop the flow of 

11 diamonds mined in Zimbabwe from crossing their 

12 shared border; and 

13 (3) seek to identify and prepare sanctions pur14 suant to Executive Order 13391 on individuals and 

15 entities funding efforts to undermine democratic 

16 processes and institutions in Zimbabwe through ille17 gal activities involving diamonds. 

18 SEC. 10. UPDATING AND TIGHTENING OF UNITED STATES 

19 TARGETED SANCTIONS RELATING TO 

20 ZIMBABWE. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the 

22 Treasury, in close consultation with the Secretary of State 

23 and other relevant officials of the United States Govern24 ment, should regularly review and update targeted sanc25 tions related to Zimbabwe, giving particular attention to— 


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1 (1) the ways in which certain entities directly 

2 support or fund activities in Zimbabwe that under3 mine democratic processes and institutions; 

4 (2) the role and functions of certain entities in 

5 activities critical to economic recovery in Zimbabwe; 

6 and 

7 (3) how sanctions could be strengthened against 

8 those entities that continue to directly support or 

9 fund activities that are undermining democratic 

10 processes and institutions in Zimbabwe. 

11 SEC. 11. PREPARATIONS TO SUPPORT EFFORTS TO PRE12 VENT FUTURE ELECTION VIOLENCE AND 

13 ABUSES. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

15 Government should begin engaging with international 

16 partners and regional governments to develop a coordi17 nated strategy to prepare for future elections in 

18 Zimbabwe, particularly to help reduce the risk of violence 

19 and other abuses related to such elections. 

20 SEC. 12. BRIEFING TO CONGRESS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

23 Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the Administrator 

24 of the United States Agency for International DevelopVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:04 May 05, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3297.IS S3297

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1 ment shall provide the appropriate congressional commit2 tees a briefing on efforts made pursuant to this Act. 

3 (b) CONTENT.—The briefing required by subsection 

4 (a) shall include the following: 

5 (1) A description of what technical assistance 

6 has been provided by the United States and by 

7 international financial institutions to ministries of 

8 the transitional Government of Zimbabwe and to the 

9 Parliament of Zimbabwe, an assessment of how that 

10 assistance has contributed to demonstrable progress 

11 on economic and political reforms, and recommenda12 tions for any additional changes in United States 

13 law or policy that are needed to strengthen the op14 portunity for democratic and economic reforms in 

15 Zimbabwe to succeed. 

16 (2) A description of steps taken pursuant to 

17 section 9 to investigate and address the connection 

18 between illegal activities involving diamonds and ef19 forts to undermine democratic processes and institu20 tions in Zimbabwe. 

21 (3) A description of efforts made pursuant to 

22 section 10 and any changes resulting from the re23 view and updating of United States targeted sanc24 tions relating to Zimbabwe. 


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1 (4) A description of efforts made pursuant to 

2 section 11 and progress made toward developing a 

3 coordinated strategy to prepare for future elections 

4 in Zimbabwe. 

Æ 


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