Rights groups slam Mugabe's visit to the US

A leading Zimababwean human rights organisation on Friday slammed the US government's decision to allow President Robert Mugabe to attend the UN Special Session on Children in New York. ZimRights programme manager, David Jamali, told IRIN: "Mugabe's visit to the US makes a complete mockery of the travel ban they placed on him. What America has shown by this kind of leniency, is that they really aren't serious about the deteriorating situation in the country." The US slapped a travel ban on Mugabe and members of his inner circle in February because of their alleged support for lawlessness and refusal to hold a free and fair presidential ballot. The ban includes people who, through their business dealings, benefit from the policies of the government in Harare. According to news reports, while Mugabe was allowed into the US he would be restricted to the UN headquarters. On Thursday The Zimbabwe Financial Gazette reported: "If for example he wants to go to San Francisco, even for shopping or sightseeing, that visa will not allow him that latitude." Bruce Wharton, the US embassy spokesman in Harare told IRIN: "President Mugabe is a guest of the UN and not the American government. While he has been allowed to travel to the States, our policy toward the president has not changed. The travel ban was put in place as a direct result of the breakdown of the rule of law and the fundamentally flawed elections." Wharton refused to comment on the technicalities of Mugabe's visa saying: "I am not at liberty to discuss specific visa cases." But Mugabe's presence in New York has shocked and angered opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who in a statement said: "We are left wondering what message Mugabe can possibly have for the children worldwide when his illegitimate government in Zimbabwe is a living example of how not to treat children. "The party he leads has set up militia bases countrywide where people with a different opinion to ZANU-PF are abducted and tortured. Most of the people in these camps are youngsters below the age of 20 who are being trained to brutalise their fellow Zimbabweans." Political analysts were not surprised that Mugabe had managed to beat the travel ban. "Mugabe is obviously trying to test the limitations of the travel ban. He also wants to show his detractors that he still has the ability to connect with other political players on an international platform. The decision of the US government, however, throws into question their sincerity in dealing with the Zimbabwean government," political science researcher at the Johannesburg-based Africa Institute, Winston Meso, told IRIN. This would be the first time that Mugabe would be subjected to restrictions under the travel ban. His case has reopened the debate on the effectiveness of targeted sanctions against Zimababwe's ruling elite. Nel Marais, a political analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria said: "Targeted sanctions are practically unenforceable. While western governments, in Zimbabwe's case, are able to identify and monitor the overseas bank accounts of government officials, they have no power to freeze their accounts, unless they can prove without a doubt that the money in those accounts is linked to criminal activity. "This would take years. The kind of punitive measures taken against Mugabe and his cabinet is unlikely to have any real effect on the government's policies. If anything, the government seems to have hit back at the international community by coming down harder on its own people." He claimed that Mugabe had "never been preoccupied" with children's rights prior to this summit. "Therefore it is safe to assume that he saw New York as the perfect opportunity to dialogue with a number of people he felt may be able to support him," Marais said. Meanwhile, the state-run newspaper, The Herald, reported on Friday that Mugabe held talks with Zambian President and chairman of the Southern Africa Development Community Levy Mwanawasa on the sidelines of the summit. Mugabe is also expected to meet with Mozambican President Joacquim Chissano.