[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23516-23517]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                ZIMBABWE

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I held a hearing last week of the 
Subcommittee on African Affairs to explore U.S. policy options toward 
Zimbabwe's transition. The hearing confirmed that far too little 
progress has been made in implementing the Global Political Agreement 
signed last year and that abuses continue at an alarming rate. The 
transition remains incomplete and far from irreversible. Yet at the 
same time, the hearing made clear to me the great potential that this 
transition holds and the great opportunity for the United States and 
those who care about Zimbabwe to help advance real reform and recovery. 
We need to seize this opportunity and look for ways that we can 
proactively engage and help strengthen the hands of reformers in 
Zimbabwe's transitional government.
  Just over a year ago, Zimbabwe was in the throes of intense violence 
carried out by Robert Mugabe and his allies against the opposition 
MDC's members, supporters, and families. This was a deliberate campaign 
to hold on to power and subvert the will of the people expressed in the 
March 29 elections. Once considered a liberator of his people, Mugabe 
had become one of the most despotic and brutal leaders of the day. And 
under his watch, the Zimbabwean economy had gone from one of Africa's 
most prosperous to one of Africa's most desperate. By the end of last 
year, millions of Zimbabweans were at risk of starvation and official 
estimates put inflation at 231 million percent.
  The situation today in Zimbabwe looks quite different, at least on 
the surface. Last September, with South Africa's mediation, the parties 
signed the Global Political Agreement and committed to form a 
transitional government. Then, after 5 months of delays, MDC leader 
Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as Prime Minister and the MDC assumed 
control of several key ministries. A year before, this would have been 
inconceivable for most Zimbabweans. Yet, it happened and has brought 
forth a sense of possibility that has not been there in years. That 
optimism has been furthered by the success of the new Minister of 
Finance from MDC, Tendai Biti, in stopping the economic decline and 
taking initial steps to promote economic growth.
  These changes are quite significant, though there is still a long way 
to go toward restoring the rule of law. Mugabe continues to refuse to 
implement important aspects of the Global Political Agreement, for 
example the appointment of new provincial governors and the replacement 
of the Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General. He and his allies 
are doing everything they can to maintain their historic patronage 
system and power structures. Moreover, security forces are largely 
still operating as instruments of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, condoning 
land takeovers and harassing MDC and civil society activists. According 
to Human Rights Watch, the police and army continue to use brutal force 
to control access to the diamond fields of Marange district in eastern 
Zimbabwe.
  Until we see an end to these abuses and real, irreversible progress 
on implementation of the Global Political Agreement, I see no reason 
for the United States to repeal sanctions. All of us at the hearing I 
chaired seemed to be in agreement on that. The European Union has taken 
the same position after a high-level delegation visited Harare last 
month. Together, we need to keep the spotlight and the pressure on 
those who are obstructing implementation of the Global Political 
Agreement and continuing to perpetrate abuses. And if nothing changes, 
we should look for ways to ramp up that pressure.
  However, keeping the pressure on Mugabe and hardliners is not a 
sufficient strategy in and of itself to move Zimbabwe's transition 
forward. We also need to take steps--both symbolic and substantive--to 
engage with and empower reformers within the transitional government. I 
am glad that the

[[Page 23517]]

United States is already providing support to the Office of the Prime 
Minister, and we should look at ways we can provide technical 
assistance to other ministries that demonstrate a commitment to reform, 
especially the Ministry of Finance. In addition, shifting our 
humanitarian assistance in Zimbabwe to lay the groundwork for social 
and economic recovery can help advance the political transition. We 
should also consider working with like-minded donors to develop a plan 
and dedicated resources for Zimbabwe's economic recovery that could be 
leveraged for genuine democratic reform.
  Mr. President, the reality is that the United States is already doing 
and spending a lot in Zimbabwe, but we need to better target our 
diplomacy and our resources toward advancing this transition. Over the 
last few years, our diplomats have been on the frontlines of speaking 
out against repression and pushing for democratic change in Zimbabwe. 
With the formation of the transitional government, the playing field 
has changed. But that does not mean we should retreat to the sidelines 
and stop trying to proactively advance our goals. We need to keep 
working with all Zimbabweans who are committed to a peaceful, 
democratic future to push this transition forward. In the coming 
months, I look forward to working with the administration to do just 
that.

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