US Sanctions Zimbabwe’s State Security Minister

The United States has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe’s state security minister, Owen Ncube, that it accuses of “gross violations of human rights”.

The US accuses Ncube of being involved in the state-sponsored violent crack-down on civilians that saw several people being shot dead by soldiers, while many others sustained injuries from beatings and other forms of brutalization by the military and other suspected state agents.

There were also incidents of abductions and torture reported since Ncube was appointed State Security minister. Human rights groups say they have recorded more than 20 cases of abductions of activists by state security agents since January.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Washington was troubled by the “Zimbabwean government’s use of state-sanctioned violence against” protesters, opposition leaders and labor leaders.

The US slapped Zimbabwean officials and companies with sanctions in 2001 under the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA).

The regional bloc, SADC, at their last summit in Tanzania declared the 25th of October as the day to unite and campaign for an end to sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the US and the Western countries.

President Mnangagwa’s party blames the sanctions imposed by the US in 2001 and renewed by US President Donald Trump early this year for the economic woes that have brought Zimbabwe to its knees.

But Pompeo said US sanctions targeted only those who engaged in corruption, violated human rights, and undermined democratic institutions or processes.