AFP

NZ government may ban Zimbabwe

New Zealand may ban a planned tour by the Zimbabwe cricket team scheduled for December because of "appalling abuses of human rights"

AFP
23-Jun-2005


Phil Goff: 'The Zimbabwe cricket team should not anticipate that it will be granted entry into New Zealand'
New Zealand may ban a planned tour by the Zimbabwe cricket team scheduled for December because of "appalling abuses of human rights" perpetrated by Robert Mugabe's government, Phil Goff, the country's foreign minister, has stated.
"The Zimbabwe cricket team should not anticipate that it will be granted entry into New Zealand," Goff said in a statement. "The imposition of a ban on the team would send a strong message to the Mugabe regime that New Zealanders and their government abhor the actions it is taking against its people."
Mugabe's government has been pulling down thousands of homes and businesses, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless in winter, according to the United Nations. The destruction targeting mostly poor areas has been condemned worlwide and follows March elections described as a sham by foreign governments. Goff said he had been advised Thursday of the planned tour by Zimbabwe and he had not yet had a chance to discuss it with the cabinet or get legal advice.
"However, given the current appalling abuses of human rights and relentless trend of the Zimbabwe government towards a dictatorship, the New Zealand government would not welcome a visit from a side representing Zimbabwe at this time." New Zealand Cricket officials were not available for comment. Martin Snedden, the NZC chief executive, and Sir John Anderson, the chairman, were on their way to London for the ICC annual meeting.
Earlier, Goff said the government had no legal way of stopping the scheduled tour by the New Zealand cricket team to Zimbabwe in August. Full strength Test and one-day squads for the tour were announced by NZC on Wednesday.
"Only a dictatorial, autocratic regime can stop New Zealanders from leaving their own country," Goff explained. "That's exactly what we're protesting about in terms of what Mugabe is doing."
Nevertheless, the government would prefer the tour not take place but NZC said that its players had unanimously agreed to embark on the five-week tour after an independent security report gave the all clear. Snedden told reporters that the team would be liable for a fine of more than $2 mllion under ICC rules if it pulled out.