Zimbabwe demands complete lifting of ‘illegal’ US sanctions

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Zimbabwe demands complete lifting of ‘illegal’ US sanctions

3:27 CAT | 07 Mar 2024

Photo: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

Zimbabwe on Wednesday demanded the United States lift “illegal” economic sanctions against it, saying new targeted measures against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and senior leaders were merely “palliative measures”.

Washington has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe since the early 2000s, with former US president George W. Bush arguing for tough measures against the southern African country then controlled by strongman Robert Mugabe.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden’s administration slapped sanctions on 11 Zimbabweans including Mnangagwa and three companies, citing rights abuses and corruption, replacing the previous broader measures.

The order blocks any assets they hold in the United States and bars them from unofficial travel to the country.

Zimbabwe’s government said “all those measures were illegal and unjustified then; they remain so this very day and until they are unconditionally dropped”.

Washington must provide evidence to support their “gratuitous accusations” and “nothing short of prompt, unconditional removal” of the “illegal coercive measures” will be acceptable to Zimbabwe, it added.

The lifting of the previous sanctions “can never atone for, let alone write off, heinous crimes committed against Zimbabwe”, which “cannot be expected to thank” the United States for the “palliative measures” announced on Monday.

Zimbabwe regularly blames US sanctions for the disastrous economic crisis that has afflicted the country for more than two decades.

There were hopes of a thaw in relations after Mnangagwa took power following Mugabe’s ouster in 2017.

Mnangagwa was re-elected in 2023 in a vote marred by fraud allegations and his ruling ZANU-PF party has been in power for more than 40 years.

Source: AFP