INCREASING GOVERNMENT BRUTALIZATION AND TORTURE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000159 SIPDIS NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER LONDON FOR C. GURNEY PARIS FOR C. NEARY NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2013 TAGS: PHUM PGOV ASEC ZI SUBJECT: INCREASING GOVERNMENT BRUTALIZATION AND TORTURE OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS REF: A. HARARE 77 ¶B. HARARE 151 Classified By: Political Officer Audu Besmer for reasons 1.5 b/d Summary: -------------- ¶1. (C) The Government of Zimbabwe has intensified its brutalization of political opponents and is increasing its reliance on torture as a means of intimidation. On January 16 a court-ordered medical exam revealed that an MDC MP and four other MDC members had been tortured while in police custody earlier that week. In response, the prosecutor declined to pursue the case against the MDC members, but he was threatened by the CIO, and has quietly inquired about fleeing to the UK. This comes amidst a number of other cases of beatings and unlawful arrest of high-profile opposition figures in the first 3 weeks of the New Year. Ahead of by-elections in Kuwadzana, and the Cricket World Cup, and in the midst of crippling food and fuel shortages, the GOZ appears determined to demonstrate that it remains firmly in control. End Summary. MDC MP Tortured -------------- ¶2. (C) On January 14 riot police arrested Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP Job Sikhala, Gabriel Shumba, a human rights lawyer in the Public Interest Unit of the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) (a local legal rights NGO),and three other MDC members at Nyamutamba Hotel in Chitungwiza. Suspected CIO agents held and tortured them for three days. Charles Mutama, an MDC member who was tortured alongside Sikhala, recounted to Poloff being taken alone on the evening of January 15 blindfolded from Harare Central Police Station to an undisclosed location about 45 minutes away by car. He was taken inside a 20 by 30 foot room where 8 persons interrogated him regarding MDC planned demonstrations, beat him with planks, strangled him with wire, attached electrodes to his fingers, toes, tongue and genitals and subjected him to electric shocks lasting about 20 seconds. The interrogation lasted about 6 hours. ¶3. (C) One interrogator, who was visibly drunk, urinated on him before forcing him to lie naked in a puddle of urine with a metal bucket over his head as shocks were administered. Mutama said he screamed uncontrollably during the shocks, his voice changing pitch as the voltage increased. He said he heard Sikhala's voice and screams in a neighboring room. When the five reconvened two days later each realized he had been subjected to similar torture. Poloff observed burn marks on Mutama's left 4th finger from the electrode which was wrapped around it, and cuts around his neck from the strangling. Torture Medically Confirmed -------------- ¶4. (C) Sikhala wept as he recounted his ordeal in a magistrate's court on January 15. By the magistrate's order the five were examined by a medical doctor, who certified they had been tortured. The five were nevertheless charged under the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) with planning to overthrow the government, and released on bail of US$20.00 (Z$30,000) each. Though the five must report to police weekly, the prosecution reportedly does not intend to pursue the case because of the confirmed torture, and for lack of evidence. Public Prosecutor Seeks Asylum -------------- ¶5. (C) On January 20 the lead prosecutor in the Office of Public Prosecutions in the Ministry of Justice, Thabani Mpofu, who prosecuted Job Sikhala recently, and several prominent cases against MDC members in the past year, approached the British High Commission in Harare seeking asylum. According to a British diplomat Mpofu has been informed by friends connected to the CIO several times in the past year that parties within CIO would like him eliminated for his lack of vigor in prosecuting MDC members. His friends had, up until January 20, advised him that they could handle the agitated parties. On that date, just after MDC MP Job Sikhala was released, his friends informed him they could no longer hold off the parties interested in his elimination. They advised him against going to work or home--he has complied. The British suggested he might consider going to South Africa and are making inquiries toward that end. A Poisoning Pattern -------------- ¶6. (U) In a public statement, the MDC on January 17 complained that several of its members, including Job Sikhala, who have been detained by police and suspected CIO agents in the past several months have been forced to drink unspecified liquids resulting in severe sickness in three cases, and death in two cases. The