The Secretary of State is publicly designating Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe, former Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army’s Presidential Guard...
The Secretary of State is publicly designating Anselem
Nhamo Sanyatwe, former Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army’s Presidential
Guard Brigade and current Ambassador Designate of Zimbabwe to Tanzania, under
Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs Appropriations Act (Div. F, P.L. 116-6), due to his
involvement in gross violations of human rights. Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where
the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign officials have
been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights,
those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry
into the United States.
The Department
has credible information that Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe was involved in the
violent crackdown against unarmed Zimbabweans during post-election protests on
August 1, 2018 that resulted in six civilian deaths.
The law also requires the Secretary of State to publicly or
privately designate such officials and immediate family members. In addition to the designation of Anselem
Nhamo Sanyatwe, the Department is also publicly designating his spouse, Chido
Machona.
To date, the Government of Zimbabwe has held no member of
the security forces accountable for the acts of violence committed against
Zimbabweans on August 1, 2018.
Furthermore, there has been no accountability for the excessive use of
force by Zimbabwean security forces on civilians in January and February this
year, which reportedly resulted in at least 13 deaths, 600 victims of violence,
torture or rape, and more than 1,000 arrests.
We again call on Zimbabwean authorities to hold accountable those
officials responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Zimbabwe.
COMMENTS