STATE MEDIA USES HATE LANGUAGE AGAINST OPPOSITION

UNCLAS HARARE 000364 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV OPRC ZI SUBJECT: STATE MEDIA USES HATE LANGUAGE AGAINST OPPOSITION ¶1. SUMMARY: State media used the 28th Anniversary of Zimbabwe's independence to continue its campaign against the opposition by broadcasting hate messages labeling the MDC's self-proclaimed victory in the presidential election "treasonous" and a reversal of 1980's independence. The government-controlled media dismissed the MDC's strong showing in the elections and accused the opposition of being a puppet in a British attempt to re-colonize Zimbabwe. Most of the coverage on Independence Day (April 18) was dominated by information and messages similar to those offered by ZANU-PF during the pre-election period, including continued running of ZANU-PF and Mugabe campaign commercials. The vernacular broadcasts were even more virulent than the English versions with calls for "war" and threats of violence and killing. END SUMMARY. ¶2. On the eve of Independence Day, state radio broadcast an interview with Bright Matonga, Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity in which there were marked differences between the English and vernacular broadcasts. While the interview was 53 minutes in English, the Shona broadcast was 94 minutes long. Matonga's interview covered the presidential election results, the MDC's election court cases, the Lusaka SADC summit, the MDC call for a national strike and so-called "treasonous" documents purporting to show UK and U.S. sponsorship of the MDC. ¶3. In the vernacular version, but not the English version, Matonga claimed the alleged documents demonstrated the MDC intended to reverse the land reform program by evacuating black farmers from the farms 10 hours after assuming power. He said the MDC would give 200 farms to former white farmers, remove war veterans from all government structures, replace the chief justice, the security chiefs, and give control of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to the Germans. His comments were then echoed in the state-daily, The Herald. ¶4. State media also used entertainment programming to incite hatred and violence. While some of the songs aired on state radio merely paid tribute to the country's liberation war heroes and supported government policies, some went much further. For example, Man Soul Jah's "Mr. Government" celebrated the government's land seizures and also called for the decimation of perceived political sellouts. It sings (in Shona) "...give me my spear so that I can kill the many sellouts in my forefathers' country..." The song "Tora Gidi" (Take the Gun),by the Harare Mambos, encourages people to take up arms and was aired regularly on television. ¶5. COMMENT: State media coverage of Independence Day (as well as ongoing coverage of the elections) should not be seen independently of the ongoing campaign of violence being perpetrated against MDC supporters. The coverage ahead of Independence Day appears to have been designed to encourage supporters of the ruling party and security forces to deal harshly with supporters of the opposition. Independence Day coverage is just one clear example of the way the Mugabe regime continues to use state-controlled media to incite hatred and violence in its campaign to stay in power. END COMMENT. DHANANI