A critical look at the revocation of US sanctions on Zimbabwe while maintaining ZDERA- By Jonathan Moyo

The above proclamation was without any doubt enabled by and based on Zdera and was the precursor to the devastating Executive Order 13288, which declared a national emergency and imposed sanctions that wreaked havoc on Zimbabwe’s economy.

1. First US Declaration of False ‘National Emergency’ in Zimbabwe in 2003

On 6 March 2003, US President George W Bush issued Executive Order 13288 to the effect that he had, “determined that the actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Zimbabwe and other persons undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes or institutions, contributing to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Zimbabwe, to politically motivated violence and intimidation in that country, and to political and economic instability in the southern African region [and] constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”

Three things stand out about the extraordinary sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the US under Executive Order 13288:

First, the order was declared not to do anything for Zimbabwe or for the people of Zimbabwe but specifically and only to “deal with” what George W. Bush alleged was “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States”.

Second, and tellingly, there was absolutely nothing about Executive Order 13288 which protected or even pretended to protect Zimbabwe or the people of Zimbabwe who, at the very minimum were treated as collateral damage of the national emergency declared by Bush.

Third, the original sanctions list ‘targeted’ persons that were listed in the annex to the order; and any person determined by the US Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to have been owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly for or on behalf of, any of the persons listed in the annex to this order.

Basically, the sanctions under Executive Order 13288, which is reproduced in full in the link below, was only about US foreign policy which Bush felt was threatened by Zimbabwe’s sovereignty’

Link: US Executive Order 13288—Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2003/03/10/03-5848/blocking-property-of-persons-undermining-democratic-processes-or-institutions-in-zimbabwe

1. Second US Declaration of False ‘National Emergency’ in Zimbabwe in 2005

Below is a link to Executive Order 13391 issued on 22 November 2005, again by Bush, to reinforce and strengthen Executive Order 13288 of 6 March 2003. Like its predecessor, this 2005 order was about a US national emergency dealing with what US President George W. Bush determined in 2003 to be “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States”

Notably, the order widened the list of the sanctioned individuals and entities to include the following:

• persons listed in a new, enlarged Annex to this order;
• any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:
• to have engaged in actions or policies to undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes or institutions;
• to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, such actions or policies or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order:
• to be or have been an immediate family member of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or
• to be owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

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