Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 15: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's views on the conduct and outcome of the recent elections in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13560/05]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 75: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the serious concern at the systematic abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13487/05]

Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the situation in Zimbabwe following recent elections in that country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13477/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 75 and 78 together.

In a statement issued on 1 April 2005, I outlined the serious concerns of the Government regarding the conduct of the parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe on 31 March 2005. In particular, the high percentage of people turned away because their names did not appear on the electoral register, estimated at between 10% and 15% of voters, as well as the apparent use of postal votes in a concerted manner to influence the outcome in certain constituencies, made it difficult to conclude that the election could properly be regarded as free and fair.

Information which has become available since the election, including the report of the Irish Ambassador who travelled to Zimbabwe to observe the elections, has only served to reinforce the assessment that the elections were not free and fair. An EU declaration to this effect was issued on 5 April. To date, none of those countries or organisations invited by the Zimbabwean Government to send external observers, including South Africa, the African Union and SADC — Southern African Development Community, has been able to make an unambiguous pronouncement that the elections were free and fair. The principal opposition party, the MDC or Movement for Democratic Change, has drawn attention to major irregularities and discrepancies between the initial and final estimates of votes cast in certain constituencies. It has announced that it will challenge certain of these results in court.

It is important that the conduct of the recent election should not be seen in isolation from the general political and human rights situation in Zimbabwe. While there were some improvements compared to previous elections, principally in the reduced level of violence occurring during the campaign, the reality remains that no serious attempt was made by the Zimbabwean Government to try and ensure a level playing field for all those competing in the election, by complying fully with the SADC guidelines for the holding of democratic elections, as it had initially stated it would do. The continuing use of repressive legislation, ongoing harassment and arrest of human rights activists, unequal access to the media and a seriously compromised voters register all ensured that there was little real prospect of a genuinely free and fair vote on 31 March 2005.

Under the terms of the EU common position, renewed for a further 12 months last February, which imposes targeted restrictive measures against the leading members of the ZANU-PF government, the EU is required to carry out a review of its common position following the election. In light of the flawed conduct of the elections, the serious concerns which still exist regarding the human rights situation in Zimbabwe and the failure by the Mugabe government to make any real progress towards meeting the EU's benchmarks for improving the situation of democracy, human rights and respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe, I do not believe there is any real basis in any review for concluding other than that the existing restrictive measures should be retained. The EU wishes to improve its relations with Zimbabwe but this can only occur once the Zimbabwean Government shows genuine intent to respond to international concerns and works to promote meaningful dialogue and political reforms within Zimbabwe.

It is particularly important that pressure to move in the direction of greater democracy and improved human rights be maintained at the present time, given that the ZANU-PF government now commands a two thirds majority in the newly elected parliament and is, therefore, in a position to revise the Zimbabwean constitution as it wishes and without consultation.