Ambassadors from the Southern African Development Community told United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee that Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai needed to defend the victory that he claimed in the 2008 elections.
To do this, they said, Tsvangirai had to be in Zimbabwe talking with SADC and the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front.
Tsvangirai had fled the country fearing his arrest following the government’s delay in releasing the results of the presidential elections which Tsvangirai claimed he had won.
The ambassadors said SAD would be glad to discuss Tsvangirai’s security with him.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08HARARE408, AMBASSADOR HOSTS MEETING ON VIOLENCE
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO7533
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0408/01 1281430
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 071430Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2872
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1965
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2087
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0639
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1364
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1721
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2143
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4574
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1226
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000408
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR S. HILL
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2018
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR HOSTS MEETING ON VIOLENCE
REF: HARARE 395
Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4 (d)
———-
SUMMARY
———–
¶1. (C) The Ambassador hosted a meeting with SADC ambassadors
and representatives on May 7 to discuss the growing violence
in Zimbabwe. He showed a video prepared by the Solidarity
Peace Trust, which contains statements of violence victims
and graphic images. Members of a USAID team that had
traveled to Manicaland two weeks ago also shared their
experiences. The Ambassador then led a discussion on ending
the violence. The SADC invitees were appreciative of getting
first-hand information and accepted the Ambassador’s
invitation to accompany him to a local hospital to meet with
victims, and to a rural area that has witnessed extensive
violence. All voiced support for the democratic process and
said it was imperative that MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
return to Zimbabwe. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (C) Ambassadors from the DRC, Namibia, Botswana,
Mozambique and Angola attended, as well as representatives
from the South African, Tanzanian and Malawian embassies. No
one from the Zambian embassy was able to attend.
¶3. (C) The Ambassador opened the meeting with a screening of
the Solidarity Peace Trust video, which includes
heart-rending interviews with victims of violence and graphic
images of their injuries. Two members of the USAID team then
recounted their trip of a couple of weeks ago to Nyanga,
Mutare, and Chipingi where they interviewed MDC victims of
violence and displaced persons (Ref). An LES member of the
team noted that violence had intensified since their trip,
and that ZANU-PF youth in many areas were now going door to
door in order to compile lists of MDC supporters.
¶4. (C) Kicking off a discussion, the Ambassador emphatically
averred that a crisis was occurring, violence was manifest,
and that the overriding issue was how to stop the violence.
He hoped to be able to work with SADC missions in Harare to
do this.
¶5. (C) The Botswanan, Namibian, and Angolan ambassadors said
they were following the situation closely. The Botswanan
ambassador noted that “nobody condones this barbarity,” the
Angolan ambassador stated that “nobody can say there’s no
crisis,” and the Namibian ambassador agreed that something
had to be done–the question was what. These ambassadors
agreed that information was key. The video was helpful and
they requested copies to forward to their capitals.
¶6. (C) On the issue of a way forward, the Angolan ambassador
said that SADC wanted to help Zimbabwe–not ZANU-PF or the
MDC. The SADC ministerial troika of the politics, security,
and defense organ (Angola, Swaziland, and Zambia) had met
with the Zimbabwean government and had also traveled to
Zambia and South Africa. The Angolan ambassador admitted it
was not easy to talk to the GOZ–it was stubborn and didn’t
want to discuss the issue of violence. Nevertheless, SADC
was committed to staying engaged. Complicating SADC’s
efforts was Tsvangirai’s absence from Zimbabwe. The SADC
ambassadors were emphatic that Tsvangirai needed to be in
Zimbabwe to talk with SADC, with ZANU-PF, and to defend the
victory that he claimed. (NOTE: To the issue of
Tsvangirai’s fear for his life and concern that his passport
could be seized as it was in the past, the ambassadors said
SADC would be glad to discuss his security with him, and help
him address the passport issue. END NOTE.)
HARARE 00000408 002 OF 002
¶7. (C) The Angolan ambassador also stated SADC’s interest in
an “impartial, independent, free of corruption” election, and
added that SADC must demonstrate its own impartiality. He
said SADC was prepared to help Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) financially to hold a runoff
election.
¶8. (C) The only discordant note came from the DRC
ambassador, the dean of the diplomatic corps, who argued that
the MDC had instigated the current wave of violence and was
at least as responsible as ZANU-PF. He also opined that
Zimbabwe was a regional issue, and that SADC should handle it
without interference from the West.
¶9. (C) The Ambassador welcomed the cooperation of the SADC
representatives and their desires to be better informed about
the reign of violence. They readily accepted his invitation
to accompany him on a visit this week or early next week to
Avenues Hospital in Harare to interview victims of violence,
and on a subsequent trip to a rural area to examine violence.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶10. (C) We continue to believe SADC has a potentially
important role to play in resolving the Zimbabwean crisis.
This was a successful meeting in terms of letting the SADC
representatives know of our concern about the spiraling
violence, informing them about the extent of the violence,
and letting them know we consider SADC to be a key in ending
violence.
¶11. (C) Several of the ambassadors commented that while they
are trying to become better informed about the current
situation, policy is made in their capitals. In that regard,
we believe it critical for our embassies in these capitals to
continue to discuss in any way possible the ongoing violence,
and to disseminate the very effective Solidarity Peace Trust
video as widely as possible. END COMMENT.
MCGEE
(17 VIEWS)
