SEEKING A SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON ZIMBABWE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 063183 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2013 TAGS: PHUM PREL UNSC ZI SUBJECT: SEEKING A SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON ZIMBABWE Classified By: IO DAS Brian Hook for Reasons 1.4 (b) AND (d) ¶1. (SBU) Action request: Action addresses are asked to demarche host governments at the highest possible level on an urgent basis and report back to contacts listed below in advance of the Security COUNCIL informal consultations on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 12. Posts should seek host government agreement to support a formal Security COUNCIL meeting to discuss the political and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe before the June 27 Presidential run-off election. Posts should draw on the points in para 2 below. If USUN assesses that there are the nine affirmative votes needed to agree to hold such a meeting, USUN may call for a vote as early as June 13 to adopt the agenda for the meeting. The meeting itself would likely be held following Assistant Secretary General Haile Menkerios' June 17-19 trip to Zimbabwe. Background is provided in paras 3-8. Posts are requested to respond as quickly as possible by e-mail or cables slugged for IO/UNP-Rebecca Goldenberg. End Action Request. ¶2. (U) Begin points: -- We believe the situation in Zimbabwe poses an increasing threat to international peace and security in the region and seek a formal COUNCIL meeting before the June 27 run-off election. We may try to vote as early as June 13 to adopt the agenda for the formal meeting in order to send a signal to the Government of Zimbabwe that the Security COUNCIL is closely following its actions and to give weight to UN envoy Menkerios' mandate. The formal Security COUNCIL meeting itself would likely be held following Assistant Secretary General Haile Menkerios' June 17-19 trip to Zimbabwe. -- (For all posts except Ougadougou) We appreciate your previous support for addressing Zimbabwe in the COUNCIL and hope you will support a formal UNSC meeting. -- (For Ougadougou) We are pleased that President Compaore has informed Secretary Rice of Burkina Faso,s intention to support a Security COUNCIL meeting on Zimbabwe. -- We believe a free and fair Presidential election on June 27 is vital to the stability of Zimbabwe and of the region. For that reason, we are especially alarmed at the credible reports of large-scale, systematic violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe targeted at members of the opposition party and their supporters that could make a legitimate and credible election impossible and undercut the will of the Zimbabwean people as expressed in the March 29 elections. -- We believe the Security COUNCIL must be involved. The Council must send a signal that the international community is watching and will not tolerate such flagrant violations of fundamental HUMAN rights. Without this pressure, we are gravely concerned that there will be no possibility for a free and fair election and, without a legitimate election, certain prospects for greater violence, acute HUMAN suffering, and increased refugee flows. -- The increasing violence in Zimbabwe is affecting Zimbabwe,s citizens as well as humanitarian aid workers and diplomats, and threatens to escalate in the days before and after the election. Since the March 29 election, over 60 people have been murdered for the mere suspicion of supporting the opposition, hundreds have been arrested, and tens of thousands have been injured or forced to flee their homes. The Zimbabwean government is also reportedly banning several future opposition campaign rallies. -- On June 4, Presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was detained by the police for eight hours without cause and then detained again on June 6. On May 13, U.S. Ambassador McGee and representatives from eight other diplomatic missions were detained by Zimbabwean security forces for about an hour. On June 5, five U.S. and four British diplomats were detained at gunpoint and threatened for six hours by Zimbabwean military, police, and a group known as the "war veterans." These STATE 00063183 002 OF 003 detentions are unacceptable and violate the Vienna Convention on the treatment of foreign diplomats. -- On June 5, the Zimbabwean government extended its campaign of intimidation to NGOs and to some IOs, indefinitely suspending their operations and thereby turning its back on the humanitarian needs of its own people. UN agencies in Zimbabwe asserted that this ban violated fundmental HUMAN rights principles and "created life threatening conditions" for more than 2 million vulnerable people who survive on donor support; cut off support to tens of thousands of orphans and vulnerable children and disrupted donor programs to combat HIV/AIDS. There is fear that the government will now use food relief as a political weapon to achieve favorable election results. -- The effects of the Zimbabwean government,s policies are being felt throughout the region. For example, people of Mozambican and Malawian origins