Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04LILONGWE147
2004-02-23 13:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Lilongwe
Cable title:  

POLICE OPEN FIRE AT OPPOSITION POLITICAL RALLY;

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM CASC PINR MI 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS LILONGWE 000147 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM CASC PINR MI
SUBJECT: POLICE OPEN FIRE AT OPPOSITION POLITICAL RALLY;
TWO INJURED


SUMMARY
-------
UNCLAS LILONGWE 000147

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM CASC PINR MI
SUBJECT: POLICE OPEN FIRE AT OPPOSITION POLITICAL RALLY;
TWO INJURED


SUMMARY
--------------

1. (SBU) At a February 22 political rally of the opposition
Mgwirizano Coalition, police fired on the crowd, injuring two
people. The rally, which the police claimed could not take
place because the President was holding his own rally in the
vicinity, resumed later after Coalition leaders obtained a
court injunction. The two victims have reportedly been
treated and released from the hospital, and no AmCits are
known to have been injured. Shenanigans with rally permits
and the police's heavy-handed crowd control methods appear to
be part of a pattern of UDF attempts to undermine and prevent
opposition parties from holding public meetings. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Kholiwe Mkandawire, Spokesperson for the Coalition,
told polfsn that the Coalition had requested and received
permission to hold a rally at Njamba Freedom Park in Blantyre
on February 22. However, just before the rally was to begin,
the police delivered a handwritten letter from the Blantyre
City Assembly Chief Executive barring the rally from taking
place. According to Mkandawire, the letter said the rally
had to be canceled because the President was holding a ruling
United Democratic Front (UDF) rally 7 kilometers away from
Njamba Freedom Park. In attempts to disperse the crowd of
thousands, the police reportedly fired several rounds of tear
gas and blank bullets before changing to live ammunition.


3. (U) Two people were reportedly shot. The hospital
administration told polfsn that the two gunshot victims were
treated yesterday. In stable condition, both patients have
been released from the hospital. To post's knowledge, no
AmCits were injured.


4. (SBU) Amid the confusion, the police tried to dismantle
the speaker's platform, which the Coalition had paid the City
Assembly approximately USD 50 to construct. Coalition
leaders, however, sought and received a court injunction
allowing the rally to take place. Later in the afternoon, on
a partially dismantled platform, Coalition presidential
candidate Gwanda Chakuamba addressed the remaining supporters.

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

5. (SBU) Malawian police have a history of heavy-handed crowd
control, and it is almost exclusively wielded against
opposition rallies and demonstrations. President Muluzi's
decision to hold a simultaneous UDF rally in the vicinity of
the Coalition's was reportedly a last-minute development.
This was no coincidence, and we see a pattern appearing where
the ruling UDF prevents opposition parties from holding
public meetings through manipulating rally permits (mainly by
re-scheduling its own rallies wherever and whenever the
opposition plans to meet) and by heavy-handed police tactics.
The police-inspired violence at the Mgwirizano Coalition's
first major rally are signs of rising political tensions and
an increasingly polarized society, and it bodes ill for the
prospects of a peaceful campaign leading to the May 18
elections. END COMMENT.
BROWNING