Police on 11 March 2007 brutally suppressed a prayer rally organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign and arrested more than 100, including Movement for Democratic Change president Morgan Tsvangirai.
More than 1 000 police officers were deployed to Highfields and, in running battles with opposition youths, killed one MDC activist Gift Tandare.
Also arrested was the leader of the smaller faction of the MDC Arthur Mutambara and National Constitutional Assembly leader Lovemore Madhuku.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 07HARARE195, POLICE BRUTALLY DISRUPT PRAYER RALLY AND ARREST
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO2813
RR RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0195/01 0711539
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 121539Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1222
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1504
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1362
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1508
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0184
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0770
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1134
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1563
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 3963
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1331
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1987
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1725
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000195
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR S. HILL
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2017
SUBJECT: POLICE BRUTALLY DISRUPT PRAYER RALLY AND ARREST
KEY OPPOSITION LEADERS
REF: A. REF A: HARARE 130
¶B. REF B: 2005 HARARE 1056
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.4 b/d
——-
Summary
——-
¶1. (C) Security forces on March 11 brutally suppressed a
prayer rally planned by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign and
arrested more than 100, including MDC President Morgan
Tsvangirai and other key opposition leaders. Observers
SIPDIS
report that more than 1,000 police officers were deployed to
the Harare suburb of Highfields, and in running battles with
opposition youths, killed one MDC activist. Police have
refused lawyers access to those detained, many of whom have
reportedly been severely beaten, including Tsvangirai. Human
rights lawyers launched an urgent court application to gain
access to those detained at 14 police stations across Harare,
but a High Court judge has delayed the case. MDC and civil
society leaders are calling for continued marches and rallies
to maintain pressure on the regime. Local observers have
commented on the new tone of defiance and resistance as
Zimbabweans fight back against the regime. End Summary.
——————————————— –
Police Aggression Exposed in Highfield – Again
——————————————— –
¶2. (SBU) Only three weeks after police brutally cracked down
on a MDC rally in Highfield (ref A), police once again turned
the low-income suburb into a war zone to block a prayer rally
by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign ) an umbrella grouping of
civil society groups, lead by the Christian Alliance clergy
(ref B). Although prayer rallies are specifically exempted
by the GOZ-imposed ban on political rallies, observers report
that more than 1,000 officers were deployed with water
cannons, tear gas, and truncheons to block the rally. Riot
police descended on the Save Zimbabwe Campaign leaders as
they approached the fairgrounds and arrested them as well as
a number of activists.
¶3. (SBU) Those arrested included MDC faction leaders Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, and National Constitutional
SIPDIS
Assembly leader Lovemore Madhuku. Angered by the
heavy-handed dismissal of the rally, including the arrests,
opposition supporters in Highfield fought pitched battles
with police throughout the day. Embassy observers in
Highfields reported seeing many intersections littered with
stones and bricks that demonstrators had hurled at the riot
police. At least two trucks, one army and one police, were
stoned and overturned by the demonstrators. Police at one
shopping center shot and killed MDC activist Gift Tandare )
a father of three ) as he attempted to throw back a tear gas
canister fired by police. Numerous others sustained injuries
at the hands of the heavily-armed police.
————————————–
Leaders Assaulted, Denied Legal Access
————————————–
¶4. (SBU) The police have been guarded about the whereabouts
and conditions of those arrested. However, information
seeped out today about mistreatment in police custody.
According to anti-Senate MDC officials, Tsvangirai was beaten
unconscious and rushed to Parirenyatwa Hospital last night
for treatment. He had a swollen eye and deep gashes on his
HARARE 00000195 002 OF 003
head that required stitches. Other MDC leaders had suffered
head injuries, one of them apparently almost lost an ear from
the beatings. NCA leader Lovemore Madhuku was seen by
lawyers with a cast on his arm, which was reportedly broken,
and bandages around his head, after also being treated at
Parirenyatwa. The Ambassador and British Ambassador Pocock
accompanied a local lawyer who attempted unsuccessfully to
gain access to Tsvangirai last night to bring him food and
water. MDC officials reported today that the beatings
apparently ended following this show of international
interest.
¶5. (SBU) Arrestees, including Tsvangirai, Mutambara, and
Madhuku are being detained without access to their lawyers at
14 police stations across Harare. Police at Machipisa
station in Highfield assaulted Tsvingirai’s attorney when he
inquired if Tsvangirai was being detained there. Police
brandishing guns chased Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZHLR) lawyers out of Harare Central Police Station last
night as they attempted to locate arrestees. Today lawyers
visited several police stations to determine the whereabouts
and condition of those arrested, but the police have not
released information. Several prominent MDC leaders,
including Secretary General Tendai Biti, have still not been
located and it is feared that they have been taken to the
notorious Goromonzi police facility known as a center for
torturing the regime’s victims.
¶6. (SBU) ZHLR filed an urgent court application to secure
access to lawyers for those detained. High Court Justice
Chinembiri Bhunu, however, refused to hear the application
until March 13 and gave no explanation for his decision.
(Note. Under Zimbabwean law, arrestees must be brought to
court with 48 hours of arrest unless police seek an extension
of time. March 13 is when those arrested this past weekend
would normally be brought before a judge. End Note.)
——————————————
Next Steps, Calls To Maintain The Pressure
——————————————
¶7. (SBU) On March 12, at a briefing for diplomats, MDC
Vice-President Khupe claimed the government,s intent was to
close all democratic space and turn Zimbabwe into a police
state. Khupe, the highest-ranking MDC officials still at
liberty, vowed that the Highfield events were just the
beginning of the struggle. She said demonstrations would
continue, aimed at the capitulation of ZANU-PF. According to
Khupe, there were demonstrations today in Mutare and over 100
demonstrators were taken into custody. (Comment.
Information is still sketchy and we are attempting to learn
more about events in Mutrare.)
¶8. (C) At a separate press conference earlier on March 12,
the leaders of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign not under arrest
condemned the police crackdown and called on the Home Affairs
Minister to release all of the political detainees. Many of
those present also demanded continued action against the
regime. Afterward, anti-Senate MDC advisor Jameson Timba
told poloff that the opposition intended to mobilize its
supporters around Tandare’s death. Noting that the MDC now
had another martyr, Timba said that the MDC planned to march
at Tandare’s funeral, which his family had been asked to
postpone until Tsvangirai was released from prison, so that
the opposition leader could attend.
——-
Comment
HARARE 00000195 003 OF 003
——-
¶9. (C) Highfield has enormous symbolism in Zimbabwean
politics. It was there in 1963 that ZANU-PF was formed and
it was to Highfield that Robert Mugabe returned from exile in
¶1980. In recent years it has become an MDC bastion. In
2002, Tsvangirai addressed a presidential campaign rally in
Highfield of more than 100,000 people. That a ZANU-PF
government would in its turn suppress the people of the
suburb and turn it into a war zone speaks volumes about the
extent to which Robert Mugabe and his regime have betrayed
the principles of liberation.
¶10. (C) The regime has lost the people of Highfield and with
them the people of Zimbabwe. Its actions are the desperate
attempts of a desperate regime to maintain its hold on power
through naked repression. However, as is so often the case
with this regime, it may prove its own worst enemy. The
GOZ,s heavy-handed tactics, resulting in death and serious
injuries, appear to be galvanizing the anger of the people
and the resolve of the opposition. Local observers have
commented on the new tone of open defiance and a willingness
to fight the police that is increasingly creeping into
demonstrations.
DELL
(65 VIEWS)
