GOZ TURNS UP HEAT ON NGOS, BANS VISITS OF SOME

UNCLAS HARARE 002545 SIPDIS SENSITIVE NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ZI SUBJECT: GOZ TURNS UP HEAT ON NGOS, BANS VISITS OF SOME ZIMBABWEANS REF: A. HARARE 2337 ¶B. HARARE 2128 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Parliament resumed November 12 after a 3-week adjournment and Government ministers took advantage of the opportunity to turn up the heat on groups it accuses of supporting the opposition, such as Amani Trust and SW Radio Africa. The actions suggest ZANU-PF is forging ahead in its bid to re-create a one-party state. END SUMMARY. GOVERNMENT TRYING TO CRUSH DISSENTING VIEWS -------------- ¶2. (U) Parliament resumed on November 12 with ZANU-PF ministers stepping up attacks on groups it accuses of supporting the opposition. The Government has been threatening NGOs since mid-September, when it issued a note for all NGOs to register with the Ministry of Social Welfare--in compliance with the Private Voluntary Organizations Act (PVO)--or cease operations. The GOZ has taken particular interest in NGOs it perceives to be hostile to ZANU-PF. The state-controlled newspaper, The Herald, criticized Amani Trust, a prominent human rights organization that counsels torture victims and publicizes human rights violations, several times in October, most recently accusing it of being illegal. ¶3. (U) In the November 12 parliamentary session, Minister of Public Service, Labor, and Social Welfare, July Moyo, said Amani Trust was not properly registered and its leadership risked being arrested. Minister of State Security, Nicholas Goche, chimed in that Amani Trust, as well as Westminster Foundation for Democracy, Zimbabwe Democracy Trust, and Southern Africa Media Development Fund, was engaging in activities intended to unseat the government. Patrick Chinamasa, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, defended the GOZ decision to list Zimbabwean citizens among the sanctions list of people banned from visiting Zimbabwe. On November 8, The Herald published a list of people prohibited from entering the country. Seven people from SW Radio Africa--an independent radio station that broadcasts out of London--were on the list. Chinamasa told Parliamentarians that Zimbabweans on the list would be arrested if they came back to Zimbabwe saying, &we cannot have these people demonizing the government every day on the radio...They will be welcome in our prisons." ¶4. (SBU) Brian Raftopoulos, a political commentator at the University of Zimbabwe, said the trend is clearly towards a one-party state. The GOZ decision to ban Zimbabweans from freely coming back home could be a precursor to increased internal migration restrictions. Raftopoulos said the GOZ could begin restricting people from leaving the country also. Regarding GOZ plans to enforce the PVO Act, Raftopoulos said the GOZ seems to be stepping up its efforts to rid the country of human rights and democracy NGOs and civic groups. Raftopoulos said some civic groups are developing contingency plans in case the GOZ forces them to cease operations. ¶5. COMMENT: Through its parliamentary majority, ZANU-PF seems to be consolidating its power by passing more restrictive legislation and recent GOZ rhetoric suggest certain NGOs are the next imminent targets. The decision to ban from the country Zimbabweans who criticize the Government seems to be a particularly egregious step, and we would appreciate Department's guidance on whether it violates any international agreements to which Zimbabwe is a party. END COMMENT. SULLIVAN