Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Monday, 8 January 2007.

Zimbabwe

Question: My Lords, will the Government propose to the German presidency that additional measures be taken to inform African leaders and the public in African states, particularly in SADC, that there never have been European Union sanctions against Zimbabwe, but that there are sanctions against 126 named individuals whose policies are to undermine human rights, freedoms and the rule of law? Has the Minister seen the remarks attributed to ex-Minister Jonathan Moyo last week on radio SW Africa, when he said that even Zanu-PF leaders are beginning, "““to ask fundamental questions about the state of the economy, the state of the country, and … the state of their party””?" Is it not therefore time to strengthen the restrictions on the ability of those people to travel out of the country or to secrete in foreign banks the assets that they have stolen from their people?

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord is absolutely right to say that when talking of sanctions we are talking of a travel ban, not of economic sanctions. We will certainly make that clear to our colleagues in the African Union. Indeed, the travel ban has been strengthened four times since 2002, to include others who have supported the Government of Zimbabwe’s efforts to suppress the people. As the noble Lord said, nothing has changed and the situation, as Jonathan Moyo pointed out, is worse. We will discuss with our European partners how the renewed common position should reflect this.

Secondary information