POLICE RAID MDC HQ, BRIEFLY DETAIN TSVANGIRAI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000254

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR S. HILL
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
USAID FOR M. COPSON AND E. LOKEN
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ZI
SUBJECT: POLICE RAID MDC HQ, BRIEFLY DETAIN TSVANGIRAI

REF: HARARE 00246 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell under Section 1.5 b/d

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


1. (SBU) Scores of riot police cordoned off several blocks
around MDC headquarters in downtown Harare on March 28 and
invaded MDC offices. The police actions came just before MDC
President Morgan Tsvangirai was to hold a press conference to
address the abductions of several MDC leaders in the
preceding 24 hours. Police seized computers and files and
arrested numerous MDC officials and staffers. Tsvangirai was
detained for several hours at MDC headquarters before being
released unharmed. One of the MDC leaders abducted was badly
beaten and is now in hospital. The whereabouts of two others
remain unknown. An MDC MP and his wife were assaulted in
their home, but managed to escape their assailants. End
Summary.
--------------
Police Raid MDC Offices, Detain Tsvangirai
--------------


2. (SBU) A day after Morgan Tsvangirai delivered a defiant
call for the ouster of President Mugabe at the memorial
service for the opposition activist killed by police on March
11 (reftel),scores of riot police cordoned off several
blocks around the MDC headquarters in downtown Harare.
Police then entered the building and ransacked MDC offices
just before Tsvangirai was to hold a press conference to
address the abductions of several opposition leaders.


3. (SBU) According to MDC sources, police knocked down doors,
seized computers and files, and arrested a number of MDC
officials and staffers. Police detained Tsvangirai during
the raid, but released him before taking others to the police
station. According to our sources, police were interrogating
the detainees about information contained in computers and
files. Some of the detainees were released when police
determined they were not associated with the seized
materials. Lawyers have been denied access to the detainees.

--------------
Lawyers Served Notice to Back off or Else
--------------


4. (C) According to the MDC,s lawyers, when they attempted
to enter MDC offices to represent their clients, police
threatened to arrest them. One of the lawyers, Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights lawyer Otto Saki told us that he and
others had been receiving threatening phne calls throughout
the day. Saki said the lawyrs said they still had not been
granted access to those detained as of nightfall in Harare.
He andhis colleagues have petitioned the High Court for n
order to grant them access and/or to release the detainees.

--------------
Abductions and Assaults Aimed to Intimidate
--------------


5. (SBU) Tsvangirai,s press conference was to have brought
attention to a recent series of abductions and beatings of
MDC officials. Last Maengahama, a member of the MDC national

HARARE 00000254 002 OF 002


executive, was abducted at gun point from a shopping center
by unknown assailants shortly after the memorial service for
Gift Tandare on March 27 (reftel). At the service, he had
led mourners in a song at the request of Tsvangirai. He was
found that same night badly beaten in a village about 80 KMs
outside of Harare and taken to a nearby hospital. Maengahama
was later transferred to a hospital in Harare.


6. (C) Maengahama told us on March 28 that he was
blind-folded and beaten by several people. He said they
repeatedly asked him questions about the opposition's plans
and the names of its organizers. Maengahama added that at
one point he felt something like a needle prick. He then
began to convulse and his assailants fled.


7. (SBU) According to the MDC, unknown assailants also took
Ian Makoni, an advisor to Tsvangirai, and his wife, Theresa,
an MDC provincial official, from their home on the night of
March 27. There whereabouts are unknown. Also on March 27,
Edward Chisvuvure, MDC MP for Budiriro, and his wife, were
assaulted in their home. Their assailants accused them of
being involved in recent petrol bombings. The Chisvuvures
managed to escape.


8. (C) Frances Lovemore, director of Counseling Services Unit
(CSU),told us that the abductions and assaults were most
likely carried out by a "hit squad" of ZANU-PF thugs. She
said that Saviour Kasukuwere, Deputy Youth Development
Minister and MP for Mt. Darwin, was rumored to be the
principal organizer of the hit squad. Kasukuwere was a
Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) operative before a
meteoric rise within the ruling ZANU-PF party that eventually
saw him become an MP and deputy minister. Also, Kasukuwere
was the MP who reportedly paid for the burial of Tandare's
body in Mt. Darwin after it was seized from the deceased's
family (reftel).

--------------
Comment
--------------


9. (C) The raid on MDC headquarters appears to have had a
two-fold purpose: to prevent a press conference exposing the
GOZ-sponsored abductions and to either find evidence of MDC
participation in recent violence, or, more likely, to plant
evidence of such involvement. However, we would argue that
the GOZ has once again shot itself in the foot. After a lull
in press attention, the government,s proclivity for brutal
violence is again in the news ) and on the eve of the SADC
Extraordinary Summit. End Comment.
SCHULTZ