[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14799-14800]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           CRISIS IN ZIMBABWE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 611.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 611) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate on the crisis in Zimbabwe, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that all 
statements relating to this resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 611) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 611

       Whereas, over the last eight years, the Zimbabwean African 
     National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), led by Robert 
     Mugabe, has increasingly turned to violence and intimidation 
     to maintain power amidst a deteriorating crisis;
       Whereas the gross domestic product of Zimbabwe has 
     decreased over 40 percent in the last decade, inflation is 
     estimated by United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-
     Rose Migiro at over 10,500,000 percent, unemployment is now 
     over 80 percent, and more than 4,000,000 people have fled the 
     country;
       Whereas presidential and parliamentary elections were held 
     on March 29, 2008, in Zimbabwe amidst widespread reports of 
     voting irregularities and intimidation in favor of the ruling 
     ZANU-PF party and Robert Mugabe;
       Whereas the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission refused to 
     release results, despite calls to do so by the African Union 
     (AU), the European Union (EU), the Republic of South Africa, 
     the Southern African Development Community (SADC), United 
     Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, and the United States;
       Whereas the official results of the election, announced 
     five weeks later, showed that Robert Mugabe won 43.2 percent 
     of the vote, while Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the 
     opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), won 
     47.9 percent of the vote;
       Whereas, in the wake of the elections, Robert Mugabe 
     launched a brutal campaign of state-sponsored violence 
     against opposition members, supporters, and other civilians 
     in an attempt to consolidate his power;
       Whereas United States Ambassador to the United Nations 
     Zalmay Khalilzad stated on April 16, 2008, that he was 
     ``gravely concerned about the escalating politically 
     motivated violence perpetrated by security forces and ruling 
     party militias'';
       Whereas Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated on April 
     17, 2008, that Robert Mugabe has ``done more harm to his 
     country than would have been imaginable'' and that ``the last 
     years have been really an abomination'' and called for the AU 
     and SADC to

[[Page 14800]]

     strengthen efforts to achieve a political resolution to the 
     crisis;
       Whereas Human Rights Watch reported on April 19, 2008, that 
     the Mugabe regime had developed a network of informal 
     detention centers to intimidate, torture, and detain 
     political opponents;
       Whereas the Mugabe regime has, in violation of the Vienna 
     Convention on Diplomatic Relations, done at Vienna April 18, 
     1961 (23 U.S.T. 3229), harassed United States and other 
     diplomats in retaliation for their repeated protest of recent 
     violence, including by detaining the United States 
     ambassador's vehicle for several hours on May 13, 2008, and 
     detaining five United States embassy staff and two local 
     embassy workers on June 5, 1998, one of whom was physically 
     assaulted;
       Whereas reports of killings, abductions, beatings, torture, 
     and sexual violence against civilians in Zimbabwe have 
     continued, resulting in some 10,000 people being assaulted 
     and at least 30,000 displaced;
       Whereas the MDC and Presidential candidate Tsvangirai 
     withdrew from the June 27, 2008, runoff presidential 
     election, citing intensified political repression and 
     killings of their supporters;
       Whereas the Mugabe regime persisted with the runoff 
     election, despite the protest of many leaders in Africa, the 
     EU, SADC, the United Nations Security Council, and the United 
     States Government;
       Whereas results from the runoff election unsurprisingly 
     declared Robert Mugabe, the only standing candidate, as the 
     winner with 85 percent of the vote, and he was sworn into 
     office;
       Whereas SADC, the Pan-African Parliament, and AU Observer 
     missions to Zimbabwe made statements on June 29 and 30, 2008, 
     finding that the elections fell short of accepted African 
     Union standards, did not give rise to free, fair, or credible 
     elections, and did not reflect the will of the people of 
     Zimbabwe;
       Whereas, on June 4, 2008, the Mugabe regime banned the 
     operations of non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe, 
     including those who provide food and aid to millions of 
     Zimbabweans suffering at the result of a ZANU-PF's policies, 
     exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and leaving newly 
     displaced victims of political violence without assistance;
       Whereas Nelson Mandela has described the situation in 
     Zimbabwe as a ``tragic failure of leadership,'' while the 
     Government of Botswana has refused to recognize the election 
     outcome as legitimate and has said that representatives of 
     the administration should be excluded from SADC and African 
     Union meetings;
       Whereas the African Union passed a resolution on July 1, 
     2008, expressing concern for the loss of life in Zimbabwe and 
     the need to initiate political dialogue to promote peace, 
     democracy, and reconciliation;
       Whereas the MDC reported on July 9, 2008, that 129 of its 
     supporters have been killed since the first round of 
     elections, including 20 since the runoff election, 1,500 of 
     its activists and officials are in detention, and 5,000 are 
     missing or unaccounted for; and
       Whereas the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, at 
     their annual summit, issued a joint statement on July 8, 
     2008, rejecting the June 27, 2008, election and legitimacy of 
     the Mugabe regime, as well as committing to further measures 
     against those responsible for the violence: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate--
       (1) to support the people of Zimbabwe, who continue to face 
     widespread violence, political repression, a humanitarian 
     emergency, and economic adversity;
       (2) to condemn the Mugabe regime for its manipulation of 
     the country's electoral process, including the March 29, 
     2008, election and the June 27, 2008, runoff election and the 
     regime's continued attacks against, and intimidation of, 
     opposition members and supporters and civil society;
       (3) to reject the results of the June 27, 2008, 
     presidential runoff election in Zimbabwe as illegitimate 
     because of widespread irregularities, systematic violence by 
     the Mugabe regime, and the boycott of the MDC;
       (4) to encourage the President's continued efforts to 
     tighten and expand sanctions on those individuals responsible 
     for violations of human and political rights in Zimbabwe;
       (5) to applaud the Governments of Benin, Botswana, Liberia, 
     Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Zambia for 
     condemning the violent derailment of the runoff election at 
     the African Union summit in Sharm El-Sheikh;
       (6) to encourage all members of the United Nations Security 
     Council to vote in favor of the proposed resolution that 
     would authorize a United Nations Special Representative to 
     support the negotiations process, impose an international 
     arms embargo, and strengthen financial penalties on those 
     individuals most responsible for undermining democratic 
     processes;
       (7) to encourage the African Union to initiate an inclusive 
     political dialogue between both parties and deploy a 
     protection force to prevent attacks, assist victims, and 
     prevent the security situation from further deteriorating;
       (8) to urge leaders in Africa to engage directly in the 
     effort to achieve an expeditious political resolution to the 
     crisis;
       (9) to urge the United States Government and the 
     international community to assemble a comprehensive economic 
     and political recovery package for Zimbabwe in the event that 
     a political resolution is reached and a truly democratic 
     government is formed; and
       (10) to support a lasting democratic political solution 
     that reflects the will and respects the rights of the people 
     of Zimbabwe, including mechanisms to ensure that future 
     elections are free and fair, in accordance with regional and 
     international standards.

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