RESTORE ORDER UPDATE: DEMOLITIONS CONTINUE,

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001006 SIPDIS AF FOR DAS T. WOODS AF/S FOR B. NEULING NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EAID ECON ASEC ZI SUBJECT: RESTORE ORDER UPDATE: DEMOLITIONS CONTINUE, RETURNS START REF: A. HARARE 991 ¶B. HARARE 980 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Eric T. Schultz under Section 1 .4 b/d -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (S) Despite the Government,s announcement of the suspension of Operation Restore Order, demolitions continue sporadically in Harare, including the destruction of an industrial complex on July 18. The police are reportedly waiting for word from President Mugabe himself before agreeing to suspend the operation. In Bulawayo yesterday, press reports and local Embassy contacts indicate that police went to churches where displaced people had been staying and forcibly removed them to a transit camp. On a more positive note, the Government began returning some of the families displaced from Hatcliffe to their original home plots after determining that they had had valid lease agreements, without however making any provision for their humanitarian needs. End summary. -------------- Demolitions Continue -------------- ¶2. (S) Despite Local Government, Public Works, and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo,s official announcement on July 15 that the Government would suspend Operation Restore Order (ref B),Embassy staff receive continued reports of demolitions around Harare. Sensitive reporting has indicated that the police are waiting instructions from President Mugabe himself before suspending the operation. ¶3. (C) On July 18, poloff and polasst visited the Kopje neighborhood of Harare after hearing reports that police were demolishing an industrial complex. Employees of an auto parts provider and a coffin manufacturer, all Zimbabweans, said police had torn down the complex on July 18 without warning and without explanation. An article on the demolition in the July 19 edition of ZWNews quoted a police officer saying that they had strict orders to tear the two businesses and that the police did not take orders from newspapers, an apparent reference to the July 16 edition of the official Herald, which carried a front-page article on Chombo,s announcement. ¶4. (SBU) On July 18, the security guard at an Embassy residence reported that city employees had been moving 
through his neighborhood, near the Harare suburb of Hatfield, marking houses they were planning to tear down. The officials were demanding payment of 3.5-4 million Zimbabwean dollars to avoid demolition. He said that officials had started marking houses and demanding the fee the same day Chombo announced the suspension of the operation. -------------- Bulawayo Update -------------- ¶5. (C) In Bulawayo, on July 20, press reports, subsequently confirmed by local Embassy contacts, indicate that police trucks went around to churches housing the displaced from Operation Restore Order (ref A) and forced about 500 people to a transit camp that had been set up outside of Bulawayo. The police reportedly told the people they had until the end of the day to leave and that the camp, which had only recently been set up, would be dismantled. World Vision staff told Embassy officers that they went to the camp to distribute food and were told to leave. Only Zimbabwean Red Cross staff, the GOZ,s humanitarian assistance provider of choice, had been allowed to remain. The World Vision employees added that there were no indications of the location to which the displaced would be moved. -------------- Some Displaced Being Moved back to Homes -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The July 21 edition of the Herald announced that hundreds of the families taken to Caledonia transit camp returned to their housing plots on July 20, with transportation provided by the Government. According to the article, officials in the Harare City Council, the Ministry of Local Government, and the Department of Social Welfare &vetted8 the families and determined that many held valid lease agreements or had legally paid for their plots and should be given lease agreements. Government would &assist8 in (re) building houses on the plots as part of the government,s National Housing Delivery Program. The displaced families, however, have returned to destroyed homes and no immediate provisions appear to have been made by the GOZ for their humanitarian needs. ¶7. (C) In June USAID in conjunction with the World Bank wrote to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works, and Urban Development, requesting that the Ministry allow displaced families from Hatcliffe who had housing plots allocated under a USAID-funded housing program to return to those plots. USAID and other international donors are gearing up to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Hatcliffe families. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) The actions in Bulawayo and Harare indicate that Restore Order may still not be over, despite the South African pressure. We will continue to monitor GOZ actions for further signs that it is not observing the announced suspension of the operation. SCHULTZ