US and UN rapporteur at odds over ongoing sanctions

A United Nations special rapporteur says sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries are affecting the country’s higher education sector and causing massive brain drain and widespread unemployment among key professionals such as university professors. But not everyone agrees with her assessment.

Professor Alena Douhan, the United Nations special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, visited Zimbabwe from 17 to 28 October.

The purpose of the visit was to assess the impact of sanctions on the human rights of those living in Zimbabwe and other affected people.

Douhan is a professor of international law at the Belarusian State University, Belarus, the director of the Peace Research Center and an associated member of the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University Bochum.

She met leaders, including Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Professor Amon Murwira, minister of higher education, innovation, science and technology development, as well as representatives of the University of Zimbabwe, professors and independent researchers.

In her preliminary findings, Douhan said the sanctions should be lifted immediately. The full report will be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in September 2022.

The report comes two decades after the United States imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe by blocking the country’s access to funds from international financial institutions in 2001.

Targeted sanctions were introduced in 2003 by freezing assets of Zimbabwean officials and others accused of undermining democracy. The European Union imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe in 2002, citing human rights abuses.

These included an arms embargo as well as asset freezes, but most listings were suspended in 2013 after a referendum on a new constitution.

‘Devastating effect’

In preliminary findings following her visit, Douhan said the sanctions were having a devastating effect on higher education in Zimbabwe.

“The special rapporteur underlines that low salaries and reduced internet access result in the impossibility to pay tuition fees, and growing school and university drop-out rates, [as well as] the emigration of teachers and university professors and the reduction of the number of schooling hours, endangering thus the exercise of the right to education,” she said in her report.

“The reported reluctance of foreign partners to cooperate with Zimbabwean educational institutions, sport societies and private companies, as well as impediments to money transfers, difficulties in getting visas, [and] the reported ineligibility or limited eligibility of Zimbabwean students and scholars for research grants and scholarships affect the right to education as well as international academic, sports and cultural cooperation, innovation, academic freedoms and cultural rights.”

On the economic front, she said the International Monetary Fund classifies Zimbabwe as “in debt distress” with large and longstanding arrears to international financial institutions and commercial creditors.

By the end of 2018, Zimbabwe had accumulated more than US$8 billion in foreign debt and about ZWD6.9 billion (US$19 million) in domestic debt.

Growing emigration

Douhan said that, because of the economic problems, emigration from Zimbabwe, primarily of males and qualified youth, is increasing. Unemployment is rising, especially among the most qualified professionals such as university professors, engineers and teachers, among others.

“There is also an insufficiency of medical staff and training, with vacancy rates of over 50% for doctors, midwives, laboratory and environmental health staff.”

She said sanctions have been reported to create a substantial backlog in producing identity documents and passports, thereby limiting access to education.

“The education system consists of primary education for children 3-12 years old, secondary education for those 13-18 years old, and tertiary education (universities or specialised schools) for students 19-23 years old.

“Enrolment rates, based on the most recent data, were 72.5% for children 4-5 years old, 97.3% for children 6-12 years old, 52.4% in secondary education and 8.9% in tertiary education. The literacy rate of the population 24 years old and above was 88%.”

According to World Bank figures quoted by Douhan, about 25.1% of Zimbabwe’s population used the internet in 2019. She added that a sharp rise in 2009 to 2015 has since slowed considerably, with hardly any rise in 2019. This contrasts with the accelerating expansion of the internet infrastructure since 2016, as measured by secure servers.

The United States representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has since dismissed Douhan’s findings.

Speaking during a digital press briefing hosted by the US Africa Regional Media Hub, Thomas-Greenfield said the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe was not because of sanctions imposed on select individuals and companies, but due to poor administration, and human rights violations.

“Our sanctions target individuals and institutions that are committing human rights violations and we make every effort to ensure that those sanctions do not impact the people,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

However, Douhan dismissed this distinction in her report. “‘Targeted sanctions’ cannot, in practice, be isolated from the negative consequences on Zimbabweans of secondary sanctions, civil and criminal penalties for circumvention of sanctions regimes, zero-risk policies and over-compliance,” it stated.

“The cumulative effect of these is an important factor undermining the capacity of the government of Zimbabwe to exercise its duty to maintain the functioning of critical infrastructure, to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, and to ensure the enjoyment of fundamental human rights.”