EU gives conditions for lifting of illegal sanctions

The bloc’s ambassador to South Africa Roeland van de Geer over the weekend said the EU would lift sanctions on Zimbabwe if Sadc observers declared the July 31 polls free and fair.

“If the process goes well, we will suspend (sanctions) and I am sure they will be removed,” he said.
“We don’t have the right to continue with that if the elections are acceptable. If the outcome of the elections is clear, is accepted, who are we, all Europeans, to say (no). . .”

But political analysts yesterday said the EU wanted to make Sadc a “lapdog” that barks according to its instructions.
Political scientist Professor Jonathan Moyo said the EU wanted to influence Sadc ahead of the polls.

“Sadc were guarantors of the Global Political Agreement and in the agreement it was agreed that sanctions were illegal and must be removed in full and unconditionally. The fact that during the life of the GPA the EU failed to do so was a gross violation of the GPA and a slap on Sadc and the African Union who guaranteed the GPA. It is an insult for a body that has violated the GPA, guaranteed by Sadc, to say it will lift the sanctions depending on what Sadc says.”

Prof Moyo said Van de Geer’s statements were meant to divide Sadc.
“They want to divide the regional bloc by making it a lap-dog meant to bark according to EU instructions,” he said.

“It is a clear and gross interference in Zimbabwean and Sadc affairs. It should be ignored and condemned by all right thinking people. Sadc is not an extension of the EU and the position by the EU smacks of colonial arrogance.”

Midlands State University academic Dr Nhamo Mhiripiri said Zimbabwe had shown resilience in the face of the sanctions and the EU’s statements should be ignored.
“It is their prerogative to decide whether or not to lift them, but as a country we have excelled with the sanctions in place,” he said.

“During the formation of the inclusive Government we anticipated foreign investments and even the MDC-T globe trotted and they were not given anything to support the transformation and there is no need to look at what they say anymore.”

Added Dr Mhiripiri: “We should not be outwards looking. We have shown our capacity and whether they come to do business or not, it does not matter. We will proceed like what we have been doing with our own resources.”

Dr Charity Manyeruke of the University of Zimbabwe said sanctions removal should be unconditional and not hinged on Sadc comments about the elections.
She said reasons for the imposition of the sanctions were not justified, but meant to make ordinary Zimbabweans suffer. To show that the sanctions were imposed for no apparent reason, former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker once said the embargo was meant to make the Zimbabwean economy “scream” as a way of separating President Mugabe from the people.

“Their statement raises suspicions and it is clear they want to influence Sadc, Why do they want to listen to Sadc which is not the final arbiter on Zimbabwe issues. We determine our future as a country and we have voiced concern over and over that the application of sanctions against us is illegal and should be scrapped,” said Dr Manyeruke.

The EU imposed the sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2002 in response to the launch of the fast-track land reform programme though the bloc used the expulsion of the head of its observer mission to that year’s poll as the pretext.
They cited non-existing violence and human rights abuses as the basis for the sanctions.