US embassy cable - 02HARARE1827

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001827 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/S, AF/EX 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JFRAZER 
LONDON FOR CGURNEY 
PARIS FOR CNEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, EAGR, ECON, ZI 
SUBJECT: JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE -- TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE 
 
REF: HARARE 1819 
 
1. (SBU) Summary. Laboff attended the inaugural meeting of 
the JAG on Tuesday, August 6.  This group was formed by some 
of the more confrontational members of the Commercial Farmers 
Union (CFU) in response to CFU members' perception that the 
organization was too conciliatory.  The initial act of JAG 
was to file suit against the GOZ on behalf of commercial 
farmers, citing multi-billion dollar damages.  Claiming a 
mandate originating from the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights as adopted by Zimbabwe, JAG purports to represent the 
interests of commercial farm owners, farm workers, and 
agricultural ancillary industries, and proclaims the mission 
of securing justice, peace and freedom for the agricultural 
sector.  In actuality, the main purpose of the JAG seems to 
be publicizing developments in the ongoing land struggle in 
the hope of spurring somebody -- whether Zimbabweans or 
outside interests -- to intervene in the continuing 
destruction of the commercial agricultural sector.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (SBU)  The membership of the JAG comprises a wide variety 
of constituencies:  farmers who seek more confrontation with 
the GOZ, member of various civic groups, community activists, 
and public relations specialists.  The emergence of a 
confrontational group at this stage of the game is indicative 
of the deep divisions between members of the CFU as to the 
best way of addressing the disaster which has decimated their 
industry.  Some reports indicate that the farmers who have 
embraced JAG include those whose views are skewed far to one 
side as well as those who have already been forced off their 
land and have nothing more to lose.  According to contacts 
within the CFU, the parent organization has chosen not to 
deal with JAG because the CFU remains committed to dialogue, 
and any suggestion of complicity will taint their posture of 
continued cooperation. 
 
3. (SBU) The tone of the inaugural meeting of JAG was defiant 
yet determined.  Several speakers addressed the crowd, which 
numbered about fifty participants from various groups -- 
commercial farmers, civic society, and the diplomatic corps. 
The first speaker, a local attorney, sympathized with the 
goals of the group but delivered a 
good-luck-you're-going-to-need-it message.  He bluntly told 
the group that regardless of whether or not their litigation 
was successful, the GOZ would not recognize a judgment since 
President Mugabe has already announced that the government 
will only honor judgments which it determines to be 
appropriate.  Given the long and painful process of land 
acquisition and reallocation, it is incredibly unlikely that 
the GOZ would actually pay out in accordance with a judicial 
determination that the program was flawed.  However, the 
advocate supported both the legal right and the moral 
obligation of JAG to proceed with a judicial challenge. 
 
4. (SBU) The second speaker, an economist, outlined the 
cataclysmic impact that the chaotic land acquisition exercise 
is having on the economy as a whole.  According to his 
perspective, the government must "spend a large fortune in 
order for 'resettled farmers' to earn a small fortune."  Of 
course, there is no indication of where the necessary funds 
-- conservatively estimated to run at over Zim $300 billion, 
or over US $434 million, annually -- will be found. 
 
5.  (SBU) The final speaker was the director of Amani Trust, 
who acknowledged that widespread famine, which would 
significantly affect displaced farm workers, was the 
inevitable result of the mismanaged "agrarian reform" 
program.  He premised his presentation on the theory that 
famines do not happen in the absence of bad governance, and 
stated his belief that since the ruling party was not 
demonstrably incompetent, they must be governing badly with 
the intention of subverting the "democracy process."  He 
reiterated the oft-heard refrain that the way forward 
required civil society to recognize the political 
illegitimacy of the ruling party, to demand constitutional 
reforms, and to hold free and fair elections. 
 
6. (SBU) Comment:  One eloquent comment from a member of the 
Zimbabwe branch of Transparency International, a good 
governance group, noted that in order to move forward, civil 
society must address the problem in context.  Specifically, 
he stated that civil society needed to address how commercial 
farming emerged in Zimbabwe, as well as why a return to 
small-scale peasant farming will no longer work in the 21st 
century.  Other than this well-accepted observation, most of 
the presentations covered familiar ground.  Although many 
members of JAG seemed energized by the fact that they were 
finally responding and doing something -- anything -- there 
seemed to be a muted realization that whatever steps they 
took were ultimately too little and too late.  End comment. 
WHITEHEAD