| Brad Lehigh, Trade compliance analyst | In 2008, Canada issued sanctions against Zimbabwe using the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) in response to an election crisis in which the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), was accused of human rights violations and widespread electoral fraud. Canada was not alone in this act, as heavy sanctions came down from the United States, the European Union, Australia, and others. Canada in particular sanctioned Zimbabwe with an arms embargo, import/export restrictions, asset freezes and financial sanctions against 181 designated individuals and entities. It is important to note, these sanctions were intended to target only ZANU-PF and not ordinary citizens or opposition parties.
In the 7 years since they have been in place, most authorities have updated or reduced their designated lists periodically, to remove individuals who no longer serve with the ZANU-PF party. The U.S. has completed many revisions to their SDN list to remove sanctioned Zimbabweans – often because they are deceased and no longer have any purpose to be on it. The European Union has all but repealed their Zimbabwe sanctions program, and will be looking at removing even the Mugabe family later this month as they seek to further relations, citing improvements in the political environment after the adoption of a new constitution and peaceful (but disputed) polls in 2013. Most major sanctions regimes have kept up to date with the shifting political landscape (and death notices) of Zimbabwe and updated their regulations to better serve their intended function. Canada however, has not had a single update to their Zimbabwe SEMA regulations since the day they were first instituted. When Canada initially instituted the sanctions, ZANU-PF members and their families, including children were placed on this list and essentially made economic non-persons. One of the individuals falling into this category was Dumiso Dabengwa (along with his daughter Ijeoma). The current listing of Dumiso Dabengwa is glaring example of how Canada’s stagnant action towards Zimbabwe sanctions is failing. Dabengwa and others split from ZANU-PF only months after Canada issued their sanctions legislation, and reformed an old political party called the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). ZAPU not only boasts strong supporter numbers in Canada, but even a local branch called “ZAPU Canada” responsible for organizing events for members, supporters, and any Zimbabweans to discuss issues affecting their homeland. ZAPU also publicly supports constitutional reform and multiparty democracy. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), ever diligent in keeping their list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN list) up to date, removed Dabengwa (and his daughter) in December 2010. OFAC stated that “It has been determined that circumstances related to these individuals no longer warrant their inclusion on the U.S. sanctions list…Circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of the property and interests in property of Dumis Dabengwa and Thenjiwe Lesabe. Dabengwa and Lesabe are no longer members of ZANU-PF”. Thenjiwe Lesabe is another name of mention. She should have also been removed as well, but not because she left ZANU-PF for ZAPU in 2009, but rather because she passed away in early 2011. Other nations have maintained their designations not only politically; they have also been diligent in ensuring that deceased peoples are removed. Canada currently has at least 20 people listed on its SEMA sanctions for Zimbabwe who are no longer alive. One can certainly question Canada’s ambivalence towards removing these names, as they originally listed Tinos Rusere, who had already been deceased for over two years at the time of listing. Due to the nature of how Canada would need to update the list (issuing a Statutory Order and Regulation that would need to be published, and create an array of regulations that would need to be consolidated), it would be unreasonable to expect Canada to issue a new SEMA Zimbabwe Regulation each time someone on the list passed away. However, it is clear updated legislation is required and exporters should seek guidance from their service provider when planning an export. |