US embassy cable - 04HARARE1309

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001309 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR AGALANEK 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVELLE, D. TEITELBAUM 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, ZI 
SUBJECT: A TALE OF TWO VICTIMS 
 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Bianca Menendez for reason 1.5 d 
 
1. SUMMARY: Although the media only reports political 
violence occasionally,  most often when it occurs against a 
prominent individual, Zimbabwe continues to suffer from a 
steady level of unreported violence that often is devastating 
to the victims. The opposition is unable to protect its 
people, and the police often refuse to. Even the judiciary is 
ineffectual in protecting either side from the effects. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
GEORGE'S TALE 
------------------------- 
 
2. (C) George, a former employee of the postal service and a 
district level organizing secretary for the opposition MDC, 
came to the Embassy July 27 hoping for help. According to 
George, his difficulties began one night when he opened his 
door to a group of ZANU-PF youths brandishing sticks and iron 
bars. He slammed his door shut and screamed for help as the 
group surrounded his home and began breaking the windows. He 
escaped from the house, leaving his sisters and young brother 
behind, and ran to a neighbor who phoned the police. The 
police finally showed up at 2 am, by which point both he and 
one of his sisters had been assaulted, and his house had been 
looted and nearly demolished. The youths left only a shell of 
the structure standing. Anything valuable was taken; 
everything else was destroyed. George made a formal report to 
the police and even identified some of his attackers, but the 
police never followed up. 
 
3. (C) George has since given up his job, after receiving 
thinly veiled threats from the postmaster general that the 
postal service did not employ MDC supporters. As a result, 
he, his wife and children, and his sisters and brothers, all 
of whom he was supporting, are now living with other 
relatives. He went to his party for help. Officials took his 
report and informed him that they had no funds to assist. 
Post referred him to staff at the International Committee of 
the Red Cross, who said they could lead him to the right 
resources to get assistance. 
 
BOB MAKONE'S TALE 
--------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) ZWNews reported on July 26 that Bob Makone, brother of 
senior MDC official Ian Makone and brother-in-law of MDC 
candidate for Parliament Theresa Makone, was abducted and 
tortured. According to the article, he was abducted by 
ZANU-PF youths, taken to a rally held by Minister of 
Education Aeneas Chigwedere, then tortured overnight before 
being released the next day. The same youths returned to the 
Makone home to threaten his sister-in-law with death for 
planning to run for Parliament. 
 
COMMENT 
---------------- 
 
5. (C) Bob Makone's story exemplifies the kind of political 
violence that is reported in what remains of the independent 
press here. Although these stories appear with alarming 
regularity, they represent only an unknown fraction of the 
systemic background violence against people like George. 
Violence against these people has a lasting effect on entire 
families, because they often cannot rebuild what they have 
lost. The extended family is also taxed to help care for the 
victims who, like George, may find themselves out of a job. 
Some may find that the cost of their support for the 
opposition is too high to be worthwhile, and cease political 
participation completely. 
 
6. (SBU) Political violence here generally is not lethal. 
NGOs tracking political violence have recorded only three 
political murders this year, ten last year. Political murders 
in 2002, the last year with a national election, exceeded 
200, which raises concerns over the possibility of escalating 
violence in the coming months as the 2005 parliamentary 
elections approach. Nonetheless, perpetrators of violence 
here seem to calculate that their advantage is maximized by 
having victims live to spread the word about the consequences 
of opposing the ruling party. 
 
7. (C) With scant resources, the MDC can not help its own 
members and officials who are victims of such violence. The 
police refuse to respond and protect MDC members, and the 
courts prove ineffectual in cases involving political 
violence. The lesson to the population at large is one of the 
opposition's main handicaps: activism for the MDC can bring 
pain and ruin with little prospect for reward. 
 
8. (C) MDC youths, many of whom are impatient with their 
leaders' attempts to work within the system and negotiate 
with ZANU-PF, and who are tired of seeing the kind of 
violence directed at people like George, represent an 
important constituency of the MDC. If levels of ruling party 
intimidation increase, as is expected in the run-up to the 
elections scheduled for March, the MDC leadership may find it 
harder to keep a lid on a latent impetus for violence among 
many rank and file. 
WEISENFELD