EMBASSY HELPS OVER 300 IDPS, MORE IN NEED AS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 HARARE 000598 SIPDIS AF/S FOR S. HILL ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS DRL FOR KGILBRIDE IO FOR REBECCA GOLDENBERG PRM FOR MLANGE STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN DCHA/AA FOR MIKE HESS AFR/AA FOR KATE ALMQUIST AND FRANKLIN MOORE AFR/SA FOR ELOKEN, LDOBBINS, JKOLE DCHA/OFDA FOR KLUU, ACONVERY, TDENYSENKO, LTHOMAS DCHA/FFP FOR JBORNS, JDWORKEN, LPETERSON, ASINK DRL FOR JKRILLA, KGILBRIDE IO FOR RGOLDENBERG PRETORIA FOR JWESSEL, PDISKIN, GJUSTE PRM FOR BFITZGERALD, MMCKELVEY, MLANGE USUN FOR FSHANKS, ZKHALILZAD, RHAGEN, JDELAURENTIS GENEVA/RMA FOR NKYLOH, KPERKINS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2018 TAGS: EAID PHUM PREF PGOV PREL ZI SUBJECT: EMBASSY HELPS OVER 300 IDPS, MORE IN NEED AS CRISIS CONTINUES REF: A. HARARE 593 ¶B. HARARE 555 ¶C. HARARE 553 ¶D. HARARE 503 Classified By: Charge d'affaires a.i. Katherine Dhanani for reason 1.4( d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) On July 3, 308 displaced Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters came to the U.S. Embassy after being locked out of the MDC headquarters, Harvest House. Through considerable effort, Mission staff transferred about 64 women and 68 children to existing safe houses in Harare that day and on July 4 established a de facto small internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in a Harare suburb. While the International Organization for Migration (IOM),the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),UNICEF, and other organizations have stepped to assist IDPs at the site, the agencies remain concerned with keeping a low-profile given the ongoing ban on NGO field operations and perceived political associations of the IDPs. The informal network of safe houses in Harare is extremely tenuous, with many under threat from the local police or ZANU-PF youths. Malnutrition in children in the houses is on the rise, and access to medical care is very limited. Separately, a Zimbabwean Government (GOZ)-run camp housing IDPs who had previously sought shelter at the German and South African embassies was raided on the morning of July 7. Many were beaten and fled in the early morning raid, despite assurances from the GOZ that the camp would be safe. Nevertheless, UNICEF continues to believe that the U.S. Embassy should have worked with the GOZ to negotiate safe locations for IDPs. The IDP crisis and the humanitarian community's inability to effectively address it continue unabated. As evidence grows that "safe houses" cannot offer protection, the number of Zimbabweans crossing into neighboring countries is likely to grow. END SUMMARY. -------------- "We have nowhere else to go" -------------- ¶2. (C) At about 11 a.m. on July 3, 300 IDPs appeared at the U.S. Embassy seeking shelter. According to the IDPs, officials at the MDC's headquarters, Harvest House, announced on the evening of July 2 that everyone staying in Harvest House had to leave; at 6 a.m. on July 3, the front door was locked to prevent those who had left to seek bread or food from returning. Those remaining were told they had to leave. MDC officials told Emboffs that they provided bus fare to the IDPs and told them to go back to their homes; these officials felt that dissident MDC MPs were encouraging IDPs to remain in Harare for political purposes, and that they had sent them to the U.S. Embassy deliberately to raise their HARARE 00000598 002 OF 006 profile. Some in the group said that they came to make a political statement as well: one commented, "The old man is really mad now." (NOTE: It is not clear who decided to seek help from the U.S. It seems clear it was a well-organized movement, but it is also not unreasonable for IDPs to resist return to rural areas still subject to violence. END NOTE.) ¶3. (C) Having spent months together living at Harvest House, these IDPs were well organized with clear leadership structures. They calmly remained outside the Embassy delta barrier as the hours passed. Knowing each other after spending weeks and even months together at Harvest House, leaders were able to ensure the group wasn't infiltrated by outsiders. They caused no commotion and cooperated fully with Embassy instructions. -------------- Moving to safe houses -------------- ¶4. (C) Emboffs and USAID officers placed numerous calls to IOM, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services (CRS),and other NGOs throughout the day and evening of July 3 seeking a safe place to send the IDPs and additional assistance. Through considerable effort, lodging for the women was secured during the night of July 3. After those IDPs who urgently needed medical care (including two women in labor) were transported to the hospital by a local NGO and Medecins Sans Frontiers-Holland (MSF),efforts began to divide the women into groups for transport to safe houses. Very discreetly, attempting to avoid detection by security forces or the press, the women walked to buses that were parked two blocks away from the embassy