[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 132, 115th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Public Law 115-231
115th Congress

An Act


 
To amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001. <>

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <>
SECTION 1. <>  SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Amendment Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. <>  RECONSTRUCTION AND
REBUILDING OF ZIMBABWE.

Section 2 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note; Public Law 107-99) is amended by striking
``and restore the rule of law'' and inserting ``restore the rule of law,
reconstruct and rebuild Zimbabwe, and come to terms with the past
through a process of genuine reconciliation that acknowledges past human
rights abuses and orders inquiries into disappearances, including the
disappearance of human rights activists, such as Patrick Nabanyama, Itai
Dzamara, and Paul Chizuze''.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

Section 4(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 <>  is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``costly deployment of
troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo'' and inserting
``private appropriation of public assets''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) In October 2016, the Government of Zimbabwe cleared a
small hurdle in its longstanding public sector arrears with the
IMF.''.
SEC. 4. PROVISIONS RELATED TO MULTILATERAL DEBT RELIEF AND OTHER
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

Section 4(b)(2) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act
of 2001 <>  is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``to propose that the
bank should undertake a review of the feasibility of
restructuring, rescheduling, or eliminating the sovereign debt
of Zimbabwe held by that bank'' and inserting ``to support
efforts to reevaluate plans to restructure, rebuild, reschedule,
or eliminate Zimbabwe's sovereign debt held by that bank and
provide an analysis based on reasonable financial options to
achieve those goals''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``dollar'' and
inserting ``currency''.

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SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE UNITED STATES-ZIMBABWE BILATERAL
RELATIONSHIP.

It is the sense of Congress that the United States should seek to
forge a stronger bilateral relationship with Zimbabwe, including in the
areas of trade and investment, if the following conditions are
satisfied:
(1) The Government of Zimbabwe takes the concrete, tangible
steps outlined in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 4(d) of
the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, as
amended by section 6 of this Act.
(2) The Government of Zimbabwe takes concrete, tangible
steps towards--
(A) good governance, including respect for the
opposition, rule of law, and human rights;
(B) economic reforms that promote growth, address
unemployment and underdevelopment, restore livelihoods,
ensure respect for contracts and private property
rights, and promote significant progress toward monetary
policy reforms, particularly with the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, and currency exchange reforms; and
(C) identification and recovery of stolen private
and public assets within Zimbabwe and in other
countries.
(3) The Government of Zimbabwe holds an election that is
widely accepted as free and fair, based on the following pre-
and post-election criteria or conditions:
(A) Establishment and public release, without cost,
of a provisional and a final voter registration roll.
(B) The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is permitted
to entirely carry out the functions assigned to it under
section 239 of Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution in an
independent manner, and the chairperson meets and
consults regularly with representatives of political
parties represented in the parliament of Zimbabwe and
the parties contesting the elections.
(C) Consistent with Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution,
the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe--
(i) are neither permitted to actively
participate in campaigning for any candidate nor
to intimidate voters;
(ii) are required to verifiably and credibly
uphold their constitutionally-mandated duty to
respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all
persons and to be nonpartisan in character; and
(iii) are not permitted to print, transfer, or
control ballots or transmit the results of
elections.
(D) International observers, including observers
from the United States, the African Union, the Southern
African Development Community, and the European Union--
(i) are permitted to observe the entire
electoral process prior to, on, and following
voting day, including by monitoring polling
stations and tabulation centers; and
(ii) are able to independently access and
analyze vote tallying tabulation and the
transmission and content of voting results.
(E) Candidates are allowed access to public
broadcasting media during the election period,
consistent with

[[Page 1634]]

Zimbabwe's Electoral Act and are able to campaign in an
environment that is free from intimidation and violence.
(F) Civil society organizations are able to freely
and independently carry out voter and civic education
and monitor the entire electoral process, including by
observing, recording, and transmitting publicly-posted
or announced voting results at the ward, constituency,
and all higher levels of the vote tallying process.
(4) Laws enacted prior to the passage of Zimbabwe's March
2013 Constitution that are inconsistent with the new
Constitution are amended, repealed, or subjected to a formal
process for review and correction so that such laws are
consistent with the new Constitution.
(5) The Government of Zimbabwe--
(A) has made significant progress on the
implementation of all elements of the new Constitution;
and
(B) has demonstrated its commitment to sustain such
efforts in achieving full implementation of the new
Constitution.
(6) Traditional leaders of Zimbabwe observe section 281 of
the 2013 Constitution and are not using humanitarian assistance
provided by outside donor organizations or countries in a
politicized manner to intimidate or pressure voters during the
campaign period.
SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.

Section 4(d) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 <>  is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``consistent with'' and
all that follows through ``September 1998'';
(2) by striking paragraph (4); and
(3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (4).
SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF AUTHORITY TO PAY LAND ACQUISITION COSTS.

Section 5(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 <>  is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``, including the payment
of costs'' and all that follows through ``thereto; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) identify and recover stolen public assets.''.
SEC. 8. INCLUSION OF AUSTRALIA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE AFRICAN
UNION, AND THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNITY IN CONSULTATIONS ABOUT ZIMBABWE.

Section 6 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 <>  is amended by inserting ``Australia,
the United Kingdom, the African Union, the Southern African Development
Community,'' after ``Canada,''.
SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENFORCEMENT OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TRIBUNAL RULINGS.

It is the sense of Congress that the Government of Zimbabwe and the
Southern African Development Community (referred to in this section as
``SADC'') should enforce the SADC tribunal rulings issued between 2007
to 2010, including 18 disputes involving

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employment, commercial, and human rights cases surrounding dispossessed
Zimbabwean commercial farmers and agricultural companies.

Approved August 8, 2018.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2779:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018):
July 25, considered and passed Senate and House.