July 1, 2005 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7903 I was a young woman in my twenties Whatever the name, this operation is In light of this alleged, sustained and serving in the Louisiana State Legisla- horrific. It is appalling. And it must deliberate destruction, I commend Kofi ture when Justice O’Connor was ap- end. Annan’s recent decision to send Ms. pointed to the Supreme Court, and I re- As a State Department spoke Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka as his Spe- member that day very clearly. I always sman affirmed last week—‘‘it’s cial Envoy to Zimbabwe to further in- knew I wanted to serve the people of uncondonable, inexcusable, and we will vestigate and respond to this tragedy. my country, and on that day I realized continue to speak out and act dip- Anna currently serves as the Under- that there was no limit to what one lomatically to achieve justice for those Secretary General and Executive Di- woman could do. who have been so senselessly disadvan- rector of U.N. HABITAT, and is a good And today, 24 years later, I am a taged.’’ That is why I speak today. friend. woman standing on the floor of the The targets of this ongoing campaign This past Sunday, Anna arrived in U.S. Senate while the number of are Zimbabwe’s very poorest citizens— Harare as the head of a seven-member women in the Louisiana State Legisla- individuals who are already suffering delegation to investigate the true im- ture has grown from 2 to 24. We all owe from 80 percent unemployment, 600- pact of Mugabe’s so-called ‘‘cleaning’’ a great debt to pioneering women like percent inflation and widespread food operation. Sending Anna and the delegation is a Sandra Day O’Connor who broke the shortages. An the true reasons for this very positive step, and I am encouraged judicial glass ceiling and paved the campaign have not been made fully by the visit. And I urge President way for me and for millions of other clear. Mugabe to continue to allow Anna and Zimbabwe’s President, Robert women. her team full access to impacted areas. But O’Connor’s legacy is not limited Mugabe, says the crackdown is de- I look forward to hearing about and to the barriers she broke. Throughout signed to ‘‘restore sanity’’ in urban reading the delegation’s findings. her 24 years of service, Justice O’Con- areas—areas which he says have be- At the same time, I want to com- nor has proven herself to be one of our come overrun with criminals. mend international leaders, including But Zimbabwe’s cities are also the Nation’s leading legal scholars, con- British Prime Minister Tony Blair, sistently putting the rule of law ahead centers of opposition political activity. Australian Prime Minister John How- Due to the worsening situation in the of politics. She has been a champion of ard, U.S. Secretary of State urban areas, including a lack of fuel the law, a champion for our rights, and Condoleezza Rice, as well as over 200 and a diminishing food supply, the gov- a champion for our country. international human rights and civics Finding an appropriate successor to ernment may be moving poor people groups for publicly condemning these such a dedicated jurist is a heavy task out of the cities in an effort to increase continued atrocities and human rights indeed. control over the population. abuses. To protect the rights and liberties of Unfortunately, because of Mugabe’s As an international community, we all Americans, there is perhaps no government controls, there has been a share a collective responsibility to as- more important decision a President severe lack of verifiable information sist the people of Zimbabwe and bring makes than nominating a Justice to coming out of Zimbabwe. But daily dis- about a meaningful end to this man- the Supreme Court. I strongly urge patches are telling us of people being made tragedy. President Bush to rise above the par- forced into labor on state-run farms, But I also echo international calls for tisan politics that have gripped recent and young people being sent to youth Zimbabwe’s neighbors to step forward judicial confirmations and to reach out militia camps. Most disturbing are the and put pressure on the Mugabe gov- to both Republican and Democratic tragic reports that children are being ernment. I urge Zimbabwe’s African Senators as he selects a nominee to crushed and killed in these raids. neighbors to take effective action and succeed Justice O’Connor. Last Friday, these events led 10 intervene. In particular, I urge the Af- It is the Senate’s constitutional duty United Nations special rapporteurs on rican Union to take meaningful action. to provide advice and consent. To pro- human rights to issue a strong state- The fact is, the latest demolitions vide real advice and to grant real con- ment of concern about the ‘‘recent are part of a larger, sustained pattern sent, every single Senator must weigh mass forced evictions in Zimbabwe and of human rights violations being car- the nomination carefully and con- related human rights violations.’’ ried out by President Mugabe and his sciously. I briefly read a portion of this state- government. Senators from both sides of the aisle ment, which was issued through the Of- As the 2004 State Department Human must come together to ensure that the fice of the U.N. High Commissioner on Rights Report relates, and I will read a next member of the Supreme Court will Human Rights: brief paragraph directly: uphold the rights of the American peo- Since 18 May 2005 Zimbabwean authorities President Mugabe and his party used in- ple and base his or her decisions on the are reported to have forcibly evicted an esti- timidation and violence to maintain polit- law and the Constitution—not on polit- mated 200,000 people from Harare and 29 ical power. A systematic, government sanc- ical ideology. other locations across Zimbabwe, with some tioned campaign of violence targeting sup- reports stating that up to a million people porters and perceived supporters of the oppo- I hope President Bush will join us in may face eviction if the operation continues. sition continued during the year. Security this partnership and allow us to pro- . These evictions have targeted . infor- forces committed at least one extrajudicial vide real advice at this historic time. mal traders and families living in informal killing. Ruling party supporters, with mate- Working together, I am confident settlements, including women with HIV/ rial support from the Government, continued that we can find a suitable Justice who AIDS, widows, children with disabilities. their occupation of commercial farms, and in will follow the great precedent of San- Many evictees, including women, are re- some cases killed, abducted, tortured, in- dra Day O’Connor. ported to have been beaten up by police. The timidated, raped, or threatened farm occu- evictees have been given no prior notice, no pants. Security forces, government-sanc- f opportunity to appeal and no opportunity to tioned youth militias, and ruling party sup- DESTRUCTION IN ZIMBABWE retrieve property and goods from homes and porters tortured, raped, and otherwise shops before destruction . With the excep- abused persons perceived to be associated Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I call tion of a few inadequate transit camps, there with the opposition; some persons died from attention to and condemn the current is no evidence that the Government has ex- their injuries. tragic actions by the government of plored any alternatives to the evictions or I remind my colleagues that this Zimbabwe. offered adequate alternative housing and very same government is also a current At present, more than 200,000 people many evictees have been left completely member of the United Nations Com- have been made homeless as a result of homeless. mission on Human Rights—which is ‘‘Operation Restore Order’’—a 5-week- I find this situation to be alarming at yet another travesty. old government campaign to destroy the very least. These demolitions But the immediate issue facing us informal dwellings and businesses in sound a lot like political retribution today is the current government cam- Zimbabwe’s cities. Alternatively, the and forced human displacement. And paign to demolish Zimbabwe’s urban operation is also being called Oper- the deliberate destruction of the homes areas. We cannot ignore this continued ation Murambatsvina—meaning oper- is a clear violation of fundamental destruction and abuse. We simply can- ation ‘‘Drive Out Rubbish.’’ human rights. not look the other way. VerDate Aug 31 2005 05:38 Dec 28, 2006 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORDCX\T37X$J0E\S01JY5.REC S01JY5 hmoore on PROD1PC68 with CONG-REC-ONLINE S7904 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 1, 2005 As Secretary Rice outlined in her State $750 million in direct sugar sales, ZIMBABWE confirmation hearing before the For- as well as $2 billion in industry-related Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise eign Relations Committee earlier this revenue each year. to express my shock and alarm over year, Zimbabwe remains one of the In any trade negotiation, there are the most recent turn taken in outposts of tyranny. losses and there are wins. Oftentimes Zimbabwe’s deepening political and And as Secretary Rice rightly re- we are willing to accept the impacts economic crisis. As my colleagues marked, ‘‘America stands with op- these deals might have on our domestic know, the ruling regime in Harare re- pressed people on every continent.’’ producers because in the long run the cently launched a massive campaign to At the time, she referenced Natan good outweighs the bad.