MDC also noted that former MDC MP for Kuwadzana, Harare, Learnmore Jongwe, died of chloroquine poisoning while in police custody. Community Leaders Beaten -------------- ¶7. (U) On January 14 ZANU-PF youth militia members detained four officials of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)--a USAID grantee--as they were meeting with Harare residents. The four were taken to a nearby room and beaten severely with bricks and police style batons for two hours by suspected CIO members. ¶8. (U) On January 15 MDC activist Farai Makiwa was abducted from Kuwadzana by ZANU- PF militia and beaten at an office at the Kuwadzana 5 shopping center. MDC Officials Arrested -------------- ¶9. (U) As reported in Ref A, MDC Executive Mayor of Harare Elias Mudzuri was arrested on January 11 and held for 48 hours along with 20 other councilors and council officials for hosting a public meeting with constituents in Harare. Though released, Deputy Mayor Sekesai Makwavara, who suffers from high blood pressure, is still recovering from the ordeal at home. ¶10. (U) On January 12, MDC MP Paul Madzore was arrested for allegedly assaulting two police officers and was beaten while in custody. On January 20, Paul Madzore's wife, MDC MP and Shadow Minister of Labor, Pauline Mpariwa, was arrested at her home in Marimba Park in Harare, held at Harare Central Prison for reasons that are still unclear, and released without charge 48 hours later. ¶11. (U) On January 2 MDC MP, Abednico Bhebhe, was arrested in Bulawayo for putting up posters that read 'Hoot, enough is enough'. Prosecutors originally sought a conviction under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA),claiming the activity could have endangered public safety by inciting violence. But they eventually dropped the case, reportedly for lack of evidence. ¶12. (U) From January 19 - 21 seven MDC Mashonaland East Provincial officials were arrested at their homes. Among them are Jane Chifamba, Provincial Chair for Mashonaland East Women's Assembly, Sam Kamudarira, the Provincial Youth Chair, and Leon Sunday, a member of the province's executive committee. No charges have been filed against any of the seven, who were still being held at Marondera Police Station Criminal Investigations Department on January 21. MDC MP Flees -------------- ¶13. (U) On January 20 the independent Daily News reported that MDC MP Tafadzwa Musekiwa fled to the UK saying he had specific information that he was on a government hit list together with Job Sikhala. Though he has been in the UK for about two months, he reportedly intends to return to Zimbabwe soon to prevent the GOZ from calling a by-election for his constituency, Zengeza in Harare. Musekiwa and Sikhala have been arrested several times since winning office in 2000. NGOs Condemn Violence -------------- ¶14. (U) In public statements on January 20 - 23 the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF),Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, the Human Rights NGO Forum, and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) separately condemned the recent arrests and tortures and criticized police, particularly the Law and Order Section, for their involvement. In separate statements, the organizations called on various parties including the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs, the Attorney General, the Police Commissioner, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and Interpol to prosecute the perpetrators, and restore public trust in the rule of law and the criminal justice system in Zimbabwe. ¶15. (U) Commentators and MDC officials have suggested that these recent arrests and tortures are part of a GOZ attempt to quash government critics and any potential anti-Mugabe mass demonstrations in the run-up to the Cricket World Cup in Harare in February. Comment: -------------- ¶16. (C) During the past three years, the Government has confined its tactics of physical intimidation / harm primarily to little-known figures who have no way of defending themselves or of publicizing their victimization. The GOZ's stepped-up use of torture against higher-profile figures is a new and troubling development which suggests an increasing concern about domestic pressure, and dwindling concern about international opinion. ¶17. (C) The GOZ is likely stepping up its campaign of violent intimidation now in response to a confluence of circumstances: the approaching Kuwadzana by-election (Ref B), the approaching Cricket World Cup, and ordinary peoples' increasing frustration with food and fuel shortages. The GOZ appears determined to demonstrate that even in the face of crippling economic and social hardships, it remains firmly in control. ZANU-PF is also demonstrating the intent to maintain its policy of "crushing the MDC" through every means available. End Comment. SULLIVAN