The United States pushed for Zimbabwe to be included on the United Nations Security Council agenda before the June 2008 presidential elections run-off because of increasing violence that would not allow free and fair elections.
It said dozens of opposition suspects had been killed and Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai arrested on several occasions.
United States and United Kingdom diplomats had also been detained and were threatened with being burned alive in their cars.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08STATE63183, SEEKING A SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON ZIMBABWE
If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
|
Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO7102
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHC #3183/01 1640121
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 120112Z JUN 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS IMMEDIATE 0622
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 8006
RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU IMMEDIATE 7280
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA IMMEDIATE 2537
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 9401
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME IMMEDIATE 6712
RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE IMMEDIATE 8831
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB IMMEDIATE 0982
INFO SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE IMMEDIATE 2609
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 2143
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 063183
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2013
SUBJECT: SEEKING A SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON ZIMBABWE
Classified By: IO DAS Brian Hook for Reasons 1.4 (b) AND (d)
¶1. (SBU) Action request: Action addresses are asked to
demarche host governments at the highest possible level on an
urgent basis and report back to contacts listed below in
advance of the Security Council informal consultations on the
humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, scheduled for 10 a.m. on
June 12. Posts should seek host government agreement to
support a formal Security Council meeting to discuss the
political and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe before the
June 27 Presidential run-off election. Posts should draw on
the points in para 2 below. If USUN assesses that there are
the nine affirmative votes needed to agree to hold such a
meeting, USUN may call for a vote as early as June 13 to
adopt the agenda for the meeting. The meeting itself would
likely be held following Assistant Secretary General Haile
Menkerios’ June 17-19 trip to Zimbabwe. Background is
provided in paras 3-8. Posts are requested to respond as
quickly as possible by e-mail or cables slugged for
IO/UNP-Rebecca Goldenberg. End Action Request.
¶2. (U) Begin points:
— We believe the situation in Zimbabwe poses an increasing
threat to international peace and security in the region and
seek a formal Council meeting before the June 27 run-off
election. We may try to vote as early as June 13 to adopt
the agenda for the formal meeting in order to send a signal
to the Government of Zimbabwe that the Security Council is
closely following its actions and to give weight to UN envoy
Menkerios’ mandate. The formal Security Council meeting
itself would likely be held following Assistant Secretary
General Haile Menkerios’ June 17-19 trip to Zimbabwe.
— (For all posts except Ougadougou) We appreciate your
previous support for addressing Zimbabwe in the Council and
hope you will support a formal UNSC meeting.
— (For Ougadougou) We are pleased that President Compaore
has informed Secretary Rice of Burkina Faso,s intention to
support a Security Council meeting on Zimbabwe.
— We believe a free and fair Presidential election on June
27 is vital to the stability of Zimbabwe and of the region.
For that reason, we are especially alarmed at the credible
reports of large-scale, systematic violence and intimidation
in Zimbabwe targeted at members of the opposition party and
their supporters that could make a legitimate and credible
election impossible and undercut the will of the Zimbabwean
people as expressed in the March 29 elections.
— We believe the Security Council must be involved. The
Council must send a signal that the international community
is watching and will not tolerate such flagrant violations of
fundamental human rights. Without this pressure, we are
gravely concerned that there will be no possibility for a
free and fair election and, without a legitimate election,
certain prospects for greater violence, acute human
suffering, and increased refugee flows.
— The increasing violence in Zimbabwe is affecting
Zimbabwe,s citizens as well as humanitarian aid workers and
diplomats, and threatens to escalate in the days before and
after the election. Since the March 29 election, over 60
people have been murdered for the mere suspicion of
supporting the opposition, hundreds have been arrested, and
tens of thousands have been injured or forced to flee their
homes. The Zimbabwean government is also reportedly banning
several future opposition campaign rallies.
— On June 4, Presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was
detained by the police for eight hours without cause and then
detained again on June 6. On May 13, U.S. Ambassador McGee
and representatives from eight other diplomatic missions were
detained by Zimbabwean security forces for about an hour. On
June 5, five U.S. and four British diplomats were detained at
gunpoint and threatened for six hours by Zimbabwean military,
police, and a group known as the “war veterans.” These
STATE 00063183 002 OF 003
detentions are unacceptable and violate the Vienna Convention
on the treatment of foreign diplomats.
— On June 5, the Zimbabwean government extended its campaign
of intimidation to NGOs and to some IOs, indefinitely
suspending their operations and thereby turning its back on
the humanitarian needs of its own people. UN agencies in
Zimbabwe asserted that this ban violated fundmental human
rights principles and “created life threatening conditions”
for more than 2 million vulnerable people who survive on
donor support; cut off support to tens of thousands of
orphans and vulnerable children and disrupted donor programs
to combat HIV/AIDS. There is fear that the government will
now use food relief as a political weapon to achieve
favorable election results.
