US embassy cable - 03HARARE1887

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001887 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF FOR A/S KANSTEINER AND PDAS SNYDER; AF/S FOR 
DELISI AND RAYNOR; AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
GUATEMALA CITY FOR DCM WHARTON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KPAO, KMDR, ZI, Media and Communications 
SUBJECT: GOZ UPS THE ANTE ON CLOSURE OF ONLY INDEPENDENT 
DAILY NEWSPAPER 
 
Classified By: JPolacheck for reasons 1.5 b/d 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY  In the span of six days, from September 11 to 
16, the GOZ has gone from declaring The Daily News (TDN) 
illegal (9/11; ref a), to occupying and shutting down TDN 
operations (9/12; ref b), to accepting TDN registration under 
the onerous Access to Information and Privacy Protection Act 
(AIPPA) (9/15), to finally raiding the offices and seizing 
tangible assets of the company (9/16; ref c).  After the 
September 11 Supreme Court ruling, all GOZ actions occurred 
without warrants, courts orders, etc.  Simultaneously, 
President Mugabe reportedly told the South African 
Vice-President that he was unaware these police actions and 
implied that the situation would be rectified.  Executives 
with TDN are divided as to what course of action to take. 
END SUMMARY 
 
Hope springs eternal 
----------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU)  Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) CEO Sam 
Nkomo told mission personnel on September 15 that TDN would 
be back on the streets by the next day as they felt they had 
complied with the Supreme Court ruling.  Earlier that 
morning, Gugulethu Moyo, legal counsel for ANZ, went to the 
Media and Information Commission (MIC) to attempt to register 
ANZ as a media company as required under section 66 of AIPPA. 
 Public comments were made by the MIC chairman stating that 
there was no point in ANZ "approaching MIC with dirty hands," 
a reference to the earlier court case during which ANZ had 
not registered with the MIC while challenging AIPPA on 
constitutional grounds.  Despite this, Moyo was treated 
professionally at the MIC while successfully filing a 
preliminary request for registration.  AIPPA stipulates that 
once a request for registration is submitted, the media house 
is legally entitled to operate while the request was pending. 
 TDN thus expected to be allowed back into their premises, 
which were occupied by armed police, and to recommence 
publication immediately. 
 
3. (C) Criminal charges against Nkomo for running an illegal 
company were not filed on the 15th as expected, which Moyo 
said gave hope for a negotiated settlement.  Another reason 
for hope was that Nkomo heard from the ANZ owner, based in 
SA, that Vice-President Jacob Zuma of South Africa called 
Mugabe regarding the actions against TDN and that Mugabe 
reportedly claimed not to have known about the impending 
action and assured the GOSA that TDN will be allowed to 
operate again. 
 
You can't get a flock of chickens to run straight 
------------------------------ 
 
4. (SBU)  Editor-in-Chief of ANZ, Francis Mdlongwa told 
emboffs on September 15 that he resigned earlier that day 
over a long-standing dispute with Nkomo over chain of command 
issues.  He revealed that in an emergency executive meeting 
of the ANZ held September 10 to discuss the Supreme Court 
ruling declaring their operations illegal, Nkomo was the lone 
voice in favor of immediately registering with the MIC. 
Mdlongwa voiced unrelenting opposition to registration, 
arguing it would force TDN journalists to register as well. 
Individual registration is especially oppressive in this 
environment because it requires a declaration of one's 
political affiliation.  Regardless, he claimed the parting 
with Nkomo was cordial and that he would continue to consult 
with ANZ as needed, but not in a capacity which required him 
to register.  This contradicted the account of his 
resignation which played on the front page of the government 
controlled "The Herald" on September 16. 
 
Hope takes a cold shower 
----------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  Mdlongwa then talked of the closure of TDN as a 
result of "orders coming straight from Jonathan (note, 
Jonathan Moyo, Minister for Information and day-to-day 
controller of GOZ-owned media outlets, end note)...but Moyo 
can't act without consulting with Mugabe."  He then said that 
the GOZ was "going to the wire...testing public opinion in 
Zimbabwe and the world."  He then claimed the GOZ would only 
get "more repressive everyday and every hour." 
 
Listen to the pessimists 
------------------------ 
 
6. (C)  A routine phone call to Gugu Moyo the morning of 
September 16, revealed that the police were at the offices of 
TDN and were in the process of packing and removing all the 
assets of ANZ that weren't nailed down.  Under the guise of 
negotiation, the police invited Nkomo and Moyo to TDN 
offices.  On arrival, it was clear to Moyo that negotiations 
were not taking place that day, as the police arrived with 
the special weapons Law and Order Maintenance unit and with 
riot police.  Moyo reports the police said they were to take 
all the assets of the illegal company.  Upon asking for a 
warrant, court order, etc., she was told "if you want a 
warrant, we'll just arrest you for resisting our operation." 
At that point, Nkomo left to see counsel to initiate an 
urgent injunction preventing the police from proceeding. 
Evening consultations with Moyo indicated that the injunction 
was filed and yet the police were continuing to cart off big 
ticket items such as computers.  According to TDN technical 
staff, as long as the police do not begin tearing up the 
wiring, TDN could be back on the streets using laptops. 
 
Who's next? 
-------------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  While attempting to document the events of the 
16th, two photographers, for AFP and Reuters, fully 
accredited with the MIC, were detained and their cameras 
reportedly confiscated.  The September 16-edition of the 
government-controlled "The Herald," in the article covering 
on TDN crisis said "It also emerged yesterday that the Media 
Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe Chapter (an NGO 
concerned with press freedom and professionalism, end note) 
which was making the most noise was also not registered and 
was operating illegally."  MISA officials expressed concern 
that they were next. 
 
8. (C)  COMMENT:  What began as a small government victory in 
the running court battles between GOZ and the rest of society 
quickly exploded into a full scale attack on the government's 
most consistent critic.  There is no doubt that Min. J. Moyo 
would have liked to have done this months ago, and was 
waiting for the slimmest legal pretext.  The Herald swipe at 
MISA appears to indicate that Min. Moyo may use AIPPA to 
launch his long-awaited pogrom against the independent print 
media and its supporters.  We find it difficult to envision 
that Moyo has kept Mugabe in the dark about these matters. 
More likely, the GOZ is measuring the international reaction 
and whether it can get away with keeping TDN shut down with 
or without legal pretext.  We urge the Department to the 
maintain strong public position and to interact with other 
governments and media watchdog institutes to build pressure 
against repressive GOZ actions. 
SULLIVAN