jonathan carter

To sanction or not to sanction

// July 13th, 2008 // Politics, Project Mayhem

Jeremy Thurgood recently stated a question regarding the sanctions against Zimbabwe:

Have a look at the following BBC news article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7503135.stm

Now consider this. South Africa had sanctions imposed (and rightly so) because a legally elected government was oppressing part of its population. Zimbabwe doesn’t have sanctions imposed because an illegal government is oppressing all of its population?

This whole thing makes me sick and is a reminder of why I should stay as far from politics as I possibly can.

I tentatively think that not apposing sanctions against Zimbabwe was the right thing to do. Saying it tentatively may appear a bit cowardly, but I can’t really say that I have enough insight into the situation to make a clear decision, for example, I can’t really find information on exactly which kind of sanctions have been proposed. What leads me to this view is, in South Africa, in the Apartheid era, it was a minority that oppressed a very large group of people. Even though the government at the time was legally voted, according to our laws at the time, it doesn’t meant that it was moral. I don’t think the issue of whether the government was legally elected or not is really the issue here. I think the issue here is that the people in Zimbabwe have no real freedom, they are suffering under a cruel dictatorship.

I think the real issue here is who it would hurt if sanctions would be ruled against the country. First of all, who would it hurt most if sanctions would be placed? I think it will put the people of Zimbabwe in a horrible situation. They may lose access to medical equipment and services, food, educational content and more. I doubt that the Zimbabwean government cares much if their people will be deprived of day-to-day necessaties (judging by their activities in recent years), so sanctions would just be a terrible idea in my opinion. In the South African context, the sanctions mostly hurt the elite and rich oppressors. It sent a strong international message, I agree that it was indeed necessary at the time. I don’t think it’s the wisest thing for Zimbabwe right now though. I respect the opinions of people who feel otherwise, but if it was my vote, I would also vote against the sanctions.