U.N. bodies warn of suffering over Zimbabwe aid ban

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. officials said on Friday the suffering of Zimbabwe's people would increase if Harare persisted in its ban on work by independent international aid groups, and called for the move to be rescinded.

President Robert Mugabe's government suspended all work by the aid groups on Thursday. It accuses some of them of campaigning for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai before a June 27 presidential election run-off.

A spokesman for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called the move by the Harare authorities an unconscionable act while the humanitarian affairs agency OCHA said it would have dramatic consequences.

In New York, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs head John Holmes denounced what he called a "deplorable decision," saying aid for at least 2 million Zimbabweans, especially children, would be severely restricted.

"I ... strongly urge the government to reconsider and rescind this decision as soon as possible," he said.

In Geneva, OCHA spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs told a news briefing: "If we don't have the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to work with, we cannot carry out the humanitarian operations that are essential for a large part of the population and it is the people who will suffer.

"It will have dramatic consequences for the people of Zimbabwe if they cannot receive aid. NGOs are key implementing partners of U.N. programs."

The U.N. agency for child protection, UNICEF, said any action preventing Zimbabwean children receiving "the aid that is planned and paid for" was a violation of child rights and international treaties.

Mugabe this week told an international food summit in Rome that Zimbabwe's problems were due to U.S. and British "neo-colonialism." Tsvangirai beat him in the first round vote in March but failed to get the outright majority need to win. He was detained for a few hours on Friday, the second time in a week.

"UNCONSCIONABLE ACT"

OCHA's Holmes implicitly rejected the Zimbabwe government's charges, declaring that NGOs were guided by "the principles of neutrality and impartiality."

Arbour spokesman Rupert Colville told the Geneva briefing the high commissioner, who has often angered Mugabe with criticism of his policies, was extremely concerned about developments in Zimbabwe.

The ban on NGOs "is an unconscionable act, and to deprive people of food because of an election is a perversion of democracy," he said.

Food shortages and a deterioration of Zimbabwe's infrastructure in recent years, leading to problems accessing clean water and medical facilities, brought the U.N. World Food Program and NGO's to the country to begin with.

Holmes said the effect of the ban would depend on how long it lasted.

"If it is three weeks during the election run-off campaign, well, that is a problem but it is a problem that can be dealt with," he said.

"If it becomes longer than that and if it becomes a more generalized ban then I think we would be in a more dramatic situation. But let's hope we don't get there."

Zimbabwe is suffering over 165,000 percent inflation, 80 percent unemployment and chronic food shortages in the wake of the collapse of its once prosperous agricultural sector.

"You have a situation, a very dire economy in Zimbabwe ... just finding the next meal is an extremely major exercise for a great many people," Kenneth Walker, Africa communications director for CARE International said in Johannesburg.

CARE, one of the biggest aid organizations in the world, is accused by Harare of political interference. It denies the charge.

(Additional reporting by Daniel Bases at the United Nations and Emelia Sithole-Matarise in Johannesburg)