US embassy cable - 02HARARE2060

UNCLAS HARARE 002060 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
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: POLICE, MILITARY ENFORCE NEW, UNOFFICIAL FARM 
EVICTION DEADLINE 
 
 
1. Summary.  According to several reports received over the 
weekend, the GOZ has purportedly issued directives from "the 
highest levels" to both police and military to finalize the 
removal of commercial farmers.  The Commercial Farmers Union 
(CFU), merely a shadow of its former presence, as well as 
Justice for Agriculture (JAG) and private sources report that 
a new deadline was set for all farmers -- including farmers 
who have had their notices of acquisition overturned in the 
courts -- to vacate their property and homesteads by mid-day 
on September 8.  Any farmer refusing to comply would be 
arrested and any property remaining on the farms after this 
date would be considered forfeited to the GOZ. Press reports 
and eyewitness accounts report hundreds of farmers evacuating 
their property.  No reports of violence or new arrests have 
yet been received. End summary. 
 
2. Reports received from various regions throughout the 
country indicate that the GOZ is engaged in an intensified 
effort to force all commercial farmers with any acquisition 
notices -- whether preliminary or final -- off their land, 
even those with pending judicial challenges.  One farmer 
reported that the District Police chief advised him that the 
orders were now "coming from the top" and that evictions were 
to proceed regardless of court orders overruling the legality 
of acquisition notices.  This police chief claimed that 
Mugabe had mandated that there be a list of vacated 
properties belonging to the 2900-plus targeted commercial 
farmers on his desk by Monday morning.  This farmer further 
reported that commercial farmers who wish to continue farming 
are now being advised by their evictors to turn over their 
title deeds to the GOZ, go in person to the Ministry of 
Agriculture, and apply to be granted land in accordance with 
the new farm size limits.  The farmer speculated that the GOZ 
is attempting to capitalize on the optic of hundreds of white 
commercial farmers standing in line for hours, hats in hand, 
in order to be allocated a piece of land. 
 
3.  Another report from the Chiredzi area, in Zimbabwe's 
southeastern corner, indicated that a local magistrate 
publicly stated her sympathy with the farmers appearing 
before her on charges of violating the acquisition orders, 
and whose only crime was farming while attempting to 
judicially defend their right to their property.  However, 
this magistrate stated that she was under "immense political 
pressure" from the governor.  She further indicated that she 
could not change bail conditions or dismiss the cases without 
permission from the Lands Ministry, which of course was not 
sympathetic.  The magistrate postponed the cases, but the 
prosecutor was informed that he would have to issue a 
subpoena or summons to the relevant ministry to ensure that a 
representative would be available on the court date.  The 
farmers believed that the issue of summons/subpoena would be 
used to continue their cases endlessly without reaching 
resolution. 
 
4. Reports from Karoi, previously one of the more cohesive 
farming regions holding out in the face of concerted GOZ 
pressure, indicate that armed and uniformed police units as 
well as armored military units have been a prominent feature 
of the latest eviction push.  Some farmers continue to hold 
fast and assert their right to challenge the GOZ's haphazard 
implementation of land redistribution, which in many cases 
does not even comply with the GOZ's own attempts to legalize 
the proceedings.  Many more, however, are finally giving in, 
packing up, and moving out.  As one farmer reported, there is 
increasing tension on the ground as well as a belief that 
farmers who resist the process -- even those who have been 
granted judicial relief -- are now putting their lives, as 
well as their property, at risk. 
 
5. Comment.  This latest eviction push follows closely on the 
heels of Mugabe's triumphant speech upon his return from the 
Johannesburg summit, in which he said white farmers should 
comply with GOZ land redistribution, leave the country, or 
face jail.  It is clear that a national directive was issued 
shortly thereafter, as GOZ security services and local 
officials appear to have communicated a uniform message to 
commercial farmers nationwide that the September 8 deadline 
would be enforced.  We are trying to get a more comprehensive 
sense of how many farms are affected, but anecdotal evidence 
at this stage suggests that we could be witnessing the end 
game for Zimbabwe's white farmers.  End comment. 
SULLIVAN