HONK IF YOU HATE CORRUPTION! -- GRZ CLAMPS DOWN ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LUSAKA 000689 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON KCOR ZA SUBJECT: HONK IF YOU HATE CORRUPTION! -- GRZ CLAMPS DOWN ON CIVIL SOCIETY PROTESTS REF: A. LUSAKA 583 ¶B. LUSAKA 602 ¶C. LUSAKA 684 ¶D. LUSAKA 654 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael Koplovsky for reasons 1.4 (b,d ) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Police arrested nine motorists -- including two opposition Members of Parliament (MP) -- in Lusaka October 2 for honking in a surprisingly muted protest of the GRZ's failure to appeal former president Frederick Chiluba's corruption case acquittal (ref A). The arrestees had answered a September 29 call by 18 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to protest with car honks and whistles every Friday at 5 p.m. local for ten minutes until the GRZ agreed to appeal the case. GRZ Spokesman and Information Minister Lt. Gen. Ronnie Shikapwasha, Minister of Home Affairs Minister Lameck Mangani and the government-owned press branded the CSOs and protesters "fanatical," "unpatriotic," and "thriving on chaos," and warned the public that police would arrest protesters who deliberately tried to "destabilize the peace of the nation by honking in protest." Pictures in the press of diplomats attending the CSO press conference fueled ongoing accusations that diplomats are plotting with the opposition to overthrow the government. The tug-of-war between civil society and the GRZ is the latest example of the GRZ' attempt to subvert dissent and deflect criticism by invoking themes of sovereignty and stability, while villainizing its opponents and foreign governments. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Police arrested nine motorists -- including Patriotic Front (PF) Members of Parliament (MP) Mumbi Phiri and Jean Kapata -- in Lusaka October 2 for honking their car horns to pressure the GRZ to appeal former president Frederick Chiluba's corruption case (ref A). The nine protesters remain in police custody pending their initial hearings. Phiri and Kapata were briefly released from custody and treated at a Lusaka hospital October 4 for high blood pressure. The protesters are charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of peace and unnecessary hooting and, if convicted, could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. ¶3. (U) Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) and 17 other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) September 29 called on the public to honk or whistle every Friday at 5 p.m. local for ten minutes until the government agrees to appeal Chiluba's acquittal to the Lusaka High Court. CSOs also called on Vice President George Kunda and Director of Public Prosecutions Chalwe Mchenga to resign and the National Assembly to turn down Chiluba's request for political immunity. In spite of the police vow to arrest protesters for destabilizing the peace with offending honks and whistles, the CSOs vowed to continue their protests -- and dared the police to embolden protesters by continuing the crackdown. ¶4. (U) The GRZ painted the CSOs and protesters as "fanatical," "unpatriotic" and "thriving on chaos." The government-owned newspaper Times of Zambia claimed October 5 that "events taking place in Zambia, driven by fanatical NGOs...bear the hallmarks of a planned uprising. Zambia has enjoyed peace since independence in 1964 and certain institutions making up the NGOs are those that thrive on chaos." The newspaper accused Catholic CSOs Caritas Zambia and the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection for acting on old grudges held by the Catholic Church against the GRZ for nationalizing Catholic institutions during the Kaunda regime and passing the NGO law enacted August 27 (ref B). The Times of Zambia further reported that Minister of Home Affairs Lameck Mangani vowed October 4 that "police will continue arresting all those who deliberately try to destabilize the peace of the nation by honking in protest." Mangani stated that police had been mobilized nationwide and put on alert to arrest "those breaking the law." Police Spokesperson Benny Kapeso said the police would be "re-organized" the following week to arrest even more "offending people." An October 3 editorial in the anti-government Post noted that intolerance of peaceful protests such as honking has put Zambia "on the path to tyranny" and regretted that the GRZ has lost the ability to distinguish between its own stability and that of the country. ¶5. (U) GRZ Spokesman and Information Minister Lt. Gen. Ronnie Shikapwasha and Minister of Home Affairs Mangani accused the diplomatic community of fueling CSO protests by claiming that diplomats were "sponsoring pressure groups" involved with the protests (ref C). Mangani said the GRZ had uncovered a "plot" by diplomats conducting "dark corner LUSAKA 00000689 002 OF 002 meetings" with former government officials and NGOs to overthrow the GRZ. Shikapwasha told the press that government officials would meet with diplomats October 6 to discuss whether "what the diplomats are doing have the blessings of their respective countries. As soon as the consultations are concluded, Zambians will see some of the diplomats going back to their countries." (Note: On October 5 the GRZ postponed indefinitely the summons to diplomatic missions.) A protest allegedly organized by civil society groups outside the British High Commission October 5 against "diplomatic interference" in Zambian internal matters fizzled with a handful of reporters showing up to cover the non-event. ¶6. (C) CSOs' strong reaction to the GRZ' failure to appeal the Chiluba case is fueled by their conviction that the Banda administration pressured the magistrate presiding over Chiluba's case, Jones Chinyama, to acquit in spite of what the CSOs consider overwhelming evidence of Chiluba's guilt (ref D). TIZ Director Goodwell Lungu told PolOff that an unknown presidential advisor visited Magistrate Chinyama August 14 just before the Chiluba judgment was to be announced. Chinyama subsequently postponed the judgment -- and acquittal -- until August 17, struck from the record several pages of text allegedly convicting Chiluba, and inserted 20 pages of text into the decision acquitting him. Task Force for Corruption prosecutor Mutumbo Nchito told EmbOffs that he also believed Chinyama was coerced by an unidentified presidential advisor. Nchito and an LES of this mission who studied under Chinyama insists that the additional 20 pages are not in Chinyama's handwriting. ¶7. (C) COMMENT: The tug-of-war between civil society and the GRZ is the latest in a series of attempts by the GRZ to subvert dissent by invoking themes of sovereignty and stability, and villainizing its opponents and foreign governments. CSOs' method of protest revisits their successful 2001 protests-by-honking campaign that led then-president Chiluba to abandon his quest for a third presidential term. The CSOs are undoubtedly hoping that history will repeat itself, while the GRZ is using a heavy hand to ensure that this form of protest does not become a vehicle for forcing the government to change its course. President Banda's return to Zambia October 4 after two weeks away at UNGA, the South America-Africa summit in Caracas, and a state visit to Cuba could be a turning point; the sudden postponement of the summons to the diplomatic heads of missions immediately after Banda's return gives hope that Banda will invoke some discipline over his reactionary hardliners. With the GRZ adding daily to its list of adversaries -- opposition parties, civil society organizations, religious organizations, The Post, and now even donors -- it is likely feeling more threatened and vulnerable than ever. Our role will be talk the GRZ down off the precipice while firmly asserting our rights to conduct diplomatic business. END COMMENT. KOPLOVSKY