Army and police should not side with tyranny

The first duty of the army and the police is to the people of the Zimbabwe. They cannot and must not side with tyranny.

This was said by the Daily News in May 2003 when it urged the security forces not to use strong-arm tactics against demonstrators who were going to participate in an anti-government protest that had been called for by the Movement for Democratic Change.

The week-long protest was aimed at forcing President Robert Mugabe to step down.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 03HARARE1080, MEDIA REACTION MASS ACTION IN ZIM; 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.

300956Z May 03

UNCLAS HARARE 001080

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS

NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER

LONDON FOR GURNEY

PARIS FOR NEARY

NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PREL PHUM KPAO KMDR ZI

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION MASS ACTION IN ZIM; HARARE

¶1.   Under headline “First duty of army, police is to the

nation” the independent daily “The Daily News” dedicated

its May 30 editorial to urging Zimbabwe’s uniformed forces

not to use strong-arm tactics against demonstrators who may

participate in next week’s possible anti-government

protests. Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement

for Democratic Change (MDC), has called for a week-long

series of marches and protests aimed at forcing Robert

Mugabe to step down. These protests are slated to begin on

June 2. Editorial excerpts follow:

¶2.   “. . .The first duty of members of the army and the

police, whatever their orders, is to the people of

Zimbabwe, regardless of their political affiliations. They

cannot and must not side with tyranny. History will not

look kindly on those State security agents who lose sight

of this fact.”

SULLIVAN

(35 VIEWS)