The United States has placed on its sanctions list a former Zimbabwean army general who commanded troops accused of killing six civilians after a disputed election a year ago.
The listing of Anselem Sanyatwe signals U.S. frustration over the lack of accountability in the killings in the capital, Harare. He’s the first to be sanctioned over the crackdown and the first Zimbabwean official listed since the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe in 2017.
Soldiers were deployed to suppress a protest against delays in announcing results of Zimbabwe’s first election without Mugabe on the ballot.
Sanyatwe accused the opposition in the Aug. 1 killings. He later retired from the army and was appointed ambassador to Tanzania.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa had promised sweeping post-Mugabe reforms and re-engagement with the West.
