News / International
ACP calls for removal of Zim sanctions
28 Nov 2013 at 18:13hrs | Views
THE African, Caribbean and Pacific Parliamentary Assembly has trashed claims by the European Union that the sanctions regime on Zimbabwe was "smart" or "targeted" saying the sanctions were unjustified, had caused company closures and suffering among ordinary people and should be lifted.
The ACP Parliamentary Assembly, which is made up of 79 countries drawn from Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions made the groundbreaking declaration at its 34th session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from Friday last week to Wednesday this week where the embargo was rapped for spawning negative economic and social consequences in Zimbabwe.
The declaration is reproduced in full on page 3.
The ACP spoke as Greece, the incoming EU chair, announced the removal of the illegal sanctions regime would be a priority when it assumes the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc in January, describing the embargo as unjustified. Greece takes over the EU presidency from Lithuania.
In an interview after presenting his credentials to President Mugabe at State House in Harare yesterday, incoming Greek ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Leonidas Contovounesios said his country intended to cause the lifting of sanctions.
In light of the peaceful, free, fair and credible harmonised elections held on July 31 this year in Zimbabwe, the ACP urged the EU to lift the sanctions.
"Considering the grave economic and social consequences of EU sanctions on Zimbabwe, which have caused untold human suffering as a result of company closures with attendant job losses, which inter-alia, compromised the ability of the Government to provide basic services, (ACP) appeals to the European Union to honour its undertaking to respect the verdict of Sadc and the African Union on the harmonised elections of July 31 2013, which constitute a positive and important milestone in the recent history of the country, which have laid the foundation for sustainable political stability and rehabilitation of the economy, including the reconstruction of the physical and social infrastructure of the country.
"(ACP) hereby calls for the lifting of EU sanctions against the Government of Zimbabwe and the normalisation of relations between Zimbabwe and the European Union . . . "
The ACP instructed its president to send the declaration to various bodies.
"(ACP) instructs its President to forward this declaration to the EU Council, ACP Council, European Commission, European Parliament and the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly," read the declaration.
The illegal sanctions regime is estimated to have compressed the economy by a factor of over 40 percent and cost the economy over $42billion in revenue over the past 13 years.
Significant progress that Zimbabwe has made in the development of infrastructure, health and social service delivery systems has been severely affected by the imposition of sanctions.
The protracted foreign currency shortages that the country has been facing since 2000 have crippled the operations of industry, which heavily relies on imported inputs for their daily operations.
Decline in the key sectors of the economy have occasioned high unemployment, an inefficient health delivery system, reduction in FDI and the drying up of balance of payments support.
Sanctions are responsible for the decline in economic activity the past years.
Zanu-PF, in its manifesto, equated the illegal sanctions to a declaration of war.
The US promulgated the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act in 2001, that has since been renamed Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, that cut all lines of credit from multilateral lending institutions prompting an assault on, and decimation of the Zimbabwe dollar.
Zimbabwe, Zanu-PF says, lost donor support amounting to approximately US$36 million annually since 2001, US$79 million in loans from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and African Development Bank, commercial loans of US$431 million and GDP reduction of US$3,4 billion.
The revolutionary party at the launch of its manifesto recently, added that a number of NGO funded by the same countries that imposed the sanctions emerged in the same period as part of the wider regime change agenda as they were funded so that they could fill the gaps left by Government's failure to fund social services.
Ambassador Contovounesios pledged to strengthen bilateral and economic cooperation between Harare and Athens.
"On the question of sanctions, which His Excellency the President brought up, we are working to eradicate them," said Mr Contovounesios.
"We aspire that they will be lifted during the upcoming Greek presidency which starts in January 2014.
"We are doing progress on that, we have to support our case. The Greek community (living in Zimbabwe) signed a petition to lift sanctions, so we cannot be against our own people."
Senior members of the Greek community living in Zimbabwe were at State House accompanying the new envoy when he presented his credentials.
Ambassador Contovounesios acknowledged divisions within the EU over the removal of the illegal sanctions, saying some members wanted them removed but others were reluctant.
EU member states are at loggerheads over whether to remove or retain sanctions that were imposed outside the United Nations system and in violation of the Cotonou Agreement that governs relations between ACP countries.
The embargo, which has suffocated the economy causing suffering on ordinary Zimbabweans, was imposed over a decade ago at the instigation of the US, Britain and their allies after the country embarked on the land reform to address colonial landownership imbalances.
Greece becomes a second EU member after Belgium to call for the removal of the illegal sanctions with Brussels arguing the embargo was unjustifiable especially after Zimbabwe held peaceful and credible elections on July 31 this year won resoundingly by Zanu-PF. Other EU members, particularly Britain, the US, Australia and Canada that were rooting for the MDC-T in the harmonised elections are refusing to accept the outcome alleging poll fraud and want the embargo maintained. This is despite the fact that the polls were certified free and fair by the Sadc, AU and other progressive members of the international community.
Also to present their credentials to President Mugabe yesterday were incoming Cuban ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Elio Savon and Mr Ahmed Khalid Aljeeran of Kuwait.
Ambassador Aljeeran pledged to develop economic cooperation between Zimbabwe and Kuwait including the resumption of the Kuwaiti
Fund of Economic Development that would see low interest loans being extended to the country.
Kuwait stopped extending loans to Zimbabwe under the Fund in 1995.
During the third session of the Arab-Africa Summit held in Kuwait City this month, Kuwait pledged US$1 billion to Africa in soft loans to be spread over the next five years.
