A TALE OF TWO VICTIMS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001309

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR AGALANEK
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVELLE, D. TEITELBAUM
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY
PARIS FOR C. NEARY
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ZI
SUBJECT: A TALE OF TWO VICTIMS


Classified By: Political Officer Bianca Menendez for reason 1.5 d


1. SUMMARY: Although the media only reports political
violence occasionally, most often when it occurs against a
prominent individual, Zimbabwe continues to suffer from a
steady level of unreported violence that often is devastating
to the victims. The opposition is unable to protect its
people, and the police often refuse to. Even the judiciary is
ineffectual in protecting either side from the effects. END
SUMMARY.

GEORGE'S TALE
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2. (C) George, a former employee of the postal service and a
district level organizing secretary for the opposition MDC,
came to the Embassy July 27 hoping for help. According to
George, his difficulties began one night when he opened his
door to a group of ZANU-PF youths brandishing sticks and iron
bars. He slammed his door shut and screamed for help as the
group surrounded his home and began breaking the windows. He
escaped from the house, leaving his sisters and young brother
behind, and ran to a neighbor who phoned the police. The
police finally showed up at 2 am, by which point both he and
one of his sisters had been assaulted, and his house had been
looted and nearly demolished. The youths left only a shell of
the structure standing. Anything valuable was taken;
everything else was destroyed. George made a formal report to
the police and even identified some of his attackers, but the
police never followed up.


3. (C) George has since given up his job, after receiving
thinly veiled threats from the postmaster general that the
postal service did not employ MDC supporters. As a result,
he, his wife and children, and his sisters and brothers, all
of whom he was supporting, are now living with other
relatives. He went to his party for help. Officials took his
report and informed him that they had no funds to assist.
Post referred him to staff at the International Committee of
the Red Cross, who said they could lead him to the right
resources to get assistance.

BOB MAKONE'S TALE
--------------


4. (U) ZWNews reported on July 26 that Bob Makone, brother of
senior MDC official Ian Makone and brother-in-law of MDC
candidate for Parliament Theresa Makone, was abducted and
tortured. According to the article, he was abducted by
ZANU-PF youths, taken to a rally held by Minister of
Education Aeneas Chigwedere, then tortured overnight before
being released the next day. The same youths returned to the
Makone home to threaten his sister-in-law with death for
planning to run for Parliament.

COMMENT
--------------


5. (C) Bob Makone's story exemplifies the kind of political
violence that is reported in what remains of the independent
press here. Although these stories appear with alarming
regularity, they represent only an unknown fraction of the
systemic background violence against people like George.
Violence against these people has a lasting effect on entire
families, because they often cannot rebuild what they have
lost. The extended family is also taxed to help care for the
victims who, like George, may find themselves out of a job.
Some may find that the cost of their support for the
opposition is too high to be worthwhile, and cease political
participation completely.


6. (SBU) Political violence here generally is not lethal.
NGOs tracking political violence have recorded only three
political murders this year, ten last year. Political murders
in 2002, the last year with a national election, exceeded
200, which raises concerns over the possibility of escalating
violence in the coming months as the 2005 parliamentary
elections approach. Nonetheless, perpetrators of violence
here seem to calculate that their advantage is maximized by
having victims live to spread the word about the consequences
of opposing the ruling party.


7. (C) With scant resources, the MDC can not help its own
members and officials who are victims of such violence. The
police refuse to respond and protect MDC members, and the
courts prove ineffectual in cases involving political
violence. The lesson to the population at large is one of the
opposition's main handicaps: activism for the MDC can bring
pain and ruin with little prospect for reward.


8. (C) MDC youths, many of whom are impatient with their
leaders' attempts to work within the system and negotiate
with ZANU-PF, and who are tired of seeing the kind of
violence directed at people like George, represent an
important constituency of the MDC. If levels of ruling party
intimidation increase, as is expected in the run-up to the
elections scheduled for March, the MDC leadership may find it
harder to keep a lid on a latent impetus for violence among
many rank and file.
WEISENFELD