US embassy cable - 02HARARE1900

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001900 
 
SIPDIS 
 
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: EAGR, ECON, PHUM, PGOV, ZI, Land Reform 
SUBJECT: COMMERCIAL FARMS: SITUATION REPORT 
 
REF: A. A. HARARE 1827 
 
     B. B. HARARE 1830 
     C. C. HARARE 1871 
     D. D. HARARE 1882 
 
1. Summary:  Arrests of farmers by the Zimbabwean authorities 
continue, with no break in the official party rationale and 
no indication of respite.  Most farmers are being released on 
bail an receiving future court dates.  There is little 
consistency throughout the various regions as to the 
conditions attached to the farmers' release, with some being 
ordered to vacate the property immediately, some being given 
2-3 days, and some being given to the end of August.  End 
summary. 
 
2.  According to reports published by the group Justice for 
Agriculture (JAG), over 196 identified farmers had been 
arrested as of August 20.  In several cases, contrary to 
published reports of farmers "going into hiding" and forcing 
the police to hunt them down, farmers whose land is not even 
subject to the final Section 8 acquisition orders have 
voluntarily presented themselves at police stations in 
solidarity with their colleagues and in order to clarify 
their legal status. 
 
3. In another break with reality, the government-controlled 
Herald has reported that one farmer attempted to "kill cops" 
in a plot which backfired.  According to a farming source in 
the area, however, the farmer -- Ian Barker -- was working in 
his fields when he received reports that his elderly mother 
was being arrested and hauled off from his homestead in a 
police vehicle.  Barker reportedly jumped into his own 
vehicle and went speeding off to try and reason with the 
arresting authorities.  When Barker rounded a blind curve and 
came upon the police convoy, which was driving along the 
gravel road, he slammed on his brakes, causing his vehicle to 
lock up and skid to a halt about one meter from the police 
vehicle.  Due to the presence of the District Administrator 
and two war vets in the convoy, the police immediately 
arrested Barker on charges of four counts of attempted 
murder, since  four police officers were riding in the other 
vehicle.  As an indication of the "seriousness" of this 
offense, Barker was subsequently released on Zim $5000 bail 
(about US $7.25 at parallel market rates), the same bail 
granted to other farmers in the area. 
 
4. The majority of farmers have been released on bail with 
the terms of their release varying according to the region in 
which they live.  Farmers in some regions, including 
Masvingo, were released on Zim $5000 bail and given 2-3 days 
to leave their property.  Farmers in other regions, including 
Mashonaland Central, were released on Zim $5000 bail and 
given until August 30 to vacate their farms.  Farmers in yet 
other regions, including  Mashonaland Central, were released 
on Zim $10,000 bail and given 24 hours to vacate their 
properties.  Some farmers were prohibited from returning to 
their farms altogether, others were allowed to visit their 
farms only with a police escort, and still others were 
allowed to attend to their farming chores during the day but 
were not allowed to spend the night in their homes.  Some 
farmers had all charges dropped because of technicalities 
which rendered their Section 8 orders invalid or because the 
90-day period in which they must vacate their properties had 
not yet expired.  Several farmers, including a 67-year-old 
farmer in ill health who was assaulted while in police 
custody, have been denied bail and will be kept in custody 
until their respective hearing dates.  As expected, the 
conditions vary according to the political personalities in 
control of the various provinces. 
 
5. In one region, a farming contact reports that all farmers 
arrested are required to appear before a "board" consisting 
of two police Internal Security personnel, two Central 
Intelligence Organization (CIO) personnel, and two war vets. 
The farmers have reportedly all been asked how much they are 
prepared to downsize their current operations.  In one case, 
a farmer who has only received a Section 5, or preliminary 
notice of acquisition, has been ordered to turn over his 
title deed and one-half of his 800 hectare operation, after 
which he would receive some as-yet undetermined document 
confirming his ownership of the remaining portion.  The 
farming contact reports that the authorities seem to be 
"shaking the tree to see what will fall." 
 
6. Comment: In a not-too-surprising development, Colin 
Cloete, president of the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), was 
also arrested.  Several farming contacts have reported that 
the CFU is no longer perceived by its constituents as a 
viable advocacy group, but that it has now taken on the role 
of simply another "professional organization."  The arrest of 
Cloete is indicative of the disregard in which the group is 
held by the GOZ, and also seems to close the door on any 
attempt to revive the moribund Zimbabwe Joint Resettlement 
Initiative (ZJRI), in which the CFU attempted to work with 
the GOZ in identifying and ceding commercial farmland for 
resettlement.  The GOZ's actions seem to confirm the JAG's 
assertions that you cannot negotiate with the government, and 
that the CFU's attempts to extricate its members from this 
situation via dialogue were doomed to failure.  We expect 
these arrests to continue, but the next major challenge 
concerns how the courts deal with the actual merits of each 
case.  Some farmers whose Section 8 notices have been 
overturned on technicalities expect an immediate re-issue of 
the notices with scrupulous attention to the letter of the 
law.  Of course, in the end, the Mugabe government may not 
even acknowledge the magistrates' actions, and ultimately it 
can simply ignore any judicial decisions with which it does 
not agree, as it has done in the past.  End comment. 
SULLIVAN