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

What is said or done by people who claim to be ‘senior officials’ with governmental authority – as did Uebert Angel in the Al Jazeera documentary – or by people who claim to have presidential connections – as did Ewan Macmillan and Kamlesh Pattni in the same documentary – has huge and potentially damaging consequences, some of which can even be harmful to the country’s national, economic and security interests. Be that as it may, there’s still scope to rectify and put this right.

(iii)  Ever since their inception in 2001 under Zdera, US sanctions on Zimbabwe have never been about travel bans or visa restrictions on targeted individuals. Never.

There’s no country that understands that politics, international relations and geopolitics is not about individuals, better than the US.

This is why the US first enacted Zdera before putting a travel ban or visa restrictions on any individual in Zimbabwe. While it includes imposing travel bans and economic sanctions on individuals, as one of its multiple tactics or measures, the strategy of Zdera as a holistic piece of legislation is to make Zimbabwe’s economy to scream and the country’s state politics to be unstable and volatile to trigger regime change in favour of US foreign policy goals. This is what was sought by Executive Orders 13288 of 6 March 2003; 13391 of 22 November 2005 and 13469 of 25 July 2008; which orders were revoked by Biden on 4 March 2024.

The revocation of the ‘national emergency’ measures in Executive Orders 13288, 13391 and 13469 was about changing tactics, but not about changing the US strategy of seeking regime change in Zimbabwe, which is encapsulated in Zdera, the US anti-Zimbabwe law, which remains intact.

It must be understood that it’s not travel bans, visa restrictions or economic sanctions on individuals that have made Zimbabwe’s economy to scream to the detriment of Zimbabwe’s sovereign reputation and the cost of doing business in the country; rather, it is two things:

• Zdera, the 23-yer old US regime-change law against Zimbabwe which, among many other things, enabled the three orders revoked by Biden on 4 March 2024; and,
• OFAC’s ‘Zimbabwe Sanctions’ 31 CFR Part 541 (Zimbabwe Sanctions Regulations) that have been part of the US Code of Federal Regulations for some 21 years. The failed objective of these regulations was to make Zimbabwe a failed state.

From 4 March 2024, the 21-yer old OFAC regulations against Zimbabwe will [should] be removed from the US Code of Federal Regulations; and this is undoubtedly a good and most welcome development. But the 23-year old Zdera, the enabling law upon which the OFAC regulations were based, remains.

This is why Zimbabweans and friends of Zimbabwe in Sadc, AU and at the United Nations should continue to speak with one louder voice for the US to repeal Zdera.

(iv) In terms of the geopolitics of international relations, on the backdrop of international law, any measure by any foreign country or any foreign power that targets the national leadership or the security leadership of any country is by definition an attack on the sovereignty of the country whose national or security leadership has been targeted. That’s the way it is.

For example, imagine what would happen if any country – say China – were to impose sanctions on US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as individuals or in their individual capacities; and say it has imposed the sanctions to punish Biden and Sunak for their personal and public support of Israel’s abuse of Palestinians human rights in the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel, and their complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza?

The proposition that the national leadership or national security leadership of any country can be targeted for sanctions, as individuals, by any country outside multilateral the realm of international law is outrageous and unacceptable; not least because it is tantamount to a hostile act against the country, not against the individuals, said to be targeted.

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