[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 100 Engrossed in House (EH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 100
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas in 2005 the Government of Zimbabwe launched Operation Murambatsvina
(``Operation Throw Out the Trash'') against citizens in major cities and
suburbs throughout Zimbabwe, depriving over 700,000 people of their
homes, businesses, and livelihoods;
Whereas on March 11, 2007, opposition party activists and members of civil
society attempted to hold a
peaceful prayer meeting to protest the economic and political crisis
engulfing Zimbabwe, where inflation is running over 3,000 percent and
formal sector unemployment stands at 80 percent and in response to
President Robert Mugabe's announcement that he intends to seek reelection
in 2008;
Whereas opposition activist Gift Tandare died on March 11, 2007, as a result of
being shot by police while attempting to attend the prayer meeting and
Itai Manyeruke died on March 12, 2007, as a result of police beatings
and was found in a morgue by his family on March 20, 2007;
Whereas under the direction of President Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African
National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government, police officers,
security forces, and youth militia brutally assaulted the peaceful
demonstrators and arrested opposition leaders and hundreds of civilians;
Whereas Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangarai was
brutally assaulted and suffered a fractured skull, lacerations, and
major bruising; MDC member Sekai Holland, a 64-year old grandmother,
suffered ruthless attacks at Highfield Police Station, which resulted in
the breaking of her leg, knee, arm, and three ribs; fellow activist
Grace Kwinje, age 33, also was brutally beaten, while part of one ear
was ripped off; and Nelson Chamisa was badly injured by suspected state
agents at Harare airport on March 18, 2007, when trying to board a plane
for a meeting of Africa Caribbean Pacific (APC) lawmakers in Brussels,
Belgium;
Whereas Zimbabwe's foreign minister warned Western diplomats that the Government
of Zimbabwe would expel them if they gave support to the opposition, and
said Western diplomats had gone too far by offering food and water to
jailed opposition activists;
Whereas victims of physical assault by the Government of Zimbabwe have been
denied emergency medical transfer to hospitals in neighboring South
Africa, where their wounds can be properly treated;
Whereas those incarcerated by the Government of Zimbabwe were denied access to
legal representatives and lawyers appearing at the jails to meet with
detained clients were themselves threatened and intimidated;
Whereas at the time of Zimbabwe's independence, President Robert Mugabe was
hailed as a liberator and Zimbabwe showed bright prospects for
democracy, economic development, domestic reconciliation, and
prosperity;
Whereas President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF government continue to turn away
from the promises of liberation and use state power to deny the people
of Zimbabwe the freedom and prosperity they fought for and deserve;
Whereas the staggering suffering brought about by the misrule of Zimbabwe has
created a large-scale humanitarian crisis in which 3,500 people die each
week from a combination of disease, hunger, neglect, and despair;
Whereas the Chairman of the African Union, President Alpha Oumar Konare,
expressed ``great concern'' about Zimbabwe's crisis and called for the
need for the scrupulous respect for human rights and democratic
principles in Zimbabwe;
Whereas the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council of Non-
governmental Organizations stated that ``We believe that the crisis has
reached a point where Zimbabweans need to be strongly persuaded and
directly assisted to find an urgent solution to the crisis that affects
the entire region.'';
Whereas Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has likened Zimbabwe to a ``sinking
Titanic'' and has urged southern Africa to take a new approach to
Zimbabwe, stating that ``quiet diplomacy has failed to help solve the
political chaos and economic meltdown in Zimbabwe'';
Whereas European Union and African, Caribbean, and Pacific lawmakers strongly
condemned the latest attack on an opposition official in Zimbabwe and
urged the government in Harare to cooperate with the political
opposition to restore the rule of law; and
Whereas United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, warned that
opposition to President Robert Mugabe had reached a tipping point
because the people no longer feared the regime and believed they had
nothing left to lose: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That--
(1) it is the sense of Congress that--
(A) the state-sponsored violence taking place in
Zimbabwe represents a serious violation of fundamental
human rights and the rule of law and should be
condemned by all responsible governments, civic
organizations, religious leaders, and international
bodies; and
(B) the Government of Zimbabwe has not lived up to
its commitments as a signatory to the Constitutive Act
of the African Union and African Charter of Human and
Peoples Rights which enshrine commitment to human
rights and good governance as foundational principles
of African states; and
(2) Congress--
(A) condemns the Government of Zimbabwe's violent
suppression of political and human rights through its
police force, security forces, and youth militia that
deliberately inflict gross physical harm, intimidation,
and abuse on those legitimately protesting the failing
policies of the government;
(B) holds those individual police, security force
members, and militia involved in abuse and torture
responsible for the acts that they have committed;
(C) condemns government harassment and intimidation
of lawyers attempting to carry out their professional
obligations to their clients and repeated failure by
police to comply promptly with court decisions;
(D) condemns the harassment of foreign officials,
journalists, human rights workers, and others,
including threatening their expulsion from the country
if they continue to provide food and water to victims
detained in prison and in police custody while in the
hospital;
(E) commends United States Ambassador Christopher
Dell and other United States Government officials and
foreign officials for their support to political
detainees and victims of torture and abuse while in
police custody or in medical care centers and
encourages them to continue providing such support;
(F) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to cease
immediately its violent campaign against fundamental
human rights, to respect the courts and members of the
legal profession, and to restore the rule of law while
adhering to the principles embodied in an accountable
democracy, including freedom of association and freedom
of expression;
(G) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to cease
illegitimate interference in travel abroad by its
citizens, especially for humanitarian purposes; and
(H) calls on the leaders of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) and the African Union to
consult urgently with all Zimbabwe stakeholders to
intervene with the Government of Zimbabwe while
applying appropriate pressures to resolve the economic
and political crisis.
Passed the House of Representatives April 17, 2007.
Attest:
Clerk.
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 100
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe
against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil
society.