The decades-long rocky relationship between the United States and the repressive regime in Zimbabwe was the central focus of a congressional hearing Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the Africa and global human rights subcommittee. The U.S. State Department’s Africa Bureau and two human rights non-government organizations (NGOs) testified.

    “Zimbabwe is a country rich in both natural and human potential,” Smith said. “Once the resentments of the current old guard have passed and democratic governance can be established, U.S.-Zimbabwe relations can become what they have never been: harmonious and mutually beneficial.

    “The country’s commitment to democratic governance has been further placed in question due to a series of repressive laws preventing freedoms of speech, association and movement. As if the government’s repressive tactics are not troubling enough, political jockeying in Zimbabwe, including the recent dismissal of Vice President Joice Mujuru, places the succession to President Mugabe in doubt, which puts U.S. policy in question.” Click here to read Chairman Smith’s remarks.

    Testifying at the congressional hearing, entitled “The Future of U.S.-Zimbabwe Relations,” were: Dr. Shannon Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African Affairs; Ben Freeth, Executive Director for the human rights group The Mike Campbell Foundation, and; Ms. Imani Countess, Regional Program Director for Africa at The Solidarity Center.

    “Fundamentally, Zimbabwe remains trapped in a moment in time that has been unfolding for decades,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Smith said. “President Robert Mugabe maintains his hold on power, as a result of the 2013 elections that were neither free nor fair. The country’s economy is failing, driven down not by international sanctions but by national policies and rampant unemployment. Once a breadbasket for the region, it faces major food security challenges in the months to come. Political rights remain curtailed. Outright violence has declined compared to previous years, but prominent examples, such as the disappearance of activist Itai Dzamara, remind Zimbabweans that their safety is elusive.”

    She said that while the government of Zimbabwe continues to blame U.S. sanctions for its economic hardship, in reality these bleak conditions were created by the government itself. Click here to read Dr. Smith’s statement.

    Imani Countess, of The Solidarity Center, an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that promotes and protects worker rights globally with programs in more than 60 countries, testified about the weak economy and employment situation in Zimbabwe.

    “The forward focus of this hearing is particularly timely,” Countess said. “Zimbabwe’s economy is in deep decline, making it harder for average Zimbabweans to work and live, and leaving them less and less confident in their future. The government consistently fails to address the basic needs of its people. According to economists with the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), Zimbabwe’s fragile economy is characterized by ‘high external debt, policy discontent, massive and increasing deindustrialization and informalization.’ Most workers earn salaries far below the poverty level, and many workers—even in the formal sector—go for months without receiving their wages.” Click here to read her full statement.

     Until non-discrimination, property rights and the rule of law are restored to the people of Zimbabwe, hunger, deprivation and regression will continue to be the order of the day, testified Ben Freeth, of The Mike Campbell Foundation.

    “What is it that made the bread basket of southern Africa into a country that would have had widespread death by starvation if food aid had not come in from the USA and the West every year for the last 14 years?”Freeth asked. “What is that has caused an estimated 25 percent of the entire Zimbabwean population to flee the country of their birth in such a short period of time?

    “At the root of it is the breakdown of the rule of law and the discrimination that has allowed Mugabe’s political elite to greedily grab or destroy homes, businesses and other assets from opposition members or people with a white coloured skin,” Freeth said. “They then asset-strip them and leave the workers poor, hungry and dependent on the ruling party and international food aid for their survival.”  Click here to read Freeth’s testimony.

    Click here to watch a video of the hearing.

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