Jul 6, 2005, 1:38 GMT
Wellington - The New Zealand government has formally asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ban Zimbabwe from its touring schedule because of appalling human rights abuses taking place there, Foreign Minister Phil Goff said Wednesday.
He also revealed that New Zealand and Australia were sending a message about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe to the G8 meeting in Scotland, but gave no details about its contents.
The New Zealand cricket team is scheduled to play a series in August in Zimbabwe. The Wellington government opposes the tour but has said it cannot stop the players from going.
Goff released the text of a letter he has sent to ICC President Ehsan Mani, stating: "We are gravely concerned for the wellbeing of the people of Zimbabwe, and believe that it is extremely difficult to justify sporting tours going ahead in such circumstances.
"Since early June, over 200,000 people have had their homes and livelihoods destroyed by the government of Zimbabwe. This came on top of an already bad situation in the country. The government has been systematically undermining the rule of law, the independence of the media and the judiciary, and committing violence against its citizens."
Cricket officials say that under ICC rules, the New Zealand team would have to pay 2 million U.S. dollars to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union to cancel the tour.
"New Zealand Cricket may therefore be forced into a situation of having to tour Zimbabwe even if its members have moral objections to having to play cricket, while just kilometres from the grounds people are having their homes destroyed and their basic human rights abused," Goff said in the letter.
"We believe that the ICC cannot ignore these gross abuses as if they were not happening."
He urged the body to exclude tours to Zimbabwe and by the Zimbabwean team while the situation continues.
Goff said that Australia supported New Zealand's submission, and the two neighbours called on other countries to endorse it.
The New Zealand government has said it will ban the Zimbabwe team from making a scheduled return tour of New Zealand at the end of the year.
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