NGO AND ELECTORAL COMMISSION BILLS PASS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002003 SIPDIS AF/S FOR BNEULING NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVELLE, D. TEITELBAUM PARIS FOR C. NEARY E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ZI SUBJECT: NGO AND ELECTORAL COMMISSION BILLS PASS REF: A. 1790 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. 1563 ¶C. 1416 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.5 b/d ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Following President Mugabe,s state of the nation address on December 9 (septel),Parliament met in an unusual and unexpected extended session and passed two controversial bills: the NGO Bill and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Bill. The bills still await the signature of President Mugabe before becoming law. The ruling ZANU-PF party pushed through both bills on party line votes in the sparsely attended late night session, despite domestic and international criticism, especially of the NGO bill. Our NGO contacts anticipate a crackdown against several organizations as soon as the bill is signed. At least one organization is planning a constitutional challenge to the NGO bill. END SUMMARY. -------------- Parliament Works Overtime -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The December 9 approval of the two bills came unexpectedly. No vote had been scheduled, and it is highly unusual for Parliament to meet following Mugabe,s state of the nation address. Both bills had generated controversy, especially the NGO bill, and our contacts in both parties indicated that ZANU-PF had chosen to force the bills through before the Christmas break and at a moment when the opposition was unprepared. In the event, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) bill passed with little debate by a vote of 65 to 30. However, the NGO bill generated heated debate before passing by a vote of 48 to 22. In both cases ZANU-PF M.P.s present voted for the bills while MDC M.P.s opposed, but the MDC notably failed to muster its votes to send a clear message of opposing the legislation. ¶3. (C) The last-minute debate on the NGO bill was itself unusual and a reflection of the controversy the bill has generated. Normally, debate on a bill would have ended well before its third and final reading. Parliament had already given the bill an extraordinary degree of consideration, including the largest public parliamentary hearing ever held in Zimbabwe last September. The intense domestic and international criticism of the bill failed to prevent its passage but did prevent inclusion of amendments from the Ministry of Social Welfare that would have extended the bill,s most controversial feature, its ban on foreign funding, to even more categories of NGOs (Refs B and C). -------------- NGO Bill Provisions -------------- ¶4. (C) According to staff at the NGO Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR),NGOs have been preparing for the passage of the bill. ZLHR registered as a trust to take advantage of the six-month grace period the bill establishes for already registered organizations to register under the new legislation, during which time they would not be subject to government scrutiny. It plans to register now as a law firm in order to continue its public interest litigation. Staff at ZLHR say other NGOs will try similar tactics and may abandon some of their activities in the hopes of being allowed to register under the new bill. ¶5. (C) Many NGO representatives have told us they expect that there will be a crackdown on selected organizations the Government finds most offensive as soon as the bill is signed. Despite the six-month grace period, the NGO Council created under the bill will have wide discretion and could begin targeting NGOs immediately as well as refusing to register organizations. ZLHR expects to be one of the targeted organizations and has closed to the public until further notice. ¶6. (U) According to the Daily Mirror on Saturday, the Law Society of Zimbabwe plans to challenge the constitutionality of the NGO bill, among other laws, on the grounds that it violates human rights by preventing dissent. -------------- Election Law -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) bill is one of two electoral reform bills (ref A); the Electoral Bill is still under consideration by Parliament. The ZEC bill establishes a commission to prepare for and oversee elections and to conduct voter education. The bill has been criticized by the MDC for not clarifying the differences between the function of the Commission and the already existing Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC),also a constitutional body, which has overseen previous elections. ¶8. (SBU) Commission members are to be nominated by Parliament and appointed by the President (except for the Chairperson, who is appointed in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission). The ZEC will have control of registration of voters and supervise the Registrar-General, a constitutional body subject to considerable criticism in prior elections as a ruling party tool used to steal elections. The bill requires that organizations conducting voter education use no foreign funding, unless that funding is channeled through the ZEC. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: The passage of the bills is a serious setback for freedom, democracy, and human rights in Zimbabwe. No doubt the GOZ will use its new powers to further stifle dissent and opposition. That said, there was a small ray of light in the extensive debate of the bill and the parliamentary activism evidenced. We share NGO concerns about a crackdown against NGOs on the heels of the NGO bill, but it remains to be seen how the GOZ will use this bill. If experiences under POSA and AIPPA are any indication, the Government may enforce the new law selectively, concentrating on closing a few of its most outspoken critics while continuing to rely on harassment and self-censorship to deal with the rest of the NGO community. The underlying fragility of that community was underscored by the fact that it did not raise more of a fuss the morning after the bill passed: World Human Rights Day would have been the perfect opportunity to lampoon the GOZ for its repressive policies. END COMMENT. DELL