ZIMBABWE: VIOLENCE OF RETRIBUTION CONTINUES;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000998 SIPDIS NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JFRAZER LONDON FOR CGURNEY PARIS FOR CNEARY NAIROBI FOR TPFLAUMER E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2012 TAGS: PGOV PHUM EAGR ASEC ZI SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE: VIOLENCE OF RETRIBUTION CONTINUES; COMMERCIAL FARMERS BEING EVICTED EN MASSE REF: A. HARARE 981 ¶B. HARARE 789 ¶C. HARARE 713 Classified By: Political Officer Todd Faulk ¶1. (C) Summary: Ruling party militants continue their campaign of violent retribution against opposition supporters, six weeks after Zimbabwe's presidential election ended. Since March 11, at least 18 people have died in political violence, bringing the total for the year to at least 54. The number of internally displaced persons has soared in the last month; at least 100,000 MDC sympathizers have been made homeless since early March, according to local NGOs. Reports of systematic sexual abuse by ZANU-PF militants against women are coming to light; one local NGO is preparing legal action against ZANU-PF on this issue. On the commercial farms, the forcible eviction of farmers and hundreds of their workers is accelerating. In some areas, the evictions are being conducted en masse, often with the help of the police, to make way for military and GOZ officials who were promised rewards for backing Mugabe. The eviction of commercial farmers has spread and is now a nationwide phenomenon. Property and legal rights are essentially a thing of the past for Zimbabwe's white minority, and basic human rights for the majority are increasingly disregarded. End summary. -------------- Political Violence Continues Unabated -------------- ¶2. (U) Six weeks after Zimbabwe's presidential election ended on March 11, ruling party youth, militants, and war veterans continue their campaign of violent retribution against opposition supporters. According to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, an umbrella group of local human rights groups, 54 people have died in political violence since the beginning of this year; by our count, 18 of these were killed after the election. (Note: Three additional deaths not mentioned in the Forum's report have been reported to us by other sources, which indicates that the actual death toll could be higher. End note.) The Forum's April 15 report showed that 35 of those killed were MDC supporters, seven were ZANU-PF, two were war veterans, and ten were of unknown political affiliation. At least five of those killed were MDC polling agents, including Petros Jeka, who was stabbed to death by suspected ZANU-PF supporters near Masvingo on April 4. The April 23 edition of the independent "Daily News" reported that ZANU-PF youth killed a 55th victim, Brandina Tadyanemhandu, in her home on April 21 by cutting her head off with an ax in front of her two young daughters. A Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson termed the report a "grandiose lie." ¶3. (SBU) Since January 1, the Forum's member organizations have received reports of 945 cases of political beatings or torture, 229 cases of intimidation or threats, 214 kidnappings, 143 unlawful detentions, 29 disappearances, and 5 politically-motivated rapes. (Note: The number of rapes is likely much higher due to the social stigma against reporting rape. End note.) The Zimbabwe Women Lawyers' Association (ZWLA) stated in an April 18 "Financial Gazette" article that it is gathering evidence of systematic sexual abuse of women at the hands of ZANU-PF supporters for a legal case against the ruling party. ZWLA stated that scores of women have been raped in ZANU-PF militia camps around the country because of their support for the MDC. Frances Lovemore of the Amani Trust human rights NGO told POLOFF that the problem is not necessarily increasing, but is only being reported more now with the ZWLA's involvement. Many of the internally displaced women who come to Amani do not report cases of sexual abuse, many because they are afraid of being divorced. Lovemore noted that farm workers are more frequently asking NGOs for condoms, perhaps because they fear having relations with a wife who has been attacked. -------------- Number of Internal Refugees Skyrockets -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Speaking more generally of internally displaced Zimbabweans, Lovemore told POLOFF April 22 that the problem continues to spiral. Just since the election, 53,000 have been displaced in Mashonaland West province alone, and 69,000 have been displaced from communal lands nationwide. Another 10-12,000 are homeless in urban