"OPERATION ROUND-UP" SO FAR LARGELY ILLUSORY

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000583 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: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC ZI SUBJECT: "OPERATION ROUND-UP" SO FAR LARGELY ILLUSORY Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Eric T. Schultz under Section 1 .4 b/d ¶1. (U) The GOZ-controlled Herald daily reported in a front-page story on May 15 that Harare police last week had picked up 10,000 "squatters, vagrants and street youths" for relocation to rural areas after "screening." According to the article, the exercise was part of "Operation Round-Up", an anti-crime program launched by police on April 12. ¶2. (SBU) International Organization for Migration Chief of Mission Mohammed Abdiker told poloff that IOM had confirmed the presence of 100 detainees at Melfort Farm (about 40 km east of Harare). According to Abdiker, the detainees were homeless victims of last year's Operation Restore Order picked up three weeks ago from the streets of Epworth, a high density Harare suburb. He added that 30 more detainees picked up much more recently were being held in Harare's central police station. He said that detainees in both locations were receiving one meal per day and added that IOM had not confirmed a report that three detainees had died from hunger. He added that homeless people were being arrested in unspecified numbers in the Harare suburbs of Mbare, Hatcliffe and Epworth, and there was an unconfirmed report of an additional camp for detainees near Mazowe. ¶3. (SBU) Representatives from UNICEF, Human Rights NGO Forum, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and Streets Ahead (an NGO that advocates for the homeless) told us they knew nothing of the operation beyond what had been reported in the Herald. The Embassy's police contacts also know nothing of the exercise. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: The authorities have long made periodic efforts to "clear" the streets of street children and other "undesirables." This latest report coincides with the first anniversary of "Operation Restore Order", the GOZ's urban demolition campaign that deprived an estimated 700,000 of their homes and/or livelihoods last year, and which some GOZ officials have referred to as &unfinished business.8 While the initial reports appear to exaggerate the exercise's magnitude, Post will track this issue closely and alert Washington to any further developments. SCHULTZ