The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other senior leaders, denouncing what it calls a campaign of rights abuses and corruption.
The sanctions, which would block any property located in the United States and prevent any unofficial travel to the United States, replace a broader, two-year-old sanctions program against Zimbabwe.
“The changes we are making today are to make clear what has been true all along: our sanctions are not targeting the people of Zimbabwe,” said Deputy Finance Minister Wally Adeyemo.
“We are refocusing sanctions on clear and specific targets: President Mnangagwa’s criminal network of government officials and businessmen who are most responsible for corruption or human rights abuses against the people of Zimbabwe,” he said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new measures were part of a “stronger, more targeted sanctions policy” against Zimbabwe, where he expressed concern about “serious cases of corruption and human rights abuses.”
“Key individuals, including members of the Zimbabwean government, are responsible for actions that include looting government coffers and plundering Zimbabweans’ public resources,” Blinken said in a statement.
“Multiple cases of kidnapping, physical abuse and unlawful killings have left citizens living in fear.”
Mnangagwa, whose party has been in power for more than four decades, was declared the winner of a new term in August elections that international observers said fell short of democratic standards.
He is the second consecutive Zimbabwean leader to face U.S. sanctions, after veteran President Robert Mugabe.
Hopes of a thaw briefly emerged after Mnangagwa ousted Mugabe from power in 2017, but Western powers and rights groups say the new leadership has also suppressed opposition and protests.
President Joe Biden on Monday ended an earlier sanctions program against Zimbabwe in 2003 under George W. Bush, who had advocated for broader global sanctions under Mugabe, in a statement on Monday.
