Amnesty International seems to be in a quandary over its relationship with Zimbabwe. In the 1970s the human rights organisation adopted Robert Mugabe and Didymus Mutasa, among other combatants, as “prisoners of conscience”.
An Amnesty International group in Sweden adopted Mugabe and demonstrated on his behalf for much of his 11-year detention. But relations soured soon after independence when the organisation spoke out against Mugabe-led human rights abuses in Matabeleland.
Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan said after a six-day visit to Zimbabwe in June 2009 that human rights violations continued unabated in Zimbabwe but the main problem was that there was a denial that a problem even existed. She said Zimbabwe was “nowhere near ready to identify or admit what has happened.”
Senior government officials that she met confirmed that “addressing impunity is not a priority for the government right now.”
During her visit Khan met with Vice President Joice Mujuru, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, Minister of State in the President’s Office Didymus Mutasa, and Home Affairs co-Minister Kembo Mohadi.
She also met MDC officials including Education Minister David Coltart, Deputy Minister of Justice Jessie Majome, Home Affairs co-Minister Giles Mutsekwa, Minister of State Sekai Holland, and Speaker of the House of Assembly Lovemore Moyo.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE510, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY GENERAL SLAMS ZIMBABWE
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000510
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ASEC KDEM PGOV PREL ZI
SUBJECT: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY GENERAL SLAMS ZIMBABWE
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (SBU) Amnesty International (AI) Secretary General Irene Khan
wrapped up a six-day visit to Zimbabwe on June 18 with a press
conference where she expressed her dismay at “persistent” human
rights violations in Zimbabwe. During a diplomatic briefing on June
16 that included numerous African diplomats, she called on all
members of the international community to use their influence to
encourage the Zimbabwean government to enact further security sector
reforms and address issues of impunity. AI has a unique
relationship with Zimbabwe, having defended President Mugabe and
other senior ZANU-PF officials as “prisoners of conscience” during
the liberation struggle in the 1970s. Because of this longstanding
relationship, Khan secured meetings with a number of senior ZANU-PF
officials during her visit. Khan plans to issue a report on her
visit and may seek meetings with diplomatic missions at the United
Nations (UN) in New York to share her findings and identify new
tactics to encourage improvements in the human rights situation in
Zimbabwe. END SUMMARY.
—————————————
AI’s 40-year Relationship with Zimbabwe
—————————————
¶2. (U) The visit by Khan marked the first-ever trip to Zimbabwe by
an AI Secretary General. In a diplomatic briefing at the Dutch
embassy on June 16 and a press briefing on June 18 at a local hotel,
she recounted her visit, which included appointments with a number
of high-ranking ZANU-PF officials. (NOTE: In the 1970s, AI adopted
then-political prisoners Robert Mugabe and Didymus Mutasa, among
other combatants who are now ZANU-PF officials, as “prisoners of
conscience” while they were held in Rhodesian prisons. Notably, an
AI group in Sweden adopted Mugabe and demonstrated on his behalf for
much of his 11-year detention. AI’s relationship with Zimbabwe
began to sour in the mid-1980s when AI spoke out against Mugabe-led
human rights abuses in Matabeleland. END NOTE.)
¶3. (U) During her visit to Zimbabwe, Khan met with ZANU-PF officials
Vice President Joice Mujuru, Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa,
Minister of State in the President’s Office Didymus Mutasa, and Home
Affairs co-Minister Kembo Mohadi. She requested a meeting with
President Mugabe, but never received an answer. She also met MDC
officials including Education Minister David Coltart, Deputy
Minister of Justice Jessie Majome, Home Affairs co-Minister Giles
Mutsekwa, Minister of State Sekai Holland, and Speaker of the House
of Assembly Lovemore Moyo. She will meet with Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai in London the week of June 22.
—————————————–
Khan: Human Rights Situation “Precarious”
—————————————–
Q—————————————–
¶4. (U) In a statement issued on June 18, AI condemned “persistent
and serious human rights violations” and the “lack of clear
commitment” in the government to improve human rights in Zimbabwe.
Specifically, Khan noted the continued intimidation and arrest of
human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers, the continued
prosecution of numerous MPs, the stifled media environment, the
inability to protest peacefully, farm invasions, and the education
crisis.
¶5. (SBU) During the diplomatic briefing, Khan said that when she
pushed government officials on the subject of impunity, she received
HARARE 00000510 002 OF 002
only vague answers. She further explained that before perpetrators
can be rehabilitated, there must be an end to the denial that a
problem even exists. Khan said that Zimbabwe is “nowhere near ready
to identify or admit what has happened.”
¶6. (U) In the press conference wrapping up her visit, Khan bemoaned
the lack of urgency in improving human rights and the failure to
introduce security reforms. She also noted that senior government
officials she met confirmed that “addressing impunity is not a
priority for the government right now.” Khan’s press statement
revealed her frustration with the government’s lackadaisical
attitude, “whenever we raised the issue of human rights change, the
government answered that it needed more resources… Ending attacks
on human rights defenders, lifting restrictions on the media, and
allowing public protests do not require money – they only require
political will.”
¶7. (U) The local press has blasted Khan’s critical assessment,
calling it one-sided, damning, and hurriedly compiled. On June 19
Vice President Joice Mujuru brushed aside AI’s call for addressing
impunity and told the press “the people of Zimbabwe have got over
their differences and have no time to waste fighting each other as
they are too busy rebuilding their country.”
—————————-
AI Wants More UN Involvement
—————————-
¶8. (SBU) In the June 16 diplomatic briefing, Khan told African and
Western diplomats that she will likely present her findings to
diplomatic missions at the United Nations in New York in the coming
weeks. The German and Canadian ambassadors welcomed her proposal
and suggested that AI recommend sending a UN political observer team
to help the inclusive government improve its performance.
¶9. (SBU The AI online report published June 18 calls on the
Zimbabwean government to invite the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights to establish a presence in Zimbabwe to support human rights
reform and monitor progress. The report also calls on the
international community, “both African governments as well as
western ones,” to develop a common human rights strategy in
Zimbabwe.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶10. (SBU) We welcome Khan’s visit and are pleased that she and her
team were able to freely travel around Zimbabwe. We believe that
AI’s critical assessment of conditions on the ground is accurate and
well-timed. Khan is right to point out that while responsibility
for the vast majority of the human rights violations rests with
ZANU-PF, some in the MDC are too eager to ignore these past wrongs
for “political expediency.” VP Mujuru’s kneejerk defensive remarks
in the press are regrettable, but to be expected as Zimbabwe’s human
rights record is condemned yet again in the international press.
Qrights record is condemned yet again in the international press.
END COMMENT.
MCGEE
(26 VIEWS)
