John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. The speakers preceding me have outlined in great detail the difficulties in Zimbabwe. The major difficulty we face is the question of how to deal with the issue. If one examines the embargo on Iraq and the people who benefited and suffered because of it, it is obvious we must be very careful in determining how we act as a global community. I suggest that a similar situation to that which pertained in Spain vis-À-vis President Pinochet of Chile should apply to Mr. Mugabe. Should Mr. Mugabe enter certain third countries, he should be arrested and sent for trial to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. There is no surer way of cutting off the oxygen of publicity that the rulers of Zimbabwe strive for and are getting today at the African Union conference in Egypt.

Sometimes the efforts we make are not enough. We have heard of the type of man with whom we are dealing. Any man who would freely associate himself with Hitler is telling us what he intends to do and, indeed, is doing, namely, terrorising his own people. The economy of Zimbabwe has totally collapsed and its deterioration has reached farcical proportions. The people of that very rich and beautiful country are destitute. We have a choice as to how we deal with this dictator and I suggest we support the International Criminal Court in The Hague in initiating proceedings against Mr. Mugabe, who holds himself out to be President of Zimbabwe, for crimes against humanity. That would be a positive step for us to take as a nation.