Zimbabwe

December 2008

On 15 December, the Council held a high-level closed formal meeting to consider the situation in Zimbabwe. The Secretary-General briefed on developments in the country and reportedly described the situation as a failure of the leadership in Zimbabwe to address the political, economic, human rights and humanitarian crises.

July 2008

On 11 July, the Council failed to adopt a draft sanctions resolution against certain individuals responsible for the political violence in Zimbabwe. (China, Viet Nam, Libya and South Africa voted against the draft text, with Indonesia abstaining.) On 3 July, the US had circulated a draft resolution in private consultations imposing sanctions, including an arms embargo, an assets freeze and a travel ban. On 8 July, the Council was briefed in an open meeting by the Deputy Secretary-General on developments since the second round of presidential elections on 27 June. On 8-9 July, G-8 leaders meeting in Japan issued a statement on Zimbabwe expressing their resolve to take “financial and other measures against those individuals responsible for violence” in the country. Meanwhile, on 1 July, the AU adopted a resolution expressing concern about the violence in the country and stressing the need to avoid further deterioration of the situation to prevent a spillover of the conflict into the broader region.