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| (ANP/Damien Farrell) |
A group of
Dutch farmers who were forced off their land in Zimbabwe have launched a
campaign to force Harare to pay them compensation.
The group
lost their land between 2000 and 2002 when supporters of President Robert
Mugabe occupied white-owned farms in an often violent land redistribution
campaign. They did not receive any compensation which the group claimed was a
violation of the Investment Protection Agreement (IBO) which the Netherlands
had made with Zimbabwe.
Landmark
court case
They took
their case to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment
Disputes (ICSID), a Washington-based court which operates under the aegis of
the World Bank. The ICSID ruled in their favour in 2009 and ordered Zimbabwe to
pay them 8.8 million euros compensation, to be increased by ten percent for
each year since the land grab. The group are now entitled to a sum of more 23
million euros.
Broken
promise
The
Netherlands has been pressuring Zimbabwe over the past two years to fulfil its
international obligations. The Ministry of Economic Affairs appointed a special
envoy in 2010 who has since travelled regularly to Zimbabwe to negotiate with
government officials. Earlier this year, Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai
Biti promised to put forward a payment proposal. So far he has not honoured
this promise despite being asked to do so in a letter from the Dutch Foreign
Minister in August.
“We wanted
to take action earlier, but decided to wait for Biti’s proposal” the group’s
chairman Lion Benjamins told Dutch daily De Volkskrant. “But now we’re sick of
waiting, so have decided to take steps to show Zimbabwe we’re serious”.
Sanctions
The group
has launched a website and is lobbying European parliamentarians in an attempt
to ensure the EU refuses to lift its sanctions on Zimbabwe until the
compensation is paid. They also hope to persuade the Dutch government to use
its right of veto if Zimbabwe asks the Paris Club for debt relief. The Ministry
of Economic Affairs says it supports the farmers but is “not in a position to
take over the payment”.
The group
is also active in Great Britain, lobbying the government to release frozen
Mugabe regime assets in order to pay the compensation.
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