Zimbabwe

Sanctions do more harm than Mugabe, says Malian activist

Article published on the 2009-01-02 Latest update 2009-01-02 19:53 TU

Aminata Traoré
(Photo: UN.org)

The US, Britain and France are defending their own interests in their conflict with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, says well-known Malian rights activist Aminata Traoré in an interview with RFI. She accuses them of prioritising the defence of white farmers and says that western sanctions are the country's main problem.

Traoré was her country's Culture Minister from 1997-2000 but resigned in order to have more freedom of expression. She is now the Co-ordinator of Forum pour l'autre Mali and Associate Co-ordinator of the International Network for Cultural Diversity and is a prominent critic of globalisation.

She accuses US President George Bush, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy of hypocrisy when they criticise Mugabe's human rights record, recalling western policy in the Middle East and the effects of IMF/World Bank programmes on Africa's poor.

"We think that it’s not the responsibility of a dominant country to tell African people to push or ask their leaders to step down," she says.

"Democracy should be the responsibility of the people themselves," Traoré argues, but adds that Zimbabweans' problems are not limited to "electoral fraud and political issues".

"The land issue is a big one," she argues, "It’s a main concern here. We think that it’s our responsibility now, given the global crisis, to let the people know more about the main issues, how to have access for the small farmers to land."

The turmoil surrounding Mugabe's land reform programme has its roots in the Lancaster House agreement, she argues.

That put an end to white-ruled Rhodesia and promised redistribution of white-owned farms on a "willing buyer, willing seller" basis, to be funded by Britain. But the US and the UK are still defending the property of white farmers, Traoré argues.

And economic sanctions, initiated by Washington and Westminster, are largely responsible for Zimbabwe's present problems, she says.

"The main problem in Zimbabwe is imposing boycott and economic sanctions. I don’t know any other country here in Africa or elsewhere, where a leader, bad or good, can solve the problem when you are imposed such constraint."

Traoré dismisses talk of "the international community", saying that "the strongest, some of them are calling themselves the international community" but that "many countries are not agreeing with their policy in Zimbabwe".