malvernmugadzikwa
Winnet Kanyerere
ON Friday, October 25, Zimbabwe will commemorate the 2024 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Anti-Sanctions Day.
The fifth anniversary of the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day will be held under the theme “Embracing Innovation towards Vision 2030: The Relentless Fight against Illegal Sanctions”.
These measures, often referred to as sanctions, have had a profound impact on the country’s development, human rights and overall well-being.
Background to the coercive measures
The primary reason for and objective of the 15-year liberation war waged against the settler colonial occupation in pre-independent Zimbabwe was the restoration of land forcibly seized by these settlers from indigenous Zimbabweans without compensation over the century-long colonial occupation of the country.
It is important to underscore the cardinal importance of land to Zimbabwe, considering that it defines its identity and, concomitantly, its right to self-determination, as enshrined in Article 2(7) of the United Nations Charter.
Funding and other support-related assurances given by the United Kingdom and United States of America during the 1979 Lancaster House Conference, which led to a cessation of hostilities and Zimbabwe’s independence in April 1980, failed to materialise as promised or expected.
The support that was provided came with stringent conditionalities.
This renewed frustration, disillusionment and anger among the indigenous Zimbabweans, who had fought for justice and freedom, predicated on the need to reclaim national heritage and resources.
Pressure for land reform and re-distribution increased, leading to the launch of the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme in 2000.
Western countries reacted by unilaterally imposing debilitating coercive measures the country is battling today.
The purported primary rationale for the imposition of these unilateral coercive measures over 20 years ago was broadly given as “concern for the rule of law and human rights violations and concern for the overall state of governance in Zimbabwe”.
The decision by Western countries to isolate Zimbabwe both diplomatically and economically was triggered by the implementation of Zimbabwe’s Land Reform Programme.
The United States of America Executive Order was issued in 2003, declaring “a national emergency” and characterising the “actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Zimbabwe” as constituting an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States of America”.
This then led to the “designation” of a number of individual Zimbabweans and State entities, including business dealings with them.
These measures, which are of extraterritorial application, also apply to any individual engaging in any business or commercial dealings or transactions with the unilaterally targeted persons/entities.
The Executive Order has been renewed annually since 2003.
Understanding unilateral coercive measures
Coercive measures are defined as “coercive diplomacy used to induce a target country to change some aspect of or its entire policy that it would otherwise not change on its own”.
The term “unilateral coercive measures” usually refers to measures taken by one state to compel a change in the policy of another state.
The other term we have grown to know as Zimbabwe is sanctions.
Impact of coercive measures
On March 22, 2018, the US Congress amended ZDERA (Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act) through an Order cited as S. 2595-115th Congress, which strengthened the coercive measures, immediately
prior to the July 31, 2018 harmonised
elections.
It targeted individuals within the Zimbabwean Government, imposed travel bans, restricted the movement of certain goods and people, as well as access to loans and debt resolution.
For instance, when Zimbabwe qualifies for loans and/or debt relief from the IMF, World Bank and other multilateral financial institutions, ZDERA expressly directs US representatives at all such institutions to oppose/vote against such requests.
USA, EU and the UK
The USA imposed coercive measures in 2001 through the enactment of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act. The European Union also introduced its own set of unilateral coercive measures in 2002. These have been renewed every year.
The United Kingdom, upon leaving the European Union in January 2021, imposed an additional regime of unilateral coercive measures against Zimbabwe on some senior members of the security services.
Mrs Winnet Kanyerere is the director for constitutional and parliamentary affairs in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
Online Reporter