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EU position ‘misunderstood’ – Vigil Diary: 26th July 2014

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via EU position ‘misunderstood’ – Vigil Diary: 26th July 2014 27 July 2014

The European Union has distanced itself from reported remarks by its Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell’Ariccia. Addressing a meeting in Harare last month he was quoted as saying ‘Luckily we don’t have a leadership crisis in this country’.

 

Mr Dell’Ariccia was reported to have rebuked NGOs for being confrontational and unconstructive and to have added ‘I have the impression that you are a little bit anchored in the past where instead of seeing NGOs one perceives AGOs – anti-government organisations’.

 

The Vigil wrote to Mr Dell’Ariccia’s boss, Catherine Ashton, complaining about his intervention in Zimbabwe’s domestic affairs and accusing the EU of bending over backwards to embrace Mugabe despite his refusal to hold free and fair elections or make any reforms to correct the abuses which prompted the EU to adopt its targeted measures against him and his cronies (for text of letter see: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/596-mugabes-eu-cheerleader–zimbabwe-vigil-diary-21st-june-2014).

 

The Vigil has now received the following letter from the European Union:

 

I would like to acknowledge your 2nd letter to Baroness Ashton in which you refer to actions allegedly attributed to the EU Ambassador in Harare, Mr Aldo Dell’Ariccia. We have checked the circumstances, and came to the conclusion that the words of Ambassador Dell’Ariccia have been improperly quoted. 

 

As indicated in our first letter, the objective of the EU is, and has always been, to support the Zimbabwean people in achieving a more prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe. In reviewing the restrictive measures, the EU collectively, and unanimously, decided to suspend all remaining restrictive measures with the exception of the arms embargo and those targeting two individuals – the Head of State and his spouse – and one entity, Zimbabwe Defence Industries.

 

The EU will continue to gear its relations with Zimbabwe with a view to promoting necessary reforms.

 

I would also like to confirm to you that decisions in relation to Zimbabwe are discussed with the EU member states in capitals and locally and taken in consensus.

 

Angel Carro Castrillo

European External Action Service

 

This letter was copied to 6 European Union officials including Mr Dell’Ariccia.

 

The Vigil is pleased that the reported comments do not reflect EU policy. They were widely covered in the media and criticised, of course, particularly by civil society. We are surprised that the loquacious Mr Dell’Ariccia did not deny them at the time.

 

On another matter, the Vigil has received a request from activists in Zimbabwe for help in resourcing the means to convert a scanned copy of the 2013 voters’ roll into an electronic text document. They want to compare it with previous rolls they have in their database and also with the new roll being prepared by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. We forwarded their request to the UK government which has previously provided funding to support the building of technical capacity of civil society organisations.

 

A reply to the Vigil from the Zimbabwe desk of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office says the budget for this has now run out and adds ‘Like you, we also want to see the full voters roll released or made available electronically – it will be important for historical reasons and future analysis. We’ve said that publicly. And I can assure you that the UK’s view of the election will not change unless there is a full and independent investigation – as the previous Foreign Secretary set out.’

 

The Vigil understands the budgetary problem but would urge the UK government to explore ways of sourcing funding for this ‘important’ project from its £11 billion budget for international development. The question of the bogus voters’ roll was brought up in a speech by Morgan Tsvangirai at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London on Friday. He said: ‘One year after the poll, we have not yet received an electronic copy of the voters roll that we ought to have received before the election in line with the dictates of Zimbabwean law’.(see: http://www.mdc.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=311:president-morgan-tsvangirai-s-address-to-the-royal-institute-of-international-affairs-chatham-house-london&catid=79:latest-news&Itemid=659).

 

We are to mark the anniversary of the rigged elections at our next Vigil on Saturday 2nd August from 2 – 6 pm. Passers-by will be confronted by the following posters: ‘One year on, six years backwards’, .Wake on anniversary of Zimbabwe’s 2013 stolen elections’, ‘Where are the two million jobs?’, ‘What’s happened to the new constitution?’, ‘EU sups with devil Mugabe’, ‘No rule of law, endemic corruption’.

 

 

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