US embassy cable - 02HARARE1806

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001806 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2012 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, ZI 
SUBJECT: MUGABE TURNS UP HEAT ON OPPOSITION 
 
Classified By: Political section chief Matt Harrington.  Reasons: 1.5 ( 
B) and (D). 
 
Summary 
-------- 
 
1. (C) The Zimbabwean government has stepped up its 
harassment of the MDC leadership, arresting the national 
treasurer in the hospital as he recuperated from major eye 
surgery, and raiding Morgan Tsvangirai's home in an alleged 
search for arms of war and subversive materials.  In 
addition, the Home Affairs Minister has threatened to 
confiscate the passports of opposition party members and 
other Zimbabweans he accused of lobbying for the 
international imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe.  It is 
clear from these recent developments that the country's 
continuing political crisis and consequent economic implosion 
are driving ZANU-PF further into a corner, leading the ruling 
party to intensify its internal repression and to lash out at 
perceived enemies.  End Summary. 
 
Dulini-Ncube Arrested 
----------------------- 
 
2. (c) On August 3,  MDC national treasurer and Member of 
Parliament Fletcher Dulini- Ncube was arrested in connection 
with the 2001 murder of war veteran Cain Nkala, the latest 
chapter of an unfortunate saga. High Court Judge Justice 
George Chiweshe ruled on August 1 that the State had 
presented sufficient evidence against Dulini-Ncube to warrant 
his indictment, and effectively reversed an earlier High 
Court decision to grant bail.  Plainclothes police officers 
wasted little time in arresting Dulini-Ncube at a Bulawayo 
hospital where he was recovering from major surgery -- the 
removal of one of his eyes. The MDC treasurer was kept in a 
police cell for six hours before his lawyer was able to 
convince the authorities that he required urgent medical 
attention.  Dulini-Ncube was then allowed to return to the 
hospital, where he remains, but police have  posted 24- hour 
guards in his hospital room. Dulini-Ncube is set to appear in 
the Bulawayo Magistrate,s Court on August 6 to be formally 
indicted. 
 
3. (C) Dulini-Ncube, who is a diabetic in very poor health, 
spent several weeks in detention in November 2001, shortly 
after the murder.  He was denied access to adequate medical 
care and his strict diet, which damaged his eyesight.  After 
significant pressure was brought to bear, including by AF 
Assistant Secretary Secretary Kansteiner in a December 2001 
meeting with Speaker of Parliament and ZANU-PF Secretary for 
Administration Emmerson Mnangagwa, Dulini-Ncube was released 
on bail.  Since that time, he has dutifully complied with his 
bail conditions, including reporting twice a week to the 
police station, so Judge Chiweshe's August 1 ruling was 
suprising.  Josphat Tsuma, Dulini-Ncube's lawyer, told poloff 
on August 5 that the police had insisted it was necessary to 
keep Dulini-Ncube in custody this time, despite the fact that 
he was in a great deal of pain and needed constant medical 
monitoring, so that he could be escorted to court for the 
formal indictment.  The trial has been set for November 11, 
and some senior MDC officials have confided to us that they 
doubt whether Dulini-Ncube can survive another three months 
in prison. 
 
4.  (C) Comment: Considering that Dulini-Ncube has complied 
with his bail conditions for more than nine months and could 
in no way be considered a flight risk, the police action 
appears heavy handed and purely intimidatory.  It is widely 
believed that the Nkala murder was committed by rival ZANU-PF 
supporters and war veterans, and that the government has 
sought to frame the MDC.  As far as we are aware, the only 
evidence against Dulini-Ncube and the two other defendants 
(who are MDC activists) is a confession by the two supposed 
murderers, who later recanted, saying their confessions had 
been extracted under police torture.  Nkala's widow witnessed 
his abduction but has not been permitted to recount in public 
her version of events nor to identify those responsible.  It 
is clear that ZANU-PF is not interested in bringing to 
justice the real perpetrators, but rather in using the murder 
as a convenient opportunity to increase its pressure on a key 
MDC leader (one of only a handful who know the details of the 
party's funding sources), seriously damaging his health and 
draining the financially-strapped party of yet more legal 
fees. 
 
Tsvangirai's house searched 
 
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--------------------------- 
 
5. (C) On Sunday, August 4 -- the day after Dulini-Ncube's 
detention -- heavily-armed police, some in riot gear, 
searched the home of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.  They 
first produced a warrant authorizing a search for arms of 
war, subversive materials, and illegal immigrants.  Not 
surprisingly, they found none of the above, but took away 
several documents Tsvangirai described as "news items," and 
confiscated the pickup truck used by his special advisor, 
Gandi Mudzingwa.  Tsvangirai criticized the search as 
"desperation of the worst kind,"  and asked "who in his right 
senses would keep arms of war, subversive materials or 
so-called illegal immigrants in his home?"  Mudzingwa 
surmised to us that the search might presage an 
intensification of harassment against the MDC leadership, and 
said the party needed to brace itself. 
 
Passports to be Seized 
---------------------- 
 
6.  (C) When the Politburo's wheelchair-bound deputy 
secretary for the handicapped, Joshua Malinga, was barred 
 
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entry to the United Kingdom in late July because of the EU 
travel ban, ZANU-PF's propaganda machinery kicked into high 
gear.  Information Minister Jonathan Moyo accused the British 
government of "going bananas" and harassing disabled people 
who required assistance, and he warned that perhaps it was 
time for the GOZ to draw up its own list of foreign visitors 
to be denied entry to Zimbabwe (a position that Foreign 
Minister Mudenge and other officials have since repudiated). 
In more worrisome remarks apparently aimed at the MDC, 
Minister for Home Affairs John Nkomo said the GOZ was 
contemplating revoking the passports of those Zimbabweans who 
had allegedly campaigned abroad for the imposition of 
sanctions against Zimbabwe.  Having a Zimbabwean passport is 
not a right but a privilege, Nkomo insisted.  Mudzingwa told 
us that his party's leadership had interpreted Nkomo's 
comments as a sign that the passports of key leaders would be 
confiscated imminently.  He noted that the passports of 
Tsvangirai,  Secretary-General Welshman Ncube, and shadow 
 
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agriculture minister Renson Gasela had already been seized 
pending their trial on (contrived) treason charges in 
November.  The likely next targets are Vice-President Gibson 
Sibanda and Deputy Secretary-General Gift Chimanikire. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
7.  (C) The Mugabe government's gut reaction to Zimbabwe's 
continuing political crisis and its disastrous economic 
effects is not to seek a reconciliation that mitigates the 
damage to their country, but to lash out at those they hold 
responsible for their predicament.  Mugabe and his inner 
circle continue to consider the MDC a major threat to 
ZANU-PF's 22-year hold on power, and are gradually tightening 
the noose around the necks of the MDC's leaders.  Suspension 
of travel documents is likely only the latest move in the 
GOZ's efforts to emasculate the party that has dared to 
challenge Mugabe's perceived right to rule Zimbabwe as long 
as he chooses. 
 
 
 
 
 
WHITEHEAD