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 Home > News & Policies > November 2005

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 23, 2005

Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate

November 22, 2005

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order that amends Executive Order 13288 of March 6, 2003, and expands the authority for blocking property and interests in property.

Executive Order 13288 blocked the property of 77 persons responsible for hindering the democratic transition in Zimbabwe. It provided for the secondary designation of persons owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act, directly or indirectly, for or on behalf of any of the 77 persons listed in its Annex.

Since Executive Order 13288 was issued in March 2003, conditions in Zimbabwe have continued to deteriorate. The government continues to suppress opposition groups and civil society, undermine the independent media, ignore decisions by its courts, and refuse to enter into meaningful negotiations with other political actors. Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections in March 2005 were not free or fair. Recent demolitions of low income housing and informal markets have caused 700,000 people to lose their homes, jobs, or both. Additional measures are required to promote democratic change.

The new order adds primary designation authority to Executive Order 13288, as well as authority to designate immediate family members of, and those who provide support to, sanctioned persons. It also adds authority to determine that circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of property and interests in property of a person listed on the Annex. Specifically, the new order will allow the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to designate those who have engaged in actions or policies to undermine Zimbabwe's democratic processes or institutions, thus contributing to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Zimbabwe, to politically motivated violence and intimidation in that country, or to political and economic instability in the Southern African region. It will also allow for secondary designations of persons determined to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, such actions or policies or any persons sanctioned pursuant to Executive Order 13288, as amended (the "order"). It will further allow for the secondary designations of those persons who are or have been immediate family members of, or are owned or controlled by or acting for or on behalf of, any persons sanctioned pursuant to the order.

Accompanying the new order is an Annex that replaces and supersedes in its entirety the Annex to Executive Order 13288. This new Annex contains a revised list of persons whose property and interests in property are blocked by the President pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of the order, including key government and party officials and their family members.

The new order will provide needed flexibility as conditions in Zimbabwe evolve, allowing my Administration to more effectively utilize targeted sanctions to promote positive democratic change in Zimbabwe.

I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

Sincerely,

GEORGE W. BUSH

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