Cuba's Ambassador Savon promised to work on improving and diversifying the existing cordial relations between Cuba and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe and Cuba enjoy warm relations and Havanna routinely sends it medical personnel to Harare to bolster the country's health sector.
The two countries are victims of illegal Western sanctions and oftenly exchange notes on ways to defeat the embargo.
The ACP Parliamentary Assembly, which is made up of 79 countries drawn from Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions made the groundbreaking declaration at its 34th session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from Friday last week to Wednesday this week where the embargo was rapped for spawning negative economic and social consequences in Zimbabwe.
The declaration is reproduced in full on page 3.
The ACP spoke as Greece, the incoming EU chair, announced the removal of the illegal sanctions regime would be a priority when it assumes the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc in January, describing the embargo as unjustified. Greece takes over the EU presidency from Lithuania.
In an interview after presenting his credentials to President Mugabe at State House in Harare yesterday, incoming Greek ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Leonidas Contovounesios said his country intended to cause the lifting of sanctions.
In light of the peaceful, free, fair and credible harmonised elections held on July 31 this year in Zimbabwe, the ACP urged the EU to lift the sanctions.
"Considering the grave economic and social consequences of EU sanctions on Zimbabwe, which have caused untold human suffering as a result of company closures with attendant job losses, which inter-alia, compromised the ability of the Government to provide basic services, (ACP) appeals to the European Union to honour its undertaking to respect the verdict of Sadc and the African Union on the harmonised elections of July 31 2013, which constitute a positive and important milestone in the recent history of the country, which have laid the foundation for sustainable political stability and rehabilitation of the economy, including the reconstruction of the physical and social infrastructure of the country.
"(ACP) hereby calls for the lifting of EU sanctions against the Government of Zimbabwe and the normalisation of relations between Zimbabwe and the European Union . . . "
The ACP instructed its president to send the declaration to various bodies.
"(ACP) instructs its President to forward this declaration to the EU Council, ACP Council, European Commission, European Parliament and the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly," read the declaration.
The illegal sanctions regime is estimated to have compressed the economy by a factor of over 40 percent and cost the economy over $42billion in revenue over the past 13 years.
Significant progress that Zimbabwe has made in the development of infrastructure, health and social service delivery systems has been severely affected by the imposition of sanctions.
The protracted foreign currency shortages that the country has been facing since 2000 have crippled the operations of industry, which heavily relies on imported inputs for their daily operations.
Decline in the key sectors of the economy have occasioned high unemployment, an inefficient health delivery system, reduction in FDI and the drying up of balance of payments support.
Sanctions are responsible for the decline in economic activity the past years.
Zanu-PF, in its manifesto, equated the illegal sanctions to a declaration of war.
The US promulgated the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act in 2001, that has since been renamed Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, that cut all lines of credit from multilateral lending institutions prompting an assault on, and decimation of the Zimbabwe dollar.
The revolutionary party at the launch of its manifesto recently, added that a number of NGO funded by the same countries that imposed the sanctions emerged in the same period as part of the wider regime change agenda as they were funded so that they could fill the gaps left by Government's failure to fund social services.
Ambassador Contovounesios pledged to strengthen bilateral and economic cooperation between Harare and Athens.
"On the question of sanctions, which His Excellency the President brought up, we are working to eradicate them," said Mr Contovounesios.
"We aspire that they will be lifted during the upcoming Greek presidency which starts in January 2014.
"We are doing progress on that, we have to support our case. The Greek community (living in Zimbabwe) signed a petition to lift sanctions, so we cannot be against our own people."
Senior members of the Greek community living in Zimbabwe were at State House accompanying the new envoy when he presented his credentials.
Ambassador Contovounesios acknowledged divisions within the EU over the removal of the illegal sanctions, saying some members wanted them removed but others were reluctant.
EU member states are at loggerheads over whether to remove or retain sanctions that were imposed outside the United Nations system and in violation of the Cotonou Agreement that governs relations between ACP countries.
The embargo, which has suffocated the economy causing suffering on ordinary Zimbabweans, was imposed over a decade ago at the instigation of the US, Britain and their allies after the country embarked on the land reform to address colonial landownership imbalances.
Greece becomes a second EU member after Belgium to call for the removal of the illegal sanctions with Brussels arguing the embargo was unjustifiable especially after Zimbabwe held peaceful and credible elections on July 31 this year won resoundingly by Zanu-PF. Other EU members, particularly Britain, the US, Australia and Canada that were rooting for the MDC-T in the harmonised elections are refusing to accept the outcome alleging poll fraud and want the embargo maintained. This is despite the fact that the polls were certified free and fair by the Sadc, AU and other progressive members of the international community.
Also to present their credentials to President Mugabe yesterday were incoming Cuban ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Elio Savon and Mr Ahmed Khalid Aljeeran of Kuwait.
Ambassador Aljeeran pledged to develop economic cooperation between Zimbabwe and Kuwait including the resumption of the Kuwaiti
Fund of Economic Development that would see low interest loans being extended to the country.
Kuwait stopped extending loans to Zimbabwe under the Fund in 1995.
During the third session of the Arab-Africa Summit held in Kuwait City this month, Kuwait pledged US$1 billion to Africa in soft loans to be spread over the next five years.
Cuba's Ambassador Savon promised to work on improving and diversifying the existing cordial relations between Cuba and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe and Cuba enjoy warm relations and Havanna routinely sends it medical personnel to Harare to bolster the country's health sector.
The two countries are victims of illegal Western sanctions and oftenly exchange notes on ways to defeat the embargo.
Source - Herald
