Seán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

I wish Deputy Micheál Martin well in his new position in Government as Minister for Foreign Affairs. I also congratulate Deputy Peter Power and wish him well on his appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The motion we are discussing today is very timely and I am delighted to have the opportunity to comment on it. Many Members have already outlined the violence and abuse of human rights that has occurred and continues to occur in Zimbabwe at the moment. Under no circumstances could anybody but agree with the sentiments that have been expressed by all sides in the House.

I would like to have a quick look at the history of Zimbabwe. In 1880, which is close to when Cecil Rhodes arrived in Zimbabwe, Ireland was at a position where the Land League under Michael Davitt was looking to have the Three F's — fixity of tenure, fair rent and free sale — put in place. In 1880, the boycott of the Erne estate at Lough Mask in Mayo occurred. The word "boycott" comes from the ostracising of Captain Boycott that occurred at that time.

It was not until six years after this event that Cecil Rhodes, having amassed a fortune in the diamond mines in Kimberley on the back of cheap black labour, saw that the conquering of the whole of east Africa would be to his advantage. By a trick involving a treaty, he effectively took control of the area now known as Zimbabwe — southern Rhodesia — as well as other areas.

It was not until the early 1900s, after Queen Victoria gave him the right to allocate land, that the large commercial farms were taken by white men. Effectively, this is in the living memory of some people alive today. That is how recent is the initial history of the land problem in Zimbabwe.

One cannot but sympathise with the Zimbabwean people, the colleagues of Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai and all of the people who support them in respect of the difficulties they have faced and are facing, particularly since 1980. There is no way that we in Ireland can expect the level of sophistication for a democracy, respect for human rights and the republican principles of justice, equality and fraternity that we take for granted in Ireland. Time is needed to develop these so that they become more sophisticated over the years.

There is a need for a change in attitude in US foreign policy in respect of Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe had Communist tendencies in the early 1980s and wished for a single party government in Zimbabwe. However, one must recognise that there have been elections in Zimbabwe, that there were elections in the recent past and there will be finalisation of these elections in the near future albeit that violence and abuse of human rights that are unacceptable as far as European standards are concerned are taking place at present.

On its website, the US Department of State has a section on Zimbabwe. On 11 March 2008, the website said that Zimbabwe had a population of approximately 11.6 million. I understand that the World Bank and the IMF believe that the population is over 13 million at the moment. The website said that:

Zimbabwe, with a population of approximately 11.6 million, is constitutionally a republic, but the government, dominated by President Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) since independence, was not freely elected and is authoritarian. The last two national elections, the presidential election in 2002 and the parliamentary elections in March 2005, were not free and fair. Although the constitution allows for multiple parties, the ruling party and security forces intimidated and committed abuses against opposition parties and their supporters and obstructed their activities. Civilian authorities generally maintained control of the security forces, but often used them to control opposition to the ruling party. The government engaged in the pervasive and systematic abuse of human rights, which increased significantly during the year. The ruling party's dominant control and manipulation of the political process through intimidation and corruption effectively negated the right of citizens to change their government.

This is contained in the US Department of State's website. I do not believe that President Mugabe was wrong when he responded by saying that President Bush has much to atone for and little to lecture him on in respect of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mugabe said that "his hands drip with blood of many innocent nationalities, and today with the blood of the Iraqis". Mugabe dwelt on the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He said that:

At that concentration camp international law does not apply. The national laws of the people there do not apply. Laws of the United States of America do not apply. Only Bush's law applies.

Mugabe accuses Great Britain and the US of pursuing a relentless campaign of "destabilising and vilifying my country". He said the two nations have sponsored surrogate forces to challenge lawful authority in his country. Obviously, there is a divergence of opinion between the US in particular and Great Britain and Zimbabwe as to the right of Zimbabwe to carry on the way it is going.

Nobody who respects democracy and republican values agrees with what is happening in Zimbabwe at present but surely we must give every country time to get over its troubles and find its own way in the democratic process and the way it is run. It is accepted by the government in Zimbabwe that democracy and fair elections are the way to go. If or when the MDC comes into power in Zimbabwe, how much more different will it be from Zanu-PF? How much more different will the friends and cronies of the people in power be unless, as has been stated earlier, there is significant help and assistance from the EU in particular and Ireland, particularly because we are increasing the amount of money we will put into overseas development aid?

There is an imperative on the EU. We should in some way act as a lead country in a major stabilisation and reconstruction package for this democracy. Zimbabwe has a GDP of approximately €300 per capita. Ireland has a GDP of €41,000 per head of population, yet we still expect from Zimbabwe the standards of politics that apply in Ireland. That is not possible, unless we put every effort into assisting the political process in Zimbabwe through a type of Marshall Plan, as suggested by Deputies Morgan and Andrews. Such a plan should be put in place as soon as the election of the new President has been completed.

I commend the motion to the House and I am delighted the initiative was taken. I hope Zimbabwe will be at peace in the near future.

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