UN envoy speaks out on Zimbabwe sanctions

Published on 26/05/2012 00:00

Zimbabwe is a country “beset by uncertainty and fear”, the United Nations’ visiting rights chief said yesterday – while urging western countries to halt sanctions hurting the poor.

Travel bans and asset freezes imposed by Britain, the European Union and the United States on strongman Robert Mugabe and more than 100 of his cronies have proved a “serious disincentive” to investors and have limited foreign trade, said Navi Pillay, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, in Harare.

In a statement criticised by Mugabe’s party, the UN envoy said that she hoped those placed under sanctions would one day be taken to court, “the proper place to deal with serious crimes”.

Pillay said: “I have yet to hear a single Zimbabwean inside the country say they definitely think sanctions should continue.”