This was the question that the Financial Gazette asked as increasing acts of banditry continued amid silence from President Robert Mugabe and lack of action by the police in dealing with the hooligans.
“Looting of property, assaults of countless individuals and the rape of women and young girls are all rising, courtesy of the same militia which has decided to eradicate the ‘scourge’ that is known as the MDC,” the paper said.
“As well as the President’s silence, we must ask: Where is the police force whose first duty is to maintain law and order. . .? While the police force repeatedly pours its members onto the streets to crush peaceful protests by opposition groups, we see no demonstrable same sense of zeal and urgency in cracking down on the mindless political violence blighting the land.”
Full cable:
Viewing cable 02HARARE1001, MEDIA REACTION ELECTION AFTERMATH; HARARE
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS HARARE 001001
SIPDIS
AF/PD FOR COX AND ROBERTSON, AF/S FOR KRAFT AND
SCHLACHTER, AF/RA FOR DIPALMA, INR/R/MR, NSC FOR
JENDAYI FRAZER
E.O. 12958: N/A
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ELECTION AFTERMATH; HARARE
¶1. Under headline “What price freedom?” the
independent financial weekly “The Financial Gazette”
dedicated its April 25 editorial to calling on Robert
Mugabe to publicly condemn “the increasing acts of
outright banditry by his supporters” in the aftermath
of the disputed March presidential poll. Excerpts:
¶2. “. . .Mugabe’s absolute silence on the increasing
acts of outright banditry by his supporters is not only
a cause for deep concern but begs the question of how
far the terrorism will be allowed to go on before it is
ended. The terrorism is not just confined to MDC
followers or those suspected to be so, scores of whom
have been brutally slain and tens of thousands of
others displaced in their own country in the past two
years. . . Looting of property, assaults of
countless individuals and the rape of women and
young girls are all rising, courtesy of the same
militia which has decided to eradicate the
‘scourge’ that is known as the MDC. As well as the
President’s silence, we must ask: Where is the
police force whose first duty is to maintain law
and order. . .? While the police force repeatedly
pours its members onto the streets to crush
peaceful protests by opposition groups, we see no
demonstrable same sense of zeal and urgency in
cracking down on the mindless political violence
blighting the land. . . Are Zimbabweans asking too
much from Mugabe that he not only publicly condemns
these acts of madness by his supporters but that he
orders the entire police force to crush the armed
rebellion – violently if need be? Are Zimbabweans
asking too much when they clearly and repeatedly
make the clarion call that they have had enough?”
SULLIVAN
(16 VIEWS)