in a church parking lot and were then taken to the safe houses. Unmarked Zimbabwean police and/or intelligence vehicles circled the block throughout the night -- at times filming from the car window. Because of the secrecy of the safe houses, it was also difficult to find vehicles and drivers deemed trustworthy to learn their locations. Just after the last group of women left at about 10:00 p.m., a group of four plainclothes security officers arrived with their supervisor, who had previously talked to the RSO, and filmed the men sitting on the sidewalk just adjacent to the embassy. By that time IOM had delivered blankets, so the men covered their heads and could not be easily identified. Although a church had offered to house 70 men for the night, emboffs decided at that point not to attempt the move, fearing that the vehicles would be followed, exposing the church. Emboffs provided water from the embassy's supplies and World Food Program (WFP) and IOM provided food and blankets for the men remaining on-site. They slept inside the delta barrier and there were no further incidents during the night. ¶5. (C) By the morning of July 4, cooking kits, food, and additional water was secured for the men remaining at the embassy. Emboffs and IDPs helped prepare donated food in the embassy cafeteria. A local businessman and regular embassy HARARE 00000598 003 OF 006 contact agreed to let the embassy use his land to establish a safe location for the remaining men, and a team of IDPs went out to prepare the site. IOM agreed to run the site through a local partner, Zimbabwe Christian Defense Trust (ZCDT). IOM provided tents, portable toilets, and cleaning facilities. UNICEF provided water through the weekend, although their continued support is questionable since they fear GOZ censure. ICRC provided cooking equipment, and WFP and CRS provided food. CARE and CRS, despite the NGO ban, have provided supplies and expertise as well. By nightfall on July 4, all of the remaining IDPs had arrived in safe locations. -------------- "Safe" houses not necessarily safe -------------- ¶6. (C) The 308 IDPs who arrived at the U.S. Embassy on July 3 remain in three different locations. All men are at one site, nicknamed "Green Acres," and the women and children are in two separate locations. On the evening of July 5, Zimbabwean police visited a site (an aging conference center) where over one hundred women and children went on July 3. Police demanded to see the "people who came from the American embassy." While the guards were able to deter the police, the couple who own the conference center remain under intense pressure to shut it down, which would mean turning several hundred women and children back on the street. Other safe houses that are run by an informal network of well-wishers report that police have jumped the wall at one house and put pressure on other houses to close down. At one three-bedroom house where 108 people stay, vehicles pulling into the drive are stoned by ZANU-PF youth that have surrounded the house. Raids of the houses are a very possible next step. ¶7. (C) With the NGOs shut down, informal networks of individuals who rent houses using privately generated donations have become one of the only effective means to respond to the crisis. However, these networks are under increasing scrutiny themselves, and their ongoing efforts are not sustainable. Within one informal network, a trained nutritionist has visited several of the houses and reports increasing malnutrition in children under 5. Many are in dire need of trauma counseling. One woman shared that when she was beaten in her home, her two-year-old daughter was raped in the next room. In one safe house, all of the children have the same skin fungus, but they have not yet received medical attention. With movement in and out of the houses increasingly limited, it is almost impossible to get IDPs to medical facilities or for doctors -- who are already overwhelmed -- to come to the safe houses without compromising the safety of all involved. According to one expert who dealt with violence victims during the Gukurahundi massacres in the 1980s, even if the violence stopped now, IDPs will likely wish to remain away from their homes until the end of the year, fearing further attacks. HARARE 00000598 004 OF 006 -------------- -------------- Lesson from Ruwa: Working with the GOZ is not an option -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) As reported in reftels, MDC-affiliated IDPs who recently sought help at the South African embassy were taken to the site of a former "re-education camp" in Ruwa, operated by the Ministry of Social Welfare, that was guarded by Zimbabwean police and run by the IOM with the local Red Cross (known to be closely affiliated with ZANU-PF),following an agreement between the GOZ, RSA, and various UN agencies. Emboffs were disturbed by confirmed reports that the camp was surrounded some nights by ZANU-PF youths shouting threats at the estimated 380 people staying there, and that the IDPs had been forced to attend nighttime ZANU-PF rallies. In addition, despite