living and working in Zimbabwe have in many cases been forced to return to their ancestral countries. And in South Africa, Zimbabweans who are fleeing to escape economic collapse and political unrest have been the target of vicious anti-foreigner attacks. The situation is clearly threatening stability in the region. -- We have supported and continue to support African efforts to resolve the crisis. Unfortunately, there is no indication to date that President Mugabe or his senior leadership is listening. We hope that UN Assistant Secretary General Haile Menkerios will be received by President Mugabe and permitted to work unhindered in facilitating a free and fair election, including the accreditation and deployment of election observers from the African Union and the Southern Africa Development Community throughout the country well in advance of the June 27 run-off election. -- COUNCIL consideration of Zimbabwe at this time would provide much-needed support to regional efforts to find a solution that reflects the will of the people. It would also be consistent with the Council's authority under the Charter to address situations that might lead to international friction and to encourage regional conflict resolution efforts. A UNSC meeting on Zimbabwe would also be consistent with the Council,s action in adopting resolution 1809, which expressed the Council,s determination to strengthen UNSC cooperation with regional organizations in conflict prevention. Background -------------- ¶3. (U) Post-Election Violence: In advance of the June 27 run-off Presidential election, the Zimbabwean government has unleashed a surge of government-encouraged violence targeting Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters, especially in rural areas. Dozens of suspected opposition supporters have been killed, hundreds arrested, and thousands forced to flee their homes. Presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was detained by the police for more than eight hours on June 3 and detained again on June 6. On June 5, the GOZ suspended international relief operations. ¶4. (U) Detention of U.S. and UK Diplomats: On June 5, five American and four British diplomats, as well as 3 local employees from the American Embassy, were detained by the Zimbabwe military, police and "war veterans" for six hours. One of the local staff was beaten and the tires on one of the vehicles were slashed. The diplomats were threatened with being burned alive inside their cars, if they did not follow the police to a local police station. The United States protested this violation of the Vienna Convention to the Foreign Ministry in Harare and to the Zimbabwean Ambassador in Washington. ¶5. (SBU) Electoral Assistance: President Mugabe invited the AU, SADC, and "friendly nations" to the GOZ to observe the run-off election on June 27. The UN's Electoral Assistance Division is providing financial support to these observers through the UN Electoral Assistance Trust Fund and hopes to fund the deployment of 500 AU/SADC observers. The U.S. and several other concerned nations will be making a substantial donation to the Trust Fund. STATE 00063183 003 OF 003 ¶6. (U) UN Envoy to Zimbabwe: On June 5, the press reported that Secretary General Ban had secured President Mugabe,s agreement to accept the UN's official help in the electoral process. Menkerios plans to be in Zimbabwe from June 17-19 and will assist in facilitating the following areas: UN-Zimbabwe dialogue, humanitarian observation, elections support, and security. ¶7. (C) Security COUNCIL Involvement: For years, at least some UNSC members have resisted having the COUNCIL address the situation in Zimbabwe, with some members insisting that the situation is internal and does not present a threat to international peace and security. During an informal UN Secretariat briefing on Zimbabwe on April 29, Russia, China, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Libya, and Vietnam expressed opposition to UNSC engagement on this issue. However, in a telephone conversation with the Secretary on June 7, Burkinabe President Compaore expressed his support for a UNSC meeting on Zimbabwe. On June 5, in response to the detention of the U.S. and UK diplomats, the Security COUNCIL authorized the President of the COUNCIL (U.S.) to make the following statement to the press: &The U.S. called for these consultations today about the reports coming out of Zimbabwe about the American and British diplomats detained and held at gunpoint. The COUNCIL discussed the incident. The COUNCIL expressed concern about the reports and also urged respect for the Vienna Convention, in particular, the protection of diplomats and property.8 However, the COUNCIL was not able to agree on language expressing concern about the violence directed against Zimbabwean citizens or Presidential candidate Tsvangirai. After considerable discussion, the Security COUNCIL agreed to hold informal consultations on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe on June 12. The decision to hold a formal UNSC meeting requires the affirmative votes of nine UNSC Members and is not subject to veto. ¶8. Tripoli minimize considered. RICE