US embassy cable - 03HARARE2045

UNCLAS HARARE 002045 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ELAB, PGOV, PHUM, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZCTU DETAINEES RELEASED 
 
REF: A. HARARE 2035 
     B. 2002 HARARE 2784 
 
1.  Labor contacts report that most of the detained Zimbabwe 
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) supporters (ref A) were 
released without spending the night in jail.  In Harare, out 
of forty-one detainees, twenty signed admissions of guilt and 
paid a $5,000 (US$.88) fine.  The remainder of the Harare 
contingent, including senior leaders President Lovemore 
Matombo and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe, refused to 
sign an admission of guilt, and were told to report to the 
courthouse this morning.  The courts are currently hearing 
their cases, and ZCTU expects charges to be brought under the 
Public Order and Security Act (POSA).  Initial reports from 
other areas also indicate that few (if any) labor unionists 
were kept in jail overnight. 
 
2.  The contacts also report that this was never intended to 
be a stayaway or mass action, but simply a labor-led protest 
at the deteriorating conditions facing most Zimbabweans.  The 
ZCTU planned to march to the Ministry of Finance to express 
frustration with the constant shortages and increasing 
burdens (including the income-tax creep which is placing many 
of the lowest-paid Zimbabweans in 20 to 35 percent tax 
brackets).  Due to the demise of the independent newspaper 
The Daily News, the protest had little advance public 
warning, although labor groups had printed their own 
broadsides listing their grievances. 
 
3.  Comment.  The ZCTU believes that the instantaneous 
response from international labor supporters was key in 
gaining quick release for this group.  When Chibebe was 
arrested last December (also under POSA charges which were 
never supported), he was kept incommunicado for days, moved 
from one filthy cell to another, and beaten by his captors 
(ref B).  The public uproar over those actions seemed to take 
the GOZ by surprise, and may have changed the rules of 
engagement.  This time, he was released within hours.  The 
ZCTU has long been adamant that some public challenge to the 
status quo must be issued.  While placing its leaders on the 
front lines and setting them up for arrest was not the 
expected strategy, it has certainly garnered a lot of 
attention -- despite the lack of an independent daily 
newspaper.  End comment. 
WHITEHEAD