US embassy cable - 03HARARE1122

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001122 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
BANGKOK FOR WIN DAYTON 
DS/OP/AF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, CASC, PHUM, PINR, ASEC, ZI 
SUBJECT: STAYAWAY HOLDING TENUOUSLY, NO DEMONSTRATIONS - 
MDC MASS ACTION DAY TWO 
 
REF: A. HARARE 1101 
     B. HARARE 1097 
     C. HARARE 1081 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Audu Besmer for reasons 1.5 b/d 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
1. (C) In television and radio broadcasts, as well as by 
telephoning and visiting business owners directly, GOZ 
officials exhorted businesses to open on June 3.  In the face 
of this pressure between 50 - 90 percent of businesses 
remained closed on June 3 nationwide.  The police, though 
present, were less visible on the street in downtown Harare 
on June 3.  It appears that ordinary Zimbabweans have not 
heeded the call to take to the streets in the numbers and 
with the defiance the MDC was hoping for.  End Summary. 
 
GOZ Exhorts Businesses to Open 
------------------------------ 
 
2. (U) In a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation television 
broadcast on June 2, Minister of Industry and International 
Trade S. Mumbengegwi exhorted workers to show up for work, 
and businesses to open on risk losing their licenses and 
permits.  According to MDC Presidential Advisor, Gandi 
Mudzingwa, GOZ officials were calling the directors of large 
companies in Harare and threatening them with license 
revocation if they did not open. 
 
3. (C) According to PAO a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation 
reporter personally exhorted a Time Bank office in downtown 
Harare to open.  Virginia Pinto, an independent Mutare city 
councilwoman, said police went door to door to small 
businesses and shops in downtown Mutare on June 2 - 3 
demanding that they open or risk license revocation.  For the 
past several workdays in Mutare police visited banks and took 
down the names and addresses of managers and workers, 
threatening to force them to work if the bank did not open. 
Mudzingwa said that there were no planned demonstrations or 
marches on June 3, and that the MDC leadership was instead 
focused on maintaining the stayaway in the face of mounting 
GOZ pressure on businesses to open. 
 
MDC Officials Arrested 
---------------------- 
 
4. (U) On June 2, MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai was 
arrested for non-compliance with a May 31 court order 
prohibiting the MDC planned mass action.  He was released on 
the same day after signing a warned and cautioned statement. 
According to the MDC, Shadow Minister of Home Affairs Tendai 
Biti; Job Sikhala, the MDC MP for St. Mary's (in the Harare 
area); Japhet Ndabeni Ncube, the MDC Mayor of Bulawayo; 
Milton Gwetu, an MDC MP in Bulawayo; Silas Mangono, an MDC MP 
from Masvingo; Jobert Mudzumwe a member of the MDC National 
Executive; Charlton Hwende, a member of the MDC National 
Youth wing; and several MDC officials in other parts of the 
country were arrested on June 2 and still in custody on June 
3. 
 
Total Numbers Arrested 
---------------------- 
 
5. (U) Reports of the total number of people arrested 
nationwide in connection with the mass action varied; the 
total number was likely about 275 by June 3.  This includes 
121 arrested in Harare, 56 in Chitungwiza (a high density 
suburb of Harare), 21 in Bulawayo, 25 in Masvingo, 3 in 
Victoria Falls, and unconfirmed numbers in Mutare, Gweru, and 
Kwekwe.  Most of those arrested on June 2, were released by 
June 3.  By June 3 police had not allowed MDC officials 
access to the arrestees in Masvingo, nor had they allowed 
food to be brought in. 
 
6. (SBU) An American citizen reported that he and his party 
of 6 were sitting in the lobby of Harare's five star Meikles 
hotel yesterday when a group of half a dozen war vets came 
into the hotel shouting and pushing security guards.  When 
they spotted the Americans, they stood about 3 feet away and 
started yelling, "White animals, don't you look at us; get 
out of Zimbabwe; we don't want you here."  The guards and 
concierge came to assist , but when they realized that the 
assailants were war vets, they "froze in their tracks," 
according to the American.  The war vets left shortly 
thereafter.  The Americans were frightened by their ordeal 
and plan to leave Zimbabwe today, as previously scheduled. 
7. (SBU) Embassy has been unable to confirm any reports of 
casualties.  The MDC, which yesterday reported that 3 people 
were shot in Highfield (near Harare), today retreated from 
that position.  The GOZ has said there were no casualties, 
except for an unidentified person, which the government-owned 
Herald reported was stoned to death by MDC supporters. 
 
Stayaway Successful - But Losing Ground 
--------------------------------------- 
 
8. (U) Driving around Harare on June 3, Poloff observed that 
about 80 percent of shops in downtown Harare remained closed, 
and 90 percent of businesses in the light industrial areas of 
Harare were closed. 
 
9. (SBU) Police were visible in groups of 2 - 4 in downtown 
areas, some were armed with automatic rifles, but for the 
most part they assumed very relaxed postures. 
 
10. (C) According to Sheba Dube, head of the Bulawayo chapter 
of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) about 75 percent of 
businesses in downtown Bulawayo were closed on June 3. 
According to Pinto, about 50 percent of businesses in Mutare 
remained closed on June 3. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
 
11. (C) Having quelled prospective demonstrations on June 2, 
and arrested a few hundred MDC officials and activists, 
police and security forces were less visible on the street on 
June 3.  The GOZ strategy to counter the mass action on June 
3 focused instead on exhorting businesses to ignore the 
stayaway, though most of them remained closed anyway.  The 
momentum has clearly shifted in the GOZ's favor and it is 
possible the MDC bit off more than it could chew by calling 
for street demonstrations and a "final push".  It appears 
that ordinary Zimbabweans have not heeded the call in the 
numbers and with the defiance the MDC was hoping for.  End 
Comment. 
SULLIVAN