— The effects of the Zimbabwean government,s policies are
being felt throughout the region. For example, people of
Mozambican and Malawian origins living and working in
Zimbabwe have in many cases been forced to return to their
ancestral countries. And in South Africa, Zimbabweans who
are fleeing to escape economic collapse and political unrest
have been the target of vicious anti-foreigner attacks. The
situation is clearly threatening stability in the region.
— We have supported and continue to support African efforts
to resolve the crisis. Unfortunately, there is no indication
to date that President Mugabe or his senior leadership is
listening. We hope that UN Assistant Secretary General Haile
Menkerios will be received by President Mugabe and permitted
to work unhindered in facilitating a free and fair election,
including the accreditation and deployment of election
observers from the African Union and the Southern Africa
Development Community throughout the country well in advance
of the June 27 run-off election.
— Council consideration of Zimbabwe at this time would
provide much-needed support to regional efforts to find a
solution that reflects the will of the people. It would also
be consistent with the Council’s authority under the Charter
to address situations that might lead to international
friction and to encourage regional conflict resolution
efforts. A UNSC meeting on Zimbabwe would also be consistent
with the Council,s action in adopting resolution 1809, which
expressed the Council,s determination to strengthen UNSC
cooperation with regional organizations in conflict
prevention.
Background
———-
¶3. (U) Post-Election Violence: In advance of the June 27
run-off Presidential election, the Zimbabwean government has
unleashed a surge of government-encouraged violence targeting
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters, especially
in rural areas. Dozens of suspected opposition supporters
have been killed, hundreds arrested, and thousands forced to
flee their homes. Presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai
was detained by the police for more than eight hours on June
3 and detained again on June 6. On June 5, the GOZ suspended
international relief operations.
¶4. (U) Detention of U.S. and UK Diplomats: On June 5, five
American and four British diplomats, as well as 3 local
employees from the American Embassy, were detained by the
Zimbabwe military, police and “war veterans” for six hours.
One of the local staff was beaten and the tires on one of the
vehicles were slashed. The diplomats were threatened with
being burned alive inside their cars, if they did not follow
the police to a local police station. The United States
protested this violation of the Vienna Convention to the
Foreign Ministry in Harare and to the Zimbabwean Ambassador
in Washington.
¶5. (SBU) Electoral Assistance: President Mugabe invited
the AU, SADC, and “friendly nations” to the GOZ to observe
the run-off election on June 27. The UN’s Electoral
Assistance Division is providing financial support to these
observers through the UN Electoral Assistance Trust Fund and
hopes to fund the deployment of 500 AU/SADC observers. The
U.S. and several other concerned nations will be making a
substantial donation to the Trust Fund.
STATE 00063183 003 OF 003
¶6. (U) UN Envoy to Zimbabwe: On June 5, the press reported
that Secretary General Ban had secured President Mugabe,s
agreement to accept the UN’s official help in the electoral
process. Menkerios plans to be in Zimbabwe from June 17-19
and will assist in facilitating the following areas:
UN-Zimbabwe dialogue, humanitarian observation, elections
support, and security.
¶7. (C) Security Council Involvement: For years, at least
some UNSC members have resisted having the Council address
the situation in Zimbabwe, with some members insisting that
the situation is internal and does not present a threat to
international peace and security. During an informal UN
Secretariat briefing on Zimbabwe on April 29, Russia, China,
South Africa, Burkina Faso, Libya, and Vietnam expressed
opposition to UNSC engagement on this issue. However, in a
telephone conversation with the Secretary on June 7,
Burkinabe President Compaore expressed his support for a UNSC
meeting on Zimbabwe. On June 5, in response to the detention
of the U.S. and UK diplomats, the Security Council authorized
the President of the Council (U.S.) to make the following
statement to the press: &The U.S. called for these
consultations today about the reports coming out of Zimbabwe
about the American and British diplomats detained and held at
gunpoint. The Council discussed the incident. The Council
expressed concern about the reports and also urged respect
for the Vienna Convention, in particular, the protection of
diplomats and property.8 However, the Council was not able
to agree on language expressing concern about the violence
directed against Zimbabwean citizens or Presidential
candidate Tsvangirai. After considerable discussion, the
Security Council agreed to hold informal consultations on the
humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe on June 12. The decision
to hold a formal UNSC meeting requires the affirmative votes
of nine UNSC Members and is not subject to veto.
¶8. Tripoli minimize considered.
RICE
(33 VIEWS)
