Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 January 2005
457 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will take all appropriate steps to urge the Zimbabwean authorities to secure the release of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1408/05]
View answerI am aware of and have been closely following the case of Mr. Roy Bennett, the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, opposition Member of Parliament, who was sentenced by the Zimbabwean Parliament last October to 12 months' imprisonment with labour. A number of aspects of the case give rise to concern, including the apparently arbitrary procedures employed in Mr. Bennett's trial and conviction by a committee of the Zimbabwean Parliament rather than by an ordinary court, where the maximum penalty applicable would have been a small fine. While it is not possible to condone the action for which Mr. Bennett was sentenced, it is clear that the sentence imposed was politically motivated and wholly disproportionate to the offence committed.
The imprisonment of Mr. Bennett is one of many incidents in an overall pattern of harassment, intimidation and violence, which opposition politicians and supporters have faced in Zimbabwe for some years now. Regrettably, the overall human rights situation in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate, with arbitrary arrests and ongoing politically inspired violence. Legislation has just been enacted by the Zimbabwean Parliament which will impose serious restrictions on the activities of human rights NGOs operating in Zimbabwe.
Ireland and its EU partners are continuing to take the lead in highlighting the serious human rights situation in Zimbabwe, including through tabling a resolution on the issue at the recent session of the UN General Assembly. We will continue, through EU ambassadors in Harare, to press for the repeal of repressive legislation and an end to attacks on basic freedoms by the Zimbabwean authorities. Such political reforms are crucial if there is to be any prospect of free and fair parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe next March, carried out in accordance with the principles and guidelines on democratic elections adopted by the Southern African Development Community Summit in Mauritius last August.
The Government has been active in ensuring that EU ambassadors in Zimbabwe continue to monitor Mr. Bennett's case closely with a view to the EU intervening on behalf of members of the opposition in Zimbabwe, including Mr. Bennett, who have been unfairly imprisoned.
