GOZ CASTS MDC'S ZAMBIA EXCURSION AS USG PLOTTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000124

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR B. NEULING
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
AFR/SA FOR E. LOKEN
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2011
TAGS: PREL KPAO ASEC PHUM PGOV ZI MDC
SUBJECT: GOZ CASTS MDC'S ZAMBIA EXCURSION AS USG PLOTTING

REF: (A) DERDERIAN-MOZENA 2/3 E-MAIL (B)
DAYTON-NEULING 2/2 E-MAIL (C) HARARE 112
(D) HARARE 74 (E) 05 HARARE 1681

Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell under Section 1.4 b/d

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Summary
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1. (C) Following Zambia's expulsion of a delegation of
senior MDC officials on February 2 (refs A, B),Zimbabwe's
state media has alleged that the U.S. Embassy had arranged a
meeting in Zambia between the delegation and "officials from
US-funded Freedom House". The articles appear to be part of
a broader GOZ campaign to target Zimbabwe,s democratic
forces and our assistance to them. The allegations are
false. In fact, there is currently no Freedom House program,
though one has been proposed. That said, the articles are
indicative of the extent to which the government fears our
D/G program. We therefore recommend that discussion of the
program be confined to classified means and that we seek a
regional partner for Freedom House,s putative program. We
also recommend that the Department respond to press inquiries
(Para 6). End Summary.

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GOZ Allegations
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2. (U) Under a February 5 headline "CIA behind MDC safari to
Zambia", the GOZ-controlled Sunday Mail alleged that a
"highly placed MDC source" confirmed that Morgan Tsvangirai
and a group of senior party officials had gone to Zambia to
meet officials of Freedom House (FH),which the paper alleged
was US-funded and headed by "former CIA and FBI agents." The
article, also alleged that the meeting, which involved a
Kenyan named Samuel Mark Imende, had been arranged with the
assistance of Embassy Harare. With a headline "Government
probes MDC", the official Herald on February 6 featured
Security/Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa outlining GOZ plans to
launch an investigation.


3. (C) The articles appear to be the latest salvo in an
escalating GOZ campaign against Zimbabwe,s democratic
opposition and our assistance to them. Starting with the
heightened rhetoric of December's ZANU-PF National Conference
(ref E) against NGOs, this campaign has seen arrests and
death threats against prominent activists (refs C, D). In
the media, it has meant stepped up coverage of alleged
Western espionage and overseas "interference" in other
countries' internal affairs, with particular attention paid
to developments in Russia and the Russian government,s
impending crackdown on NGOs.


4. (C) We have not as yet been able to get a full readout
from the MDC on what actually occurred in Zambia. The
allegations as written are false. There is no FH program on
Zimbabwe, although one has been proposed. The MDC was trying
to arrange a meeting with its IRI media consultant, which at
our suggestion they had agreed to hold outside of the
country. However, the Kenyan with whom Tsvangirai and the
MDC delegation allegedly met is unknown to us. It is
possible that the GOZ heard something about FH from its MDC
sources or from monitoring phone conversations and in this
instance is conflating FH and IRI. It is also possible that
the articles are total spin that accidentally came close to
the mark.

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Post Recommendations
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5. (C) We have anticipated negative publicity of this sort
with respect to our democracy and governance program for some
time. While in this instance, the GOZ got it wrong, it
highlights the extent to which they are tracking our support
for Zimbabwe,s democratic forces and underscores the
importance of operational security when discussing the
proposed Freedom House program and other DG activities. We
recommend that in future USG agencies avoid discussing these
sensitive activities other than by classified means or
face-to-face meetings. However, despite our best
precautionary efforts, we can expect future GOZ efforts along
these lines. With that in mind, we also recommend that we
give serious consideration to partnering FH with a credible
regional NGO, such as Idasa in South Africa, that is readily
accepted by its local government and can help diffuse the
U.S. role in support of Zimbabwe's civil society.

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Press Guidance
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6. (C) The allegations are drawing international press
attention. We recommend that the Department issue a
statement playing on the state media's long record of
exaggeration and fabrication (USG responsible for HIV/AIDS,
drought, etc.) in dismissing this latest effort. To that end
we provide the following points:

-- Contrary to reports from Zimbabwe's state media, the U.S.
Embassy was not involved in the arrangement of alleged
meetings between the MDC and Freedom House in Zambia last
week.

-- The Government-controlled media,s charges are consistent
with the regime,s long-standing practice of fabricating
stories about perceived enemies rather than addressing
fundamental obligations of good governance.

-- We urge the Government to deal honestly with the nation's
problems, engage all of Zimbabwe's democratic elements, and
return to a path of international engagement that will permit
us to work together to restore the suffering country's
stability and prosperity.

-- (If asked) Consistent with applicable legal requirements,
the USG supports a broad range of activities and
organizations in Zimbabwe that advance democracy and rule of
law.
DELL