The European Union (EU) policy advisor on Africa and former ambassador to Zimbabwe, Philippe Van Damme said that sanctions that were imposed on Zimbabwe in 2002 are not illegal.
Van Damme further argues that Zimbabwe’s economic collapse predated the sanctions and is a result of earlier policy choices by the Zimbabwean government. Writing on microblogging site, Twitter, Van Damme said:
Over recent days I have read a lot of nonsense about “illegal sanctions against #Zimbabwe. I always said I’m not a historian and leave the interpretation of the facts and the judgment of their wisdom to others, but can we at least try to agree on the facts?
European restrictive measures on some entities and individuals were imposed in early 2002 in the run-up of the 2002 elections for breach of fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression and assembly.
These sanctions had nothing “illegal” and the possibility of appropriate measures taken simultaneously on the reorientation (not suspension!) of our development cooperation and the procedure to get there is explicitly foreseen in the Cotonou agreement of which #Zimbabwe is a member.
The collapse of #Zimbabwe’s economy predates these “sanctions” and is related to earlier policy choices.
The need for land reform was never contested by the #EU, the way it was done was, undermining the #ruleoflaw and minimal security of tenure for the new tenants, discouraging investment in the land.
The European “sanctions” were always limited to a restrictive number of entities & individuals plus an arms embargo. There never was a trade embargo, on the contrary, #Zim has always continued benefiting from privileged access to the #EU market under Cotonou.
Unless you claim this limited number of individuals & entities controlled the economy & #Zimbabwe’s external trade, #EU’s sanction can not have been the cause of #Zimbabwe’s economic underperformance over the last 30 years.
Amen
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This white man thinks all black people are their stooges and don’t think.If sanctions are not the cause of the economic collapse why did they put them in the first place. If sanctions are not illegal as he purports why were they not go through the United Nations route?
Those are the same questions which zanu pf is asking
Well Terence.. no not all black people are stooges but clearly you are a stoog as the sanctions are only targeting businesses run by corupt gov ministers… they are not sanctions as sanctions are suposed to be where by all agrreing countries refuse to do ANY trade with the COUNTRY in question… not just certain individuals… STOOGE…..
what nonsense is that EU man saying. If those sunctions are legal then why were they not passed through the UN and why do you always maintain that they are not hurting anyone. You are not talking to kids here . The US and Britain know very well that they have destroyed Zimbabwe. They were saying they targeted R Mugabe but now he is gone and the sanctions under ZIDERA are still upheld a clear testimony that the sanctions have nothing to do with RGM and zanu but Zimbabwe.You guys are insincere and heartless to say the least. You burn the grass to catch a rabit. but the rabit runs to safety while the grass, trees and other animals suffer. You used Mugabe and Zanu to panish the whole nation on human rights issues that your own governments continue to violet in the middle east ,Africa and asia.
shame on you and those NGOs, pro -western media and the surrogate opposition politicians .
nxaaa go to hell
Sanctions targeted zanu pf and then zanu pf diverted them to Zimbabweans
you cant tell us the sanctions have no effect on the economy yet there is a list of companies on it. including fertilizer companies. whose interest do they save. are economic rights not human rights. you condone murder ,hooliganism, looting ,arson and xenophobia in SA because no white man is hurt and because your white brothers owns every resource there . the human rights there is not an issue to you but when RGM threatened the white man here you quickly imposed destructive sanctions. nothing was done to the same RGM by Britain and the US when Gukurahundi occurred in the 80s. so these liers tell us they protect human rights. nxaaa. they were even the authors of ISAP. the one that also destroyed the economy nxaaaaa nxaaaa
Great sense of patriotism. We are coerced to dehumanise Mugabe for his failure to bust danctions. We are brainwashed to ignore instigators of sanctions. We are even made to shun Mugabe archirvements in decolonising Africa.
he UN Charter codifies the major principles of international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations. Sanctions are a use of force to totally destroy economies. The third world had SLAVERY perpetrated against it’s citizens by the same Western devils of yesteryear, they soundly blamed slavery on our African Kings – Chiefs. COLONIALISM was introduced by the same Western devils, they hanged our leaders calling them terrorists for fighting colonialism. SANCTIONS are Western world’s contemporary device to weaken the developing world. We are being told by the same Western economic vampires that there are no sanctions or they are targeted!