Back to Index

African statement on Zimbabwe "falls short," United States says
Stephen Kaufman, USINFO
March 30, 2007

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfileenglish&y=2007&m=March&x=
20070330180019esnamfuak0.4122888

Washington -- The statement issued March 30 by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) after its summit meeting in Tanzania "fell short" of taking a sufficiently strong stance against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's treatment of his political opponents, the U.S. State Department say, but it welcomes the fact the issue was discussed.

"I think it's safe to say that we would have wished for something a bit stronger out of the SADC and taking a little bit more firm stance vis-à-vis what's going on in Zimbabwe," department spokesman Sean McCormack said the same day.

"We can take heart, however, from the fact that they actually did have this summit meeting and they did get together to at least discuss the issue of Zimbabwe, if they didn't necessarily take the actions that one might have hoped that they would take," he added.

Mugabe's government has received international condemnation for its treatment of opposition political parties, including the use of force to break up opposition meetings, the arrests of opposition leaders and physical abuse of those leaders while being held in custody.

The SADC issued a statement offering South African President Thabo Mbeki's services as a facilitator for talks between Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The statement also called for a study group to address Zimbabwe's economic woes and urged an end to sanctions.

McCormack described the behavior of the Zimbabwean government as "outrageous," and said Mugabe "has become very intransigent in the face of a lot of international pressure."

He said the international community, including states in the region, should not let up on its pressure.

"[T]he situation obviously in Zimbabwe can't continue as it is. This is an economy that is in complete ruin and there's real suffering that's ongoing as a result of the decrease in the level of human rights as well as democratic rights in that state," he said.

Acknowledging the "delicate balance" between applying pressure and concern that additional measures could affect the humanitarian situation inside the country, McCormack said the efforts of Zimbabwe's neighbors, including South Africa, are "key to whatever solution is arrived at in Zimbabwe."

For additional information on U.S. policy, see Democracy and Human Development.

USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP