[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 409 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 409

  Condemning the Government of Zimbabwe's ``Operation Murambatsvina'' 
    under which homes, businesses, religious structures, and other 
buildings and facilities were demolished in an effort characterized by 
the Government of Zimbabwe as an operation to ``restore order'' to the 
                                country.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2005

Mr. Lantos (for himself, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Berman, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, 
Mr. Wynn, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Tancredo, Ms. Watson, Mr. Burton of 
  Indiana, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Farr, Mr. 
  McNulty, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Pitts, and Mr. Jackson of Illinois) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
    on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning the Government of Zimbabwe's ``Operation Murambatsvina'' 
    under which homes, businesses, religious structures, and other 
buildings and facilities were demolished in an effort characterized by 
the Government of Zimbabwe as an operation to ``restore order'' to the 
                                country.

Whereas on May 19, 2005, the Government of Zimbabwe launched ``Operation 
        Murambatsvina'', translated from the Shona language as ``Operation Drive 
        Out the Trash'', in major cities and suburbs throughout Zimbabwe in an 
        effort that it characterized as an operation to ``restore order'' to the 
        country;
Whereas hours after the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe called for an 
        end to the parallel market, Operation Murambatsvina began in the city of 
        Harare and subsequently in other urban areas, such as the city of 
        Bulawayo, ostensibly to oust illegal vendors and eliminate illegal 
        structures;
Whereas Operation Murambatsvina was carried out as an indiscriminate demolition 
        of the homes and livelihood of thousands of Zimbabwean citizens already 
        suffering from a protracted economic and political crisis brought on by 
        poor policy directives by the Government of Zimbabwe that forced masses 
        of rural dwellers to urban areas of the country for survival;
Whereas in some communities that were victimized by the forced demolitions, 
        including Cheru Farm and Killarney Farm where more than 20,000 people 
        lived, Zimbabweans had lived in residences for over 20 years and had 
        well-functioning schools, health and HIV/AIDS clinics, orphanages for 
        AIDS-affected children, viable businesses, places of worship, and other 
        amenities;
Whereas in 1993, the Government of Zimbabwe moved families from Cheru Farms to a 
        new location, Porto Farm, which during Operation Murambatsvina was 
        demolished by Zimbabwean Government forces;
Whereas government security forces carried out Operation Murambatsvina, and in 
        doing so, beat residents and forced them to destroy their own homes and 
        places of business, though many residents provided permits from 
        municipal authorities granting permission to build their structures;
Whereas Operation Murambatsvina resulted in the demolition throughout the 
        country of homes, businesses, and religious structures, including a 
        mosque, and an AIDS orphanage and in the intimidation, harassment, and 
        arrest of tens of thousands of people;
Whereas Operation Murambatsvina cut off many AIDS patients from anti-retroviral 
        medicines which will likely lead to a reversal of their health, 
        resistance to the drugs, and a more virulent form of AIDS in Zimbabwe 
        with potential for spreading throughout the region and worldwide;
Whereas churches and private citizens sheltering the victims of Operation 
        Murambatsvina were also intimidated, harassed, and arrested for their 
        efforts to provide a safe haven for the victims during Zimbabwe's harsh 
        winter;
Whereas armed soldiers and police forcibly removed hundreds of homeless people 
        from churches in the city of Bulawayo and banned religious groups from 
        providing humanitarian assistance to those seeking shelter at 
        Hellensvale, a transit camp north of Zimbabwe's second city, and where 
        police arrested and detained religious leaders;
Whereas a strongly worded statement issued by the Bulawayo clergy stated: ``The 
        removal of the poor, innocent, weak, voiceless and vulnerable members of 
        society by riot police in the middle of the night was uncalled for and 
        unnecessary. It is inhumane, brutal and insensitive, and in total 
        disregard of human rights and dignity. These people are not criminals 
        but bona fide citizens of this nation. It seems the crime they committed 
        is that they are poor.'';
Whereas the African Commission for Peoples' and Human Rights dispatched an 
        African Union envoy, Bahame Tom Nyanduga, Special Rapporteur on 
        Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons, and Asylum Seekers in Africa to 
        investigate the ongoing demolitions;
Whereas the Government of Zimbabwe refused to allow the African Union envoy an 
        opportunity to conduct his mission after being accused by the Government 
        of Zimbabwe through its government-controlled media of ``following the 
        agenda of western countries'';
Whereas in response to the crisis, the Secretary-General of the United Nations 
        dispatched a special envoy, Ms. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Deputy 
        Secretary General, United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-
        HABITAT), on a factfinding mission to assess the scope and impact of 
        Operation Murambatsvina on the people of Zimbabwe and its consequences 
        for the Zimbabwean Government;
Whereas the mission of the United Nations special envoy was undertaken between 
        June 26 and July 8, 2005, where she visited the cities of Harare, 
        Headlands, Rusape, Mutare, Gweru, Bulawayo, Hwange, and Victoria Falls 
        and met with victims of Operation Murambatsvina, heard personal 
        testimony from victims, and met with members of the diplomatic 
        community, the Government of Zimbabwe, and international nongovernmental 
        organizations;
Whereas the United Nations special envoy estimated that approximately 700,000 
        people in cities across the country have lost either their homes, their 
        source of livelihood, or both, and that a total of 2.4 million people or 