areas, and thousands of commercial farm workers have been displaced, most in the Mashonaland provinces, Lovemore stated. She could not estimate the total, but the figures she gave us put the total number of internally displaced persons well above 100,000. More continue to stream into Harare every day, Lovemore reported; Amani Trust just set up another camp for 400 commercial farm workers from Marondera on April 22. Lovemore informed POLOFF that local NGOs, partially with USAID funding, are organizing a nationwide network of camps to handle the increasing masses of displaced people. As another example of displacement, in an April 19 press release, the MDC stated that 12 of its supporters in Makoni North were assaulted and evicted from their homes earlier in the week; their huts were burned down in the presence of the police, who made no arrests. ¶5. (SBU) Philip Muskwe, director of the non-partisan Uzumba Development Trust (UDT) NGO, told POLOFF April 23 that ZANU-PF militants have made at least 600 people homeless in Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe (UMP) district (Mashonaland East) alone. Twelve homes belonging to MDC supporters, including three polling agents, were recently burned down. UDT is cooperating with Amani and Tim Neill,s Zimbabwe Community Development Trust to establish up to five refugee camps in UMP district for up to 1,500 people, Muskwe stated. Although there are not many commercial farms in UMP, many resettled farmers there are leaving their plots for the Macheke area (75 km to the south),where many commercial farmers have been expelled. This is creating tension with the Macheke farm occupiers, who complain that they are first in line for Macheke property and the UMP settlers are "queue jumpers." This merely reflects the chaotic and unorganized nature of the farm seizures, Muskwe opined. Political violence continues unabated in UMP, Muskwe added; an MDC activist, George Kamudzanga, was so severely beaten in an attack last week that he is now permanently wheelchair-bound. Many MDC supporters, mostly youth living with their parents, are attacked in the middle of the night and told never to return to UMP. -------------- Commercial Farmers Evicted En Masse -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The situation on the commercial farms continues to deteriorate. Over the last several weeks, war veterans and ZANU-PF militia, often with the aid of the police, have become more aggressive in forcibly evicting commercial farmers and farm workers from their homes. Many farm workers have been beaten in the process. The farmers are usually given only a few hours to leave and take what personal belongings they can. They are not permitted to remove any farm equipment, including tractors, trucks, generators, irrigation works, or fertilizer (see REF A). Usually the farmhouses are ransacked and looted, sometimes before the farmers can leave, and any harvested crops, tractors and trucks are stolen. The farm workers, homes are often burned down. The Marondera area (about 60 km southeast of Harare) has been particularly hard-hit, where nearly every farm (some 30 in all) has been invaded and pillaged, regardless of whether the farm was ever listed for acquisition or the farmer served with a Section 8 eviction notice. For every farm attacked, 300-600 people have been displaced, according to Mary Wood, a farmer in the area. The evictions appear to be spreading; we have received reports that farms or ranches in Mazoe (35 km north of Harare),Gokwe (Midlands province), Muzurabani (Mashonaland Central),Gwanda and Beitbridge (Matabeleland South) have been similarly attacked. In most cases, the invasions appear to take place in the presence of police details and at the behest of a local police commander, government official, or military officer, who have been promised plots or entire farms. When farmers plead with the police to intervene, they are usually told that it is a political matter or a land issue and they should contact the local district administrator or the Lands Committee in Harare. Some have done this, but to no avail. ¶7. (SBU) Below is a compendium of some of the more egregious commercial farm reports we have received in the last week: -- Ian and Kerry Kay, commercial farmers and MDC activists, were forced off their farm on March 15 (REF C). They have been living in Harare ever since. With the help of their lawyers, they recently re-served the court order (initially issued last year) requiring the farm occupiers to leave on the provincial governor, provincial administrator, district administrator and police. All refused to receive it. The district administrator simply threw it back at them without reading