[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2779 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.2779
One Hundred Fifteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen
An Act
To amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Amendment Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. RECONSTRUCTION AND REBUILDING OF ZIMBABWE.
Section 2 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note; Public Law 107-99) is amended by striking
``and restore the rule of law'' and inserting ``restore the rule of
law, reconstruct and rebuild Zimbabwe, and come to terms with the past
through a process of genuine reconciliation that acknowledges past
human rights abuses and orders inquiries into disappearances, including
the disappearance of human rights activists, such as Patrick Nabanyama,
Itai Dzamara, and Paul Chizuze''.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Section 4(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``costly deployment of troops
to the Democratic Republic of the Congo'' and inserting ``private
appropriation of public assets''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) In October 2016, the Government of Zimbabwe cleared a
small hurdle in its longstanding public sector arrears with the
IMF.''.
SEC. 4. PROVISIONS RELATED TO MULTILATERAL DEBT RELIEF AND OTHER
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.
Section 4(b)(2) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act
of 2001 is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``to propose that the bank
should undertake a review of the feasibility of restructuring,
rescheduling, or eliminating the sovereign debt of Zimbabwe held by
that bank'' and inserting ``to support efforts to reevaluate plans
to restructure, rebuild, reschedule, or eliminate Zimbabwe's
sovereign debt held by that bank and provide an analysis based on
reasonable financial options to achieve those goals''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``dollar'' and inserting
``currency''.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE UNITED STATES-ZIMBABWE BILATERAL
RELATIONSHIP.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States should seek to
forge a stronger bilateral relationship with Zimbabwe, including in the
areas of trade and investment, if the following conditions are
satisfied:
(1) The Government of Zimbabwe takes the concrete, tangible
steps outlined in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 4(d) of the
Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, as amended by
section 6 of this Act.
(2) The Government of Zimbabwe takes concrete, tangible steps
towards--
(A) good governance, including respect for the opposition,
rule of law, and human rights;
(B) economic reforms that promote growth, address
unemployment and underdevelopment, restore livelihoods, ensure
respect for contracts and private property rights, and promote
significant progress toward monetary policy reforms,
particularly with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and currency
exchange reforms; and
(C) identification and recovery of stolen private and
public assets within Zimbabwe and in other countries.
(3) The Government of Zimbabwe holds an election that is widely
accepted as free and fair, based on the following pre- and post-
election criteria or conditions:
(A) Establishment and public release, without cost, of a
provisional and a final voter registration roll.
(B) The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is permitted to
entirely carry out the functions assigned to it under section
239 of Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution in an independent manner,
and the chairperson meets and consults regularly with
representatives of political parties represented in the
parliament of Zimbabwe and the parties contesting the
elections.
(C) Consistent with Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution, the
Defence Forces of Zimbabwe--
(i) are neither permitted to actively participate in
campaigning for any candidate nor to intimidate voters;
(ii) are required to verifiably and credibly uphold
their constitutionally-mandated duty to respect the
fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons and to be
nonpartisan in character; and
(iii) are not permitted to print, transfer, or control
ballots or transmit the results of elections.
(D) International observers, including observers from the
United States, the African Union, the Southern African
Development Community, and the European Union--
(i) are permitted to observe the entire electoral
process prior to, on, and following voting day, including
by monitoring polling stations and tabulation centers; and
(ii) are able to independently access and analyze vote
tallying tabulation and the transmission and content of
voting results.
(E) Candidates are allowed access to public broadcasting
media during the election period, consistent with Zimbabwe's
Electoral Act and are able to campaign in an environment that
is free from intimidation and violence.
(F) Civil society organizations are able to freely and
independently carry out voter and civic education and monitor
the entire electoral process, including by observing,
recording, and transmitting publicly-posted or announced voting
results at the ward, constituency, and all higher levels of the
vote tallying process.
(4) Laws enacted prior to the passage of Zimbabwe's March 2013
Constitution that are inconsistent with the new Constitution are
amended, repealed, or subjected to a formal process for review and
correction so that such laws are consistent with the new
Constitution.
(5) The Government of Zimbabwe--
(A) has made significant progress on the implementation of
all elements of the new Constitution; and
(B) has demonstrated its commitment to sustain such efforts
in achieving full implementation of the new Constitution.
(6) Traditional leaders of Zimbabwe observe section 281 of the
2013 Constitution and are not using humanitarian assistance
provided by outside donor organizations or countries in a
politicized manner to intimidate or pressure voters during the
campaign period.
SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.
Section 4(d) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``consistent with'' and all
that follows through ``September 1998'';
(2) by striking paragraph (4); and
(3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (4).
SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF AUTHORITY TO PAY LAND ACQUISITION COSTS.
Section 5(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``, including the payment of
costs'' and all that follows through ``thereto; and'' and inserting
a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) identify and recover stolen public assets.''.
SEC. 8. INCLUSION OF AUSTRALIA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE AFRICAN UNION,
AND THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IN CONSULTATIONS ABOUT
ZIMBABWE.
Section 6 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of
2001 is amended by inserting ``Australia, the United Kingdom, the
African Union, the Southern African Development Community,'' after
``Canada,''.
SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENFORCEMENT OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TRIBUNAL RULINGS.
It is the sense of Congress that the Government of Zimbabwe and the
Southern African Development Community (referred to in this section as
``SADC'') should enforce the SADC tribunal rulings issued between 2007
to 2010, including 18 disputes involving employment, commercial, and
human rights cases surrounding dispossessed Zimbabwean commercial
farmers and agricultural companies.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.