        18 percent of the population was directly or indirectly affected by 
        Operation Murambatsvina and that the operation would have considerable 
        short-term and long-term impact on social and economic conditions in the 
        country;
Whereas 40,800 families directly affected by Operation Murambatsvina were headed 
        by women, and 83,530 children under the age of four and 26,600 people 
        age 60 and older were directly affected;
Whereas President Robert Mugabe described this sudden and extensive operation 
        against thousands of families and business persons in the dead of winter 
        as necessary ``to eliminate hideouts of crime and grime'';
Whereas the United Nations special envoy is quoted as saying ``the poor are not 
        criminals . . . [t]hey work hard to obtain the little which they have 
        and they should not thus be treated like criminals'';
Whereas the United Nations special envoy assessed the negative impact of 
        Operation Murambatsvina on shelter, water and sanitation, food and 
        nutrition, basic health services, HIV/AIDS, education, women and girls, 
        refugees and other vulnerable groups;
Whereas the special envoy concluded that Operation Murambatsvina ``has rendered 
        people homeless and economically destitute on an unprecedented scale; 
        most of the victims were already among the most economically 
        disadvantaged groups in society; and they have now been pushed deeper 
        into poverty and have become even more vulnerable; and the scale of 
        suffering is immense, particularly among widows, single mothers, 
        children, orphans, the elderly and the disabled persons'';
Whereas the rise of urbanization and the informal sector in Zimbabwe has been 
        the direct result of failed economic policies, a bitterly disputed fast 
        track land reform program, unplanned cash handouts to appease war 
        veterans, the costly military intervention in Congo, and persistent 
        drought;
Whereas before Operation Murambatsvina, unemployment in Zimbabwe was between 70 
        and 80 percent, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate was 24 percent, and the 
        inflation rate was 164.4 percent (but was as high as 522.8 percent), and 
        currently Zimbabwe has the world's fastest shrinking economy, there is 
        an ongoing fuel crisis in the country, and the Zimbabwean economy had 
        contracted 7 percent; and
Whereas the staggering suffering brought on by Operation Murambatsvina has been 
        added to the already large-scale humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That--
            (1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
                    (A) through Operation Murambatsvina, the Government 
                of Zimbabwe has created a humanitarian disaster that 
                has compounded the already existing humanitarian food 
                and economic crises in the country, and the Government 
                of Zimbabwe has insufficient resources to address such 
                crises;
                    (B) the Government of Zimbabwe has a duty to 
                protect the economic, social, and political rights of 
                its citizens as guaranteed by the Constitution of 
                Zimbabwe and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' 
                Rights; and
                    (C) the Government of Zimbabwe also is subject to 
                the International Covenant on Economic, Social and 
                Cultural Rights, to which Zimbabwe is a party, which 
                states in part that ``forced evictions are prima facie 
                incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant and 
                can only be carried out under specific circumstances''; 
                and
            (2) the House of Representatives--
                    (A) condemns Operation Murambatsvina as a major 
                humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Government of 
                Zimbabwe's callousness toward its own people, disregard 
                for the rule of law, and lack of planning to move 
                families and businesses to more desirable locations;
                    (B) calls on the United Nations, the African 
                Commission for Peoples' and Human Rights, and the 
                African Union to continue efforts to investigate the 
                impact of the demolitions of housing structures and 
                premises from which informal businesses operated and to 
                provide the international community with a viable 
                strategy to address the problems;
                    (C) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to allow 
                international humanitarian organizations access to 
                those affected by the operation who are in need of 
                food, medicine, shelter, sanitation, and water;
                    (D) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to hold 
                accountable those responsible for this egregious injury 
                to the Zimbabwean people, both the decisionmakers of 
                the operation and those who carried out the operation;
                    (E) calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to 
                immediately and aggressively implement politics to 
                promote the private sector and create jobs and build 
                housing to accommodate those displaced by the 
                operation;
                    (F) calls on the United Nations and the 
                international community to stand by the people of 
                Zimbabwe who have been victimized by their government 
                in this operation and to help them with relief and 
                reconstruction of their lives; and
                    (G) calls on the President of the United States to 
                instruct the United States Executive Director to the 
                International Monetary Fund (IMF) to use the voice, 
                vote, and influence of the United States to support the 
                IMF review of Zimbabwe's membership in that institution 
                currently underway, and to give serious consideration 
                to further action at the IMF should the Government of 
                Zimbabwe continue to pursue destructive economic 
                policies, fail to make payments on its arrears, or 
                block immediate emergency humanitarian assistance from 
                the international community through the World Food 
                Program and other international humanitarian agencies.
                                 <all>