Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I am happy to participate in this important debate on Zimbabwe. I have an association with Zimbabwe that dates back some years. In the late 1980s, following my election to Dáil Éireann, I was invited by the European Parliamentarians for Africa, AWEPA, a good organisation which has been mentioned by Deputy Neville, to visit Zimbabwe and Zambia for an international meeting on apartheid in South Africa. My colleague and good friend, Deputy Brendan Howlin, attended also.

If AWEPA did nothing else, it brought all the Members of this House of like mind on human rights and development together and brought us to various meetings abroad where we met other fellow European parliamentarians. It was a fantastic initiative by AWEPA, and it is still working. It is important to point out that AWEPA is still very active here.

At the time, Nelson Mandela was still behind bars in prison. Representatives of the ANC from South Africa and SWAPO from Namibia, and all the freedom movements, were present at our meetings in Harare and Lusaka. I have maintained contact with many of these down through the years and some of the ANC representatives have gone on to become Ministers.

Presidents Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Kaunda of Zambia dominated proceedings. I suppose they were larger than life figures. They were then revered and respected leaders of the struggle for freedom in South Africa and there was a great sense of expectation around at the time. They made a striking impression on me at the time.

Zimbabwe was then a relatively free and open society, as was its economy. It had a fine reputation, as the House will be aware, for food production in the region. One could sense its great potential. It has a lovely climate, and agriculture and tourism were obviously areas with strong potential.

Years later I returned on an official visit with then President Mary Robinson to experience a more repressive authoritarian regime with a major emphasis on security for the Zimbabwean President and his Government. Effectively, it was a much darker place.

In 2002, when I was Minister of State for Foreign Affairs with responsibility for overseas development, visiting Zambia I managed to slip across the border to Zimbabwe to witness a most troubled, stagnant and impoverished country. It was so unlike the Zimbabwe I had first experienced, which had been a beautiful, content and peaceful country with the richest of culture and climate and the warmest of people who greeted us on so many occasions, as Deputy Howlin will remember, with their songs and their dance.

I rise to speak on this motion because it saddens me greatly that this once beautiful country is in ruins, that its people are suffering desperately in a country with a worthless Zimbabwe dollar, six figure inflation and 80% unemployment, and most importantly of all, where their basic rights of freedom of expression and the right to vote in a free and fair election have been denied.

This Dáil already passed a motion on Zimbabwe on 4 October last and as the then Chief Whip, I was glad to facilitate that debate. In welcoming this motion, I believe the time has come for robust political and diplomatic action at UN level, and especially at EU level, while the current diplomatic deadlock persists in Zimbabwe.

Especially, I support the view that there is urgent need for the broadest possible international observation in the run-up to and during the next election. The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, has decided to return to fight the next round of elections but the international community cannot stand aside and allow elections to proceed without a major observer presence from abroad. What is required is a definite date to be agreed by the electoral commission, and which has the support of the international community, since any further delay will give the Zimbabwean Government and militia time to rig the voting and carry out more atrocities and attacks on the opposition supporters. It is most worrying to learn about the targeting of teachers who served as polling agents in opposition supported areas by ruling party thugs.

The Dáil should today call for greater leadership from the Southern African Development Community and encourage and commend leaders such as Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, whom I met during my visit there in 2002, to increase and intensify their diplomatic efforts. We need more regional leaders like the Zambian President to stand up for human rights and human dignity. That is what it is about. I was impressed with the Zambian President and I commend him for the leadership he has shown.

An international observer mission involving a strong EU dimension is essential over the weeks and months ahead and Ireland, because of its strong links with Zimbabwe, especially, as we saw when we were there, through our missionary involvement and our reputation internationally in promoting human rights, should be centrally involved in any such observer mission. I would be happy to participate in any such observer mission, if such arrangement can be facilitated. We should work closely with the Southern African Development Community to bring this about.

I agree with Deputy Michael D. Higgins who stated earlier that we should let it be known that we in Ireland are willing to participate in any such observer mission. I appreciate what has been stated earlier, that we have not been invited, but that is simply not good enough. There must be ways around this and we must work strenuously at EU level to ensure an observer mission is put in place, not only for the election but also beforehand.

According to recent reports, violence is now on such a scale that it is impossible to properly document all cases. On Friday last, Harare hospitals and clinics treated 30 people for broken limbs. Many innocent people have been killed and tortured. This House should be very concerned that a number of ambassadors to Zimbabwe were detained by police two days ago as they tried to investigate the violence inflicted on Zimbabwe's rural population since the election last March. It is most worrying that many people are suffering in rural communities, but nobody is there to witness what is happening or to protect those people. The initiative of this group of diplomats, which included the US and British ambassadors, is to be applauded. These ambassadors unearthed a lot of disturbing evidence of violence in rural areas and their courageous efforts demonstrate the urgent need for a strong international presence of observers in the country.

There is some political reluctance across Europe to take on Zimbabwe because of the post-colonial baggage involved. However, because of its history, especially in dealing with the land question, Ireland is in a unique position to raise the human rights abuses that are taking place. Just as we campaigned internationally against the apartheid regime in South Africa, so too must we apply equal standards and stand firm against repression in Zimbabwe. We stand in solidarity with the South African dockers who refused to unload arms shipments from China destined for Mr. Mugabe, thus saving further bloodshed.

Ireland has strong links with Africa, especially southern Africa. Our ambassador to South Africa has visited Zimbabwe on a number of occasions. We have a strong presence in Mozambique and Tanzania, two SADC countries which can bring strong pressure to bear on Mugabe. I know from personal experience that Zimbabwe has enormous potential economically, especially in agriculture and tourism. It is essential that Irish Aid continues to assist the people of Zimbabwe but we must redouble our efforts at national, EU and UN levels, working closely with SADC to ensure that a democratic election process is put in place. We must make every effort to have an international presence. We have a strong association with Zimbabwe and we should make it clear that Ireland is willing to be involved in an observer mission. I would be very happy to participate in such a mission.

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