admin
Foreign ambassadors taking to political activism in Zimbabwe risk being deported as their conduct contravenes standards of global diplomacy, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi has said.
Yesterday, Minister Mumbengegwi told The Sunday Mail at his Munhumutapa offices that Government will not tolerate errant diplomats and will invoke the relevant conventions to keep them in check.
His comments follow last week’s inference by France’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Laurent Delahousse, that state officials abducted Itai Dzamara, an MDC-T activist.
Dzamara has been missing since March 9, 2015, and Mr Delahousse alleged that he was abducted for “trying to uphold freedom of expression”.
The diplomat said this at French National Day celebrations in Harare, prompting the Foreign Affairs Ministry to read the Riot Act to him.
Minister Mumbengegwi said such accusations raised suspicion that Westerners were the ones who “organised” Dzamara’s disappearance in order to attack Zimbabwe.
“To start with, it is wrong for any diplomat, let alone an Ambassador, to want to utilise National Day celebrations as a forum for political interference in the affairs of the host State. That is supposed to be a ceremonial occasion where both the Ambassador and the host country are represented.
“It was never designed to be a forum to attack each other. This is not to say any diplomat is allowed to interfere in any way; to any extent in the domestic policy of the host country. This is strictly prohibited in terms of the Vienna Convention of 1961.”
He added: “What the French Ambassador did was unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe and this is why he was summoned to Foreign Affairs to explain himself and his feeble attempts to explain
To Page 7
himself were totally unsuccessful.
“I take this opportunity to warn the said Ambassador and, indeed, any other foreign diplomat that it is the intention of the Government of Zimbabwe to enforce each and every clause of conventions relating to diplomatic relations among Member States. We will not tolerate any interference in our domestic affairs.
“These conventions provide the measures that can be taken against such errant diplomats. Zimbabwe definitely does not want to get to that point. Any Ambassador who is politically-inclined must request their governments to recall them so that they can become politicians in their home countries. This is much better if they want to go into politics rather than being assisted by Zimbabwe to go home.”
The United Nation’s Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) mandates diplomatic missions to represent the sending State in the receiving State and protect the sending State’s and its nationals’ interests in the receiving State within the limits of international law.
Other functions include negotiating with the government of the receiving State and promoting friendly relations between the host and home States.
Article 9 empowers the receiving State to at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending State that the head of mission or any other staff member is persona non grata.
In such a case, the sending State will either recall the concerned individual or terminate his or her functions with the mission.
Article 41 (1) reads,”Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State.
“They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.”
On missing persons, Cde Mumbengegwi said the phenomenon was global, affecting France and other Western countries that are raising dust over Dzamara’s disappearance.
He said it was surprising that the same kind of agitation was not evident in the United Kingdom and United States where thousands go missing yearly.
Reports say that in 2002, 275 000 people went missing in Britain and 800 000 persons below 18 years old could also not be located in the US.
The numbers of missing persons leapt to 1, 8 million in 2014.
The minister said, “There are 14 million Zimbabweans and where a person has been reported missing, the Government has taken every step possible to investigate, and Itai is no exception. Our police have been busy, but the fact that there are politicians who are taking issue becomes suspect.
“Instead of joining hands with Government, they are acting otherwise. The police have just announced a reward for anyone who can assist, and have been reporting to the courts. Therefore, it is unfounded for any foreign diplomat to want to make Government responsible for this disappearance.
“Government will do all it can to establish what could have happened, but those who are shouting the most have to become suspect because it has become an instrument to attack Government. So, is this disappearance just a disappearance, or is it part of a political plot? One has to ask.
“Was it done by someone so that they can shout? Of course, police will investigate and get to the bottom of it.”
Minister Mumbengegwi said considering the latest attempts to taint Zimbabwe’s image, the West was sending mixed signals on re-engaging Harare.
He pointed out that any engagement must be premised on the total scrapping of sanctions imposed following the Southern African country’s historic land reforms.
He said that Zimbabwe enjoys favourable relations with the rest of the world and Africa has endorsed this by elevating President Mugabe to the African Union Chairmanship.
“Zimbabwe has never closed the door on engagement. In fact, the lack of engagement was not the work of Zimbabwe; it was the West who imposed sanctions unilaterally. We were not part of that process. It is for them to engage and normalise relations. The lifting of sanctions must be unilateral as they imposed them unilaterally.
“There is a lot of goodwill towards Zimbabwe throughout the world. Strangely, the West want to regard themselves as ‘the international community’ and yet they are a small minority. President Mugabe has the honour of being Sadc and African Union Chair, an honour that has never been bestowed on any other leader.”
Police say Dzamara went missing after three men approached him in a barber shop in Harare’s Glen-View suburb where he was having a haircut.
The trio, according to police, dragged him into a truck which was parked outside, and drove away.
Investigators have so far submitted eight progress reports to the High Court.
On Friday, police offered US$10 000 to anyone with information regarding Dzamara’s whereabouts.
Our sister newspaper, The Herald, reported that some Western countries were trying to use this case to spur the fortunes of opposition parties come 2018.
There are also indications that the West wants to fund civil society in renewed attempts to weaken the ruling Zanu-PF.
Online Reporter