EU tells Zimbabwe to stop violence

Mudenge: "Sanctions, what sanctions?"

The European Union has urged Zimbabwe to halt political violence in the run-up to the March elections.

We don't want... a president sitting around the table with us who doesn't stand for the things we stand for

Alexander Downer
Australian Foreign Minister

Zimbabwean ministers are meeting EU officials in Brussels, and they are expected to be told that economic sanctions could be imposed if President Robert Mugabe's government fails to curb alleged human rights abuses.

But Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stanley Mudenge appeared unconcerned - asked if he was worried, he replied: "Sanctions, what sanctions? We're here for a dialogue."

Despite new legislation which criminalises criticism of Mr Mugabe, the opposition's Morgan Tsvangirai said he would press ahead with his challenge to the president in elections in March.

Morgan Tsvangirai says he could win a free and fair poll

"I will stand as the MDC candidate in that election," the Movement for Democratic Change leader told reporters in Harare.

But in a letter to the EU's Council of Ministers Mr Tsvangirai also warned that free and fair elections were impossible because of state-backed political violence.

EU annual development aid to Zimbabwe has been cut from 30 million euros ($27m) to five million euros ($4.5m) a year.

Another 128 million euros ($115m) of aid earmarked for the period 2002-07 could be at risk unless the human rights situation in Zimbabwe improves.

Pan-EU condemnation

According to an EU official, Spanish EU envoy Javier Conde, who is chairing the meeting, called on Zimbabwe "to end political violence and [the government's] tolerance of it, organise free and fair elections, ensure protection of freedom of the press".

Mr Mugabe has weathered criticism before

Mr Conde also stressed that all EU nations condemned human rights violations in Zimbabwe.

Mr Mudenge had accused Britain of being particularly harsh on the government in Harare.

Interior Minister John Nkomo - who is also in Brussels for the meeting - told the BBC that there were no human rights abuses in his country, and it had only been criticised when it tried to redistribute land from white farmers to landless black people.

Commonwealth speaks out

Commonwealth countries are stepping up their pressure on Mr Mugabe ahead of the presidential elections on 9-10 March.

Neighbouring South Africa described as "unacceptable" the Zimbabwean army's implicit warning that it would not accept an opposition election victory.

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he would push for Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth at the heads of government meeting in Brisbane in March.

The security bill stipulates:

"engendering hostility" towards the president is an offence

police have new powers to disperse public gatherings

carrying identity cards is compulsory

"We don't want a country sitting around the table with us, or a president sitting around the table with us, who doesn't stand for the things we stand for," Mr Downer said.

And New Zealand also called for the Commonwealth to freeze Zimbabwe's membership.

The UK has already warned that it may push for Zimbabwe's expulsion from the body. But the threat was dismissed by Mr Mugabe, who said Britain, the former colonial power, lacked support on the issue.

The election bill stipulates:

voters must prove 12-month residency

ex-patriate workers are denied the right to vote

foreign and independent local monitors barred

election posters or pamphlets require prior permission

The Zimbabwean parliament passed a security bill on Thursday criminalising criticism of Mr Mugabe and giving the police new powers to disperse demonstrations, and new election regulations which ban foreign and local independent monitors.

One of Africa's most respected human rights figures, former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said Mr Mugabe had exhausted the credit he once had as a champion of black African rights.

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo will decide who can work as a journalist

Zimbabwe faced the prospect of a "dictatorship with the trimmings of a multi-party democracy", the South African Nobel peace prize laureate told the BBC.

The Zimbabwean parliament is to debate a third controversial bill - on control over the media - next week.

Zimbabwean journalists say the bill would make it impossible to work, as they would need to get accreditation from the Information Ministry every year.

Other restrictions include a possible prison term for writing "unauthorised" accounts of cabinet discussions.