December 12th Movement

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Blacks Protest Illegal U.S. Sanctions on Zimbabwe at UNGA

Black human rights organizations from across the country have launched a massive campaign to “End the Illegal United States Sanctions on Zimbabwe!”   Masses of protesters are expected to converge on the streets of mid-town Manhattan during the week of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019.

The principal organizers of the protests are members of the December 12th Movement International Secretariat. “In the spirit of the recent Summit of the 16 Heads of State of the Southern African Development Community, who proclaimed solidarity in defense of Zimbabwe and vowed to simultaneously take actions to end the illegal sanctions in their respective countries; we will set our protest actions off here in New York City on Saturday, September 21.  We will assemble on 53rd St and Lexington Ave at 12 noon,” movement spokesman Kamau Brown explained.

“Let it be known that African people around the world are fighting in Pan African unity to end the U.S. sanctions on Zimbabwe.  We all must stand in defense of the national sovereignty of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and self-determination for all of Africa. Sanctions kill! They are Western weapons of greed, destruction and death. U.S. hands off Zimbabwe!”

For more information contact the December 12th Movement / Friends of Zimbabwe at 718-398-1766 / D12M.com / #liftZsanctions.

SADC Solidarity on Ending Illegal Sanctions on Zimbabwe

By Amadi Ajamu

On August 18, the 39th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit of the Heads of State and Government held in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, declared October 25, 2019 – A Day of Solidarity to Lift the Illegal Sanctions Imposed on Zimbabwe. The 16 member states of SADC have resolved to conduct actions in their countries to vigorously work toward this objective.

The SADC Secretariat is reaching out to the African Union chairperson, Egyptian President Abdel Fatthah el-Sisi to push anti-sanctions issue for support by the AU and for it to be discussed at the 74th United Nations General Assembly in September 2019.  As Executive Director, Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax stated at the summit, “The embargo is militating against economic growth in both Zimbabwe and the region.”

Omowale Clay, spokesman of the December 12th International Secretariat, based in New York said, “We are clear that this powerful show of solidarity and action by SADC helps to expose the lie that sanctions on Zimbabwe only targeted individuals rather than their real purpose to crash their economy in the hopes of fostering ‘regime change’.”

“These sanctions have challenged the economic growth of Zimbabwe by cutting off its foreign trade, and as a result, created a shortage of foreign currency which compromises government’s’ ability to acquire life sustaining necessities such as medicines, water purification equipment, heavy industrial equipment, fuel, and many other necessities – sanctions kill!”

 After the fight for independence from the British (Rhodesian) colonizers in 1980, over 80 percent of the arable land was still held by settlers who were less than 5 percent of the population. In 1998, Zimbabwe enacted its land reform program and the land was finally returned to indigenous Zimbabweans who fought and died for it. The ZDERA sanctions implement by the U.S. violate international laws protecting national sovereignty. ZDERA falsely states that the small, landlocked nation of Zimbabwe is a ‘threat to the national security of the United States’. The US sanctions must end now. It is a matter of life and death.

This bold and united action by SADC on October 25th will help mobilize Africa and the Pan-African community against the criminal intent of sanctions – a western weapon against the self-determination of developing countries and further expose western efforts at re-colonization”, Clay concluded.

Incoming SADC Chair, Tanzanian President Dr. John Magufuli stated in his closing remarks to the summit, “we are all aware, this brotherly and sisterly country has been on sanctions for a long time. These sanctions have not only affected the people of Zimbabwe and their government but our entire region”.

On Saturday, September 21, 2019, the December 12th Movement will lead a March and Rally to End the Sanctions in Zimbabwe at the 74th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on 47th Street and First Avenue, NYC.

All 193 Member States of the United Nations are represented in this unique forum to discuss and work together on international issues covered by the UN Charter, such as development, peace and security, international law, etc. 

For more information please call the December 12th Movement at (718) 398-1766 or D12M.com.