via Australia maintains sanctions on First Family | The Herald April 16, 2014
Australia is maintaining sanctions against President Mugabe, the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and five service chiefs
Australia is maintaining sanctions against President Mugabe, the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and five service chiefs, the latest amended list from Canberra reveals.
One entity, the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (PVT) Ltd, is still on the sanctions list.
The amended list released by Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop showed that service chiefs namely Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga, Zimbabwe National Army Commander Phillip Valerio Sibanda, Air Force of Zimbabwe Commander Perrance Shiri, Central Intelligence Organisation Director General Rtd Major General Happyton Bonyongwe and police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri were still embargoed.
Australia, in a move described by analysts as deceptive, has been partially and conditionally removing the sanctions it imposed on Zimbabwe in 2002.
In February last year, the list had 153 individuals and four entities, and prohibition of defence links.
The number was trimmed down after the country successfully held the Constitutional referendum and harmonised elections that were won resoundingly by President Mugabe.
Since 2002, Australia has implemented sanctions against “persons or entities who engage in, or have engaged in, activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe”.
The new list by Australia comes after the European Union in February kept President Mugabe and Amai Mugabe on its embargoed list but removed service chiefs, politicians and war veterans.
The sanctions were imposed on Zimbabwe in 2002 after Zimbabwe embarked on the fast-track land reform programme and in an attempt to influence that year’s Presidential elections, which President Mugabe won nonetheless.
Relations have somewhat thawed in recent years despite the maintenance of sanctions, after President Mugabe dispatched a ministerial re-engagement committee to initiate dialogue with the EU.
The 28-nation EU bloc is contemplating ways of directly working with Government, starting in 2015, rather than coming through NGOs.
COMMENTS
Australia which is part of the west were told to go hang. Therefore this should be irrelevant as far as zanu is concerned.
Australia blindly follows UKs lead imposing illegal sanctions as in order to be legal they need UN approval – not our fsault the have an equally dim government.
EU nationals are currently persuing a case in the EU discrimation court on the basis that there are no local unbiased human rights organization which are now MDC subsidiaries funded in part from illegal funding for political support only – effectively a terrorist groups.
The cae is relativerly easy in that when we became civilized and there are still attempting to gain that priviledge we realized we cannot hold family members tresponsible for the acts of another family members – in the EU they have laws protecting discrimination and a court but until, ewe get one human rights lawyer who fits the criteria – impartial, unbiased, ethical, independent funded locally and not from terrorist funding and with a small knowledge of human rights we are left in the hands of right thinking individuals and organisatiuon in the west who have already reacted supported by all womans rights groups as well.
As it is a clear breach of the EU law it will succeed and thus a petition has been prepared to our parliament to investigate and close those local groups who effectively bring shame on Zimbabwe by ignoring human rights cases as it may affect their personal funding – conflict situation.
A man who blames other for his problems hasn’t begun his education. It’s funny Apol but you and ZPF do that all the time.
APO please wipe your mouth man
What UN approval does country need to say we no longer want to be you friend? Is the friendship between Zimbabwe and China approved by UN? Its the law of the jungle, friends are made, apolitical, they dont come from UN. Go to the farm you go from Zanu Pf and monitor (as UN) the friendship between a lion and a kudu. Tell us the obvious outcome.
You are so brainwashed such that you cant even think upright
“Australia blindly follows the UK’s lead.” Ha! You’ve obviously never met an Australian! I gotta say Apo, you really give me a good laugh when you post – it’s good to see into the mind of ZPF supporters.
Out of interest, where do you guys buy the stuff you smoke?
!! terrorist group. muhaha. you make me laugh APO. sounds just like the position ZPF was in 40 plus years ago. History repeats itself, here’s hoping ZFP dies just like the RPF did.
The West are a bunch of lily livered cowards, including Australia, Mugabe is laughing!
You need to know Australia before you think that anyone in Zimbabwe including those on the sanctions list can laugh at the imposition of sanctions. They are hurting and weeping. Weldone AUSTRALIA
Apol the only thing “blindly following” is you! Give yourself an uppercut.
Apo Apo “not our fsault the have an equally dim government”.Those dim governments do not have to to beg for food and every thing else like you zanupf and mugabes!!!!. Lets not talk about “dim”. The only dim people are you and your self serving dimwitted mugabe and zanupf.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Apolitical….Having no interest in or association with politics. Your pseudonym is as inappropriate as your brainwashed lack of independent thought.
Is it only me who has picked up there is two Apos, one has okra brains and the other concrete brains. this one is the okra brain version.
Change your name APO….
Aaah man, Apo you call others dim but check out your spelling, grade 7 stuff hee hee hee! A biased is what you are, blindly so my friend. But we love you anyway, take care and God Bless!
There are a lot of very dim mal-contents masking comments which is sad.
When you or a journalist makes stupid comments it affects the repute of the country, trade far more in fact than the worst minister in the world.
Any country in the world would react against such people out of necessity, we need more serious laws and arrests of mal-contents and perhaps serious sentences, educational, work farms, to teach them how to work rather than breathe mal-content statements.
Work farms are frowned upon in Korea but you guys really make a good case for them! It does force responsibility on those who were short on parenting and a smacked bottom, and, from the comments above there are quite a number of them here.