assurances that the organizations providing assistance at Ruwa would have access, IOM and other employees had been denied access to the site. On July 2, emboffs inquired about making a trip to Ruwa, but were strongly discouraged by IOM, who believed it would disrupt the tenuous agreements they had made with the GOZ to allow for assistance provision. IOM continued to assure emboffs that the location was safe, that international staff was on site around the clock, and that the GOZ had assured them the camp was safe. ¶9. (C) However, at about 2 a.m. on July 7, an unknown number of masked armed men wearing police boots and pants stormed the rehabilitation site, broke into the men's and women's quarters and began beating people. Early reports are that eight IDPs were hospitalized with soft tissue injuries (consistent with beatings),and it appears some may have fled into the bush. At the time of the raid, the only security staff on site was one person with the Zimbabwean Red Cross and one policeman. The frightened policeman reportedly called his chief, who did not send anyone to help. -------------- -- Message from UNICEF: You must work with the GOZ -------------- -- ¶10. (C) In a meeting with USAID staff on July 7 to discuss plans for the Green Acres site, UNICEF expressed its concern that the U.S. embassy had started the site without negotiating with the GOZ. (NOTE: An embassy diplomatic note informing the GOZ of the IDPs' arrival at the embassy and their transfer to an unidentified location was sent on July 4; there has been no official response to date. END NOTE.) With full knowledge of the attacks in Ruwa, UNICEF is contemplating pulling out of the Green Acres site, insisting that the USG should be working through GOZ channels. Without IOM, UNICEF, or other NGOs who are willing to take risks in running the site, it is unclear who -- besides Mission staff -- could do so. It is unclear how long the site will be necessary or able to operate. -------------- Helping 308 IDPs is just a start HARARE 00000598 005 OF 006 -------------- ¶11. (C) COMMENT: The steady flow of small groups of IDPs coming to the U.S. Embassy continues on July 7. While Embassy staff found safe locations for the 308 IDPs on July 3 and 4, it took numerous people working around the clock to pull it together. IOM is confident here are at least 30,000 IDPs in Zimbabwe; some reports suggest that undocumented cases could mean that the number is much higher. Thousands more IDPs remain on the streets of Harare, and the thousands who are in safe houses are still not safe. The negotiated agreement with the GOZ at Ruwa demonstrates the GOZ cannot be trusted to provide any kind of protection to these IDPs -- they have already beaten and displaced them. IOM and the UN agencies continue to walk a fine line between providing assistance and staying in good enough graces with the GOZ to prevent expulsion. However, we feel the UN's insistence that the GOZ has to be part of a solution to the IDP crisis is wholly unrealistic given today's violence in Ruwa and myriad other examples. ¶12. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: There appears to be a distinct disconnect between the bold statements of the UN Secretary General and the behavior on the ground in Harare of UN agencies and UN Country Team (Ref A). While statements from New York and Geneva suggest a bold defense of human rights despite the GOZ, the local response appears to be suggesting caution and maintenance of good relations despite a human rights catastrophe. Although the UN has been repeatedly urged in New York and Zimbabwe to more forcefully represent their mandate to defend the people, this seems to be tempered by weak-willed diplomacy. The humanitarian crisis continues, and it appears there is no end in sight without a major effort by the UN. As evidence grows that "safe houses" cannot offer protection, the number of Zimbabweans crossing into neighboring countries is likely to grow. -------------- NGOs Fearful About Cooperation -------------- ¶13. (C) ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Usually, the response to a crisis like this could be mobilized by the NGO community. In Zimbabwe, however, they are as immobilized by fear as the Zimbabwean people themselves. The GOZ ban on field operations by NGOs and its continued violent campaign against MDC activists greatly complicated Embassy efforts to secure cooperation from NGOs and humanitarian agencies and to hand off responsibility for managing the group of IDPs. Although NGOs still have food and items that are needed, the need to hide their assistance from the GOZ means that discussions now revolve around how to move items safely -- often in unmarked vehicles, at night, and on back roads. MSF showed up on the evening of July 3 offering tents and medical assessments; when they learned that the Embassy was not working with the GOZ, they withdrew their offers and disappeared. The HARARE 00000598 006 OF 006 identity of NGOs mentioned in this cable should be protected so that their other operations are not endangered. END COMMENT. Dhanani