Donors should not resume development aid to Zimbabwe until the power-sharing government ends human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.
”Humanitarian aid that focuses on the needs of Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable should continue,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at the United States-based group.
”But donor governments such as the UK should not release development aid until there are irreversible changes on human rights, the rule of law and accountability,” she said in a statement.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti is visiting Washington and London to seek direct assistance to the government, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prepares to discuss Zimbabwe next week.
Despite the formation of a unity government in February, supporters of President Robert Mugabe’s long-ruling Zanu-PF party have continued violent attacks on white-owned farms, it said.
Police are accused of intimidating and arresting activists, while government has made no moves to repeal repressive laws that limit media freedom and public expression, it added.
”Until the new government takes bold, irreversible steps to end human rights abuses and carry out major legislative reforms, the international community should continue to withhold longer-term development aid and maintain its targeted sanctions,” Gagnon said.
Since Mugabe joined the unity government with his erstwhile rival, the new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe has taken steps to halt the economy’s dramatic collapse.
But the government is seeking $8,5-billion in aid and investment over three years to revive industry and rebuild the civil service, including schools and hospitals.
Western donors, which provide most of the humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe’s impoverished and hungry population, have said they will not offer broader assistance until the government takes more concrete reforms.
After a decade of economic collapse in a once-vibrant country, 94% of Zimbabweans are unemployed while more than half the population depend on international food aid for survival. — Sapa-AFP