OPPOSITION FIGURES ARRESTED, OFFICES RAIDED

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001526 SIPDIS AF/S FOR B. NEULING NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/09/2009 TAGS: PGOV PHUM ZI MDC SUBJECT: OPPOSITION FIGURES ARRESTED, OFFICES RAIDED REF: (A) HARARE 1497 (B) HARARE 693 (C) HARARE 220 Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHRISTOPHER W. DELL UNDER SECTION 1.5 B/D ¶1. (SBU) Zimbabwean police on the evening of September 8 arrested MDC MP and Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs Nelson Chamisa and 13 of his constituents at his home in Kuwadzana, a high-density suburb of Harare. Chamisa,s lawyer told us that he expected Chamisa to be charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for holding a constituency feedback meeting at his house without police approval. Still in custody as of the afternoon of September 9, Chamisa retained his cell phone and was in touch with the party and his lawyer, who said he would likely be released that day or the next. ¶2. (C ) Separately, MDC MP and Shadow Minister of Justice David Coltart confirmed to Poloff that police had raided the MDC,s Bulawayo offices on September 7. They initially arrived without a warrant, were denied entry, and returned with a warrant to search for "subversive materials." None were found. Coltart also reported that authorities had informed him September 8 that they planned to resuscitate a two-year old case, suspended last year, against him on a charge of discharging a firearm near a public road. A date had yet to be set for the case, in which he faced a fine of ZD2000 (about USD 0.40). ¶3. (SBU) In a third recent incident of harassment, Zimbabwean police released National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) President Lovemore Madhuku at 5:00 p.m. September 8 after arresting him twelve hours earlier at his home. According to NCA sources, he had been charged under POSA for organizing a public demonstration without police approval (ref A). Police also searched NCA offices and had wanted to seize the organization,s membership lists but were dissuaded by NCA lawyers. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: The MDC,s publicized election boycott (albeit conditional) does not appear to have altered the ruling party,s campaign tactics for the March parliamentary elections. The Chamisa and Madhuku arrests are consistent with historical patterns of declining GOZ tolerance for critics in the run-up to elections and likely presage even tougher times for ruling party opponents. That said, POSA may be a useful tool for harassment but it is not a decisive weapon in the ruling party,s arsenal. The state has arrested thousands under this colonial vestige but has never secured a conviction. The temporary loss of liberty and associated legal costs nonetheless deter civil disobedience for many prospective activists and smear opposition MPs with adverse publicity in the government media. Dell