[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 77 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5359-S5360]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE SITUATION IN ZIMBABWE

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, in assessing the situation in 
Zimbabwe today, permit me to quote a long-time supporter of that 
country's ruling party in reference to that party: ``If I give my name, 
they might hear and come for me at night.'' Such is the pervasive level 
of fear that has permeated Zimbabwe over the past several months and 
threatens that country with a degree of political instability not seen 
since white-minority rule gave way to the creation of the Republic of 
Zimbabwe. The increasingly autocratic regime of Robert Mugabe, 
threatened by the growth of a viable democratic opposition, is 
responding the way dictatorial regimes the world over generally do, 
with violence aimed at subverting the will of the people.
  Permit me to quote from the June 3 issue of The Economist for a sense 
of what is going on inside Zimbabwe today:


[[Page S5360]]


       Intimidation is rampant in the countryside. . .Peasants are 
     told that their votes are not secret and that they will 
     suffer if they do not give them to the ruling party. People 
     suspected of supporting opposition parties have been 
     threatened, beaten and in some cases killed. Rural clinics 
     and hospitals have been ordered to refuse treatment to 
     opposition supporters. Teachers in the countryside have been 
     singled out for attack, dragged from their classrooms and 
     beaten in front of their students. Some female teachers have 
     been stripped naked. More than 260 rural schools have been 
     closed by the violence.

  As chairman of the International Republican Institute, which has 
maintained a presence in Zimbabwe along with its counterpart National 
Democratic Institute, I am appalled at developments in that southern 
African country. Parliamentary elections, widely expected to result in 
a resounding victory for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change 
and thus threaten the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic 
Front's 20-year hold on power, are being systematically undermined by 
the kind of campaign violence and intimidation that has been all too 
common in other countries that resisted the path of democratization. 
That is unfortunate, for Zimbabwe, like other strife-torn countries of 
Africa, has the potential to provide its people a far better quality of 
life than can ever enjoy under one-party rule.
  Those parliamentary elections, Mr. President, as with the defeat of 
the constitutional referendum in February, would have provided ample 
evidence that the majority of Zimbaweans are tired of corruption, vast 
unemployment, 60 percent inflation, and the fuel and energy shortages 
that have become a part of life in a once wealthy nation. The recent 
decision by the International Republican Institute to withdraw its 
election observers, however, as well as the United Nation's withdrawal 
of its election coordinator, should be seen for what it is: a very 
clear warning sign that President Mugabe has no intention of permitting 
free and fair elections, and fully intends to continue his campaign of 
exacerbating ethnic divisions in Zimbabwe for his personal benefit. 
That President Mugabe refuses to even accredit U.S. Embassy personnel 
to act as observers is a stinging and unfortunate rebuke to the 
international community. The recent jailing of an opposition activist 
with whom I had the privilege of meeting in my office only two months 
ago not only augurs ill for the future of Zimbabwe, but hurts me deeply 
for the promise this fine woman showed in that meeting.

  The deterioration of the political situation in Zimbabwe is the 
direct result of the unwillingness of President Mugabe to countenance 
any level of political opposition that threatens his hold on power. And 
make no mistake, that some ruling party members have come under attack 
by the opposition does not place both sides on an equal moral footing. 
On the contrary, Amnesty International and other foreign observers have 
been very clear that the government and its supporters are responsible 
for the violence that has wracked a country that had enjoyed 20 years 
of peace, flawed though it was by the socialist policies of Mr. Mugabe. 
The 30 or so deaths and hundreds of injuries that have occurred may, I 
fear, be only a precursor to greater violence should the Movement for 
Democratic Change continue to attempt to mount a credible campaign 
against one-party rule.
  Mr. President, some may look at the seizure of white-owned farms by 
black squatters openly and vociferously encouraged by President Mugabe, 
and the murder of some of those farmers, through the prism of the 
former era of colonial and white-minority rule. That would be a tragic 
mistake. The deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe is directly tied to 
President Mugabe's autocratic rule and desperate attempt to hold back 
the tides of history, which appear to favor democracy. Mugabe's 
rejection of South African President Thabo Mbeki's efforts at brokering 
a quasi-reasonable resolution of the land-reform issue was further 
evidence of his growing penchant for petty tyranny as a substitute for 
enlightened government.
  It is imperative that the United States, the European Community and, 
most importantly, the Organization of African Unity act forcefully in 
pressuring Mugabe to reverse his current dictatorial policies and allow 
for the conduct of free and fair elections. His failure to do so should 
be widely condemned. What ails Zimbabwe is not racial tension, but the 
age-old problem of a dictator who fails to read the writing on the 
walls. As with others before him, he will find, I suspect, that his 
world will become more and more confined, more and more restrictive and 
his actions more and more desperate. At a time when Sub-Saharan Africa 
has become synonymous with civil strife and the international community 
debates the ongoing wars in Sierra Leone and Congo, while conflict 
continues in Angola and ethnic violence continues in and around Rwanda 
and Burundi, Zimbabwe should have been a beacon of political stability 
and economic development. Instead, it descends into the darkness of 
tyranny. It is hopefully not too late to reverse the situation there, 
but the signs are not encouraging.

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