it. When Ian attempted to return to the farm last week, he found two army details present; they would not allow him to enter the property. He found out later that all of his harvested tobacco and paprika and 250 head of cattle have been stolen. All his workers are now encamped in Harare. The farm has essentially ceased to operate. -- On March 20, 15-20 occupiers locked themselves in the home of Marondera farmer Mike Colahan, who summoned the police. When they arrived, they were accompanied by Gerry Gatora, the ZANU-PF provincial legal advisor, who orchestrated a "kangaroo court" for Colahan. Gatora accused Colahan of making pangas (machetes) and petrol bombs on his property for the MDC, but could produce no credible evidence. On April 19, 25-30 militia members showed up, forced Colahan,s workers out of their homes, and told Colahan he had two hours to pack and leave. When he returned later, he found his house ransacked, his workers, houses looted and his tractors and farm trucks missing. His property has never been listed for compulsory acquisition, he told poloff. -- Guy Cartwright told embassy officers that on April 6, retired brigadier general Ambrose Mutinhuri showed up at his Waltondale farm near Marondera with two police details and a crowd of drunken, violent youth. The youth threw most of his personal belongings out of the house, and smashed or looted what was left. Twenty of his workers were "severely assaulted." The police escorted him back onto the property days later to find his tractors and trucks gone; the police told him he could not remove his tobacco crop, which is now in curing sheds. -- Angry war veterans, accompanied by embarrassed GOZ agricultural extension officials, arrived on the Tamba ranch in Gwanda district for the first time on April 20 by smashing the gate lock, John Darlow told poloff. The war vets told Darlow he should leave immediately as his property was being pegged for resettlement. Darlow had received a Section 8 eviction notice on January 7 and has been fighting local officials over it in the courts. Darlow reported that War Veterans Association Secretary for Projects Andrew Ndlovu arrived in the area two weeks ago and has been instigating actions against farm and ranch owners. Three ranchers in the area have already been forced off their property. According to Darlow, Shannon Wheeler,s large orange orchard in Beitbridge district, was recently invaded, and Wheeler has not been allowed to leave his house. Occupiers there are chopping down the orange trees and confiscating the oranges. -- Mack Gloss, another Matabeleland South rancher, told poloff that on April 19, governor Stephen Nkomo stirred up trouble by making stops along the main road in the district and telling youth and war vets to begin taking over the white-owned ranches. Nkomo also warned the police not to interfere. Gloss stated that at least 20 farms and ranches in Gwanda and Beitbridge districts have been affected. Poaching has increased markedly--at least 100 animals a day are being slaughtered for sale to local abattoirs; even two giraffes were recently killed by poachers, Gloss reported. All of this is being sanctioned by local GOZ officials, who are doling out plots to themselves, policemen and local ZANU-PF-affiliated businessmen. Even Mr. Moyo, the dean of Bulawayo Polytechnic Institute has been awarded a ranch. ZANU-PF MP and Deputy Foreign Minister Abedinico Ncube has already moved onto a neighbor's ranch after forcibly expelling the rancher, Gloss stated. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) It is clear that Mugabe has no intention of cutting back on political violence until he has eliminated his political foes as a viable source of opposition. Following this script, there appears to be no end in sight to the significant human rights violations that occur daily in Zimbabwe. Victims have increasingly little recourse as the police more frequently turn a blind eye or dismiss acts of criminality as "political matters." On the land issue, a massive new land grab is currently underway, and this grab appears to be more a political reward for well-connected ZANU-PF supporters than a real attempt to resettle communal farmers or landless peasants. Everyone from senior government ministers to local government officials to military officers are reaping the windfall of Mugabe's tainted electoral win, sometimes at the expense of farm occupiers who have been in place for two years. Property and legal rights are essentially a thing of the past for Zimbabwe's white minority, and basic human rights for the majority are increasingly disregarded as a tiny elite tightens its repressive grip on the country. End comment. SULLIVAN