Canada criticizes Commonwealth over Zimbabwe’s bid to rejoin, stirring deep divides

By the Globe and Mail

An attempt to bring Zimbabwe back into the Commonwealth has split the 56-country organization, sparking deep concerns or outright opposition from two of its founding members.

Canadian officials have told The Globe and Mail they are unhappy with the process followed by the Commonwealth Secretariat in its bid to promote Zimbabwe’s readmission, more than two decades after the African country was suspended for human rights abuses and farm seizures.

Britain, meanwhile, is declaring publicly that Zimbabwe is not ready to rejoin the association. But many African governments are strongly backing the proposal, exposing the divisions emerging on the issue.

Canada has “serious concerns” about Zimbabwe’s human rights record and the Secretariat’s decision to push ahead with Zimbabwe’s potential return to the Commonwealth despite a lack of any recent evidence of free or fair elections, Global Affairs spokesperson Clémence Grevey told The Globe and Mail in a response to e-mailed questions.

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth in 2002, but President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced in 2018 that he would seek readmission as part of a broader campaign to boost Zimbabwe’s prospects of luring international investors and lenders.

The Commonwealth, according to its charter, promotes the principles of “free and democratic societies.” But in recent years it has admitted countries such as Rwanda, Gabon and Togo – authoritarian states with poor records on human rights and democracy. The readmission of Zimbabwe, which has imprisoned opposition politicians and held widely criticized elections, would reinforce this trend.

A team of Commonwealth observers who monitored Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections concluded that the elections had deficiencies that call into question their legitimacy.

In a 108-page report, which was withheld from publication for most of this year until finally being released last month, the Commonwealth observers said they were unable to endorse the elections because of problems that were “significant enough to severely affect” their credibility.

Even an observer team from the regional bloc, the Southern African Development Community, broke from its traditional support for Zimbabwe and openly criticized the fairness of the elections last year.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change, has said the Commonwealth bid should be rejected because of the government’s “gross violations” of democracy and human rights, including tainted elections, voter intimidation and manipulation by the election commission.

Despite the strong criticism of Zimbabwe’s elections, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland circulated a confidential report to member states in October, arguing that the country has made “remarkable democratic progress” and would “flourish once again” if it is readmitted to the Commonwealth.

The 52-page report, seen by The Globe, acknowledges that Zimbabwe still has “challenges” on issues such as political prisoners, repression of civil society and restrictions on political activity. But an “overwhelming number” of Commonwealth member states believe readmission would help Zimbabwe to improve its democratic processes, it says.

After circulating this report, Ms. Scotland set a deadline of Nov. 26 for member states to give their views on Zimbabwe’s request to rejoin the Commonwealth. If there were no objections, she said, she would invite Zimbabwe to make a formal application, the final stage before rejoining.

While Canada did not formally object, the federal government “registered its serious concerns regarding the human rights situation in Zimbabwe as well as the process in which this request was undertaken directly with the Commonwealth Secretariat,” Ms. Grevey said.

She said Canada requested a meeting of the Secretariat’s board of governors as soon as possible, for Canada to share its concerns about the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

Asked for details of Ottawa’s specific concerns, she noted that Ms. Scotland’s report was based on assessment visits to Zimbabwe in 2022 – many months before the latest election. The report by the Commonwealth election observers essentially concluded that the elections were “neither free nor fair,” she said.

“There was a reasonable expectation that the Commonwealth Secretariat should have provided members with an additional report based on recent observations, for members to consider as part of the application process,” Ms. Grevey said.

As part of its application process, Zimbabwe needs to demonstrate to all Commonwealth members that it has made progress, and will continue to make progress, on implementing the recommendations of the Commonwealth election observer reports from its 2018 and 2023 elections, she said.

Britain, meanwhile, has taken an even stronger stand against the Zimbabwe application.

“Currently we do not share the Secretariat’s assessment of Zimbabwe’s progress or readiness in line with the shared values and principles laid out in the Commonwealth Charter,” Lord Collins of Highbury, the minister for Africa in the British Foreign Office, said in reply to a question in the House of Lords this month.

“Whilst we recognize there has been progress, we believe further steps are needed on democracy, governance and human rights before Zimbabwe makes a formal application to rejoin the Commonwealth,” he said.

He said Britain supports the recommendations of the Commonwealth election observer group, and he called for a further assessment mission to Zimbabwe next year.

In effect, the British government’s statement has temporarily ended Zimbabwe’s bid for readmission, since its application would require unanimous support from member states. But the process can be revived at any time.

“Our process is multi-tiered, consensus-driven and involves all member countries,” said Charmaine Wright, a spokesperson for the Commonwealth Secretariat.

“This process is not time-bound, allowing for thorough consideration and deliberation,” she told The Globe. “We respect the right of our 56 nations to have their own opinions and will not comment on them.”

In the final stage of an application, any country that wants to join the Commonwealth must provide “evidence of a functioning democratic process and popular support in that country for joining the Commonwealth,” she said.