Story by Peter Chivhima in Geneva, Switzerland
Zimbabwe’s call for the unconditional removal of illegal economic sanctions imposed on the country by the West is gaining momentum, with the United Nations providing a perfect platform at a high-level conference in Geneva, Switzerland, this Thursday.
The international community has joined forces with Zimbabwe to call for the immediate and unconditional removal of the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies.
The collective effort to free Zimbabwe from the illegal economic embargo took centre stage at the United Nations International Conference on Sanctions, Business, and Human Rights this Thursday.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, Professor Alena Douhan reiterated that sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe are illegal.
“I did a country visit to Zimbabwe more than two years ago and I was able to identify on the ground the humanitarian impact of unilateral sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and I identified a number of legal challenges from the perspective of international law. In my report which has been presented to the Human Rights Council, I hope for the removal of all sanctions against Zimbabwe. Despite the fact that they are officially announced to be targeted one, they are not at all. At the very end, they have had the whole population of Zimbabwe suffering, especially the most vulnerable groups as well as the most marginalised groups, preventing the development of the country,” Professor Douhan said.
The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Honourable Ziyambi Ziyambi who is leading the Zimbabwean delegation stressed the need for the immediate and unconditional removal of the punitive measures.
“We call for the immediate removal of this political sanction. We reject the claims that sanctions are targeted on few individuals, this narrative by the sanctioning state is grossly misleading and hypocritical,” he said.
The conference is being attended by participants from more than 400 participants who also voiced their concern over the unilateral sanctions, noting they are undermining the economic growth of nations in violation of the international law.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairperson, launched the National Anti-Sanctions online petition last month, a call which is garnering support from progressive nations, organisations and individuals.
