HARARE, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zimbabwe has accused the US of fanning divisions after travel sanctions were imposed on its ambassador to Tanzania, an ex-presidential guard who allegedly commanded troops who killed six civilians in a post-election protest last year.
Anselem Sanyatwe is the first Zimbabwean official to be put on the US sanctions list since Robert Mugabe was forced to step down as president in November 2017. The diplomat and his wife are now barred from travelling to the US.
“It is our position that sanctions imposed on our country are illegal and any escalation of the same is counterproductive,” said Zimbabwe government spokesman Nick Mangwana in a statement.
The US said it had “credible information” that Sanyatwe was involved in the violent crackdown on Aug 1, 2018 and that the government of Zimbabwe had “held no member of the security forces accountable for the acts of violence”.
A US State Department spokesperson tweeted that the decision had been taken on the first anniversary of the shootings.
Mugabe’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa – who narrowly won the July 30, 2018 disputed vote – set up an independent commission to look into the shootings in the capital, Harare, which took place two days after the vote.
It found that the army had acted disproportionately when it fired on fleeing demonstrators, but it blamed some opposition figures for inciting the violence.
It recommended the government pay compensation to the families of the victims and to the dozens of people who were also injured in the protests. — NNN-AGENCIES