This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 002545 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ZI
SUBJECT: GOZ TURNS UP HEAT ON NGOS, BANS VISITS OF SOME 
ZIMBABWEANS 
 
REF: A. HARARE 2337 
     ¶B. HARARE 2128 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: Parliament resumed November 12 after a 
3-week adjournment and Government ministers took advantage of 
the opportunity to turn up the heat on groups it accuses of 
supporting the opposition, such as Amani Trust and SW Radio 
Africa.  The actions suggest ZANU-PF is forging ahead in its 
bid to re-create a one-party state.  END SUMMARY. 
 
GOVERNMENT TRYING TO CRUSH DISSENTING VIEWS 
------------------------------------------- 
¶2.  (U) Parliament resumed on November 12 with ZANU-PF 
ministers stepping up attacks on groups it accuses of 
supporting the opposition.  The Government has been 
threatening NGOs since mid-September, when it issued a note 
for all NGOs to register with the Ministry of Social 
Welfare--in compliance with the Private Voluntary 
Organizations Act (PVO)--or cease operations.  The GOZ has 
taken particular interest in NGOs it perceives to be hostile 
to ZANU-PF.  The state-controlled newspaper, The Herald, 
criticized Amani Trust, a prominent human rights organization 
that counsels torture victims and publicizes human rights 
violations, several times in October, most recently accusing 
it of being illegal. 
 
¶3.  (U) In the November 12 parliamentary session, Minister of 
Public Service, Labor, and Social Welfare, July Moyo, said 
Amani Trust was not properly registered and its leadership 
risked being arrested.  Minister of State Security, Nicholas 
Goche, chimed in that Amani Trust, as well as Westminster 
Foundation for Democracy, Zimbabwe Democracy Trust, and 
Southern Africa Media Development Fund, was engaging in 
activities intended to unseat the government. Patrick 
Chinamasa, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary 
Affairs, defended the GOZ decision to list Zimbabwean 
citizens among the sanctions list of people banned from 
visiting Zimbabwe.  On November 8, The Herald published a 
list of people prohibited from entering the country.  Seven 
people from SW Radio Africa--an independent radio station 
that broadcasts out of London--were on the list.  Chinamasa 
told Parliamentarians that Zimbabweans on the list would be 
arrested if they came back to Zimbabwe saying, &we cannot 
have these people demonizing the government every day on the 
radio...They will be welcome in our prisons." 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Brian Raftopoulos, a political commentator at the 
University of Zimbabwe, said the trend is clearly towards a 
one-party state.  The GOZ decision to ban Zimbabweans from 
freely coming back home could be a precursor to increased 
internal migration restrictions.  Raftopoulos said the GOZ 
could begin restricting people from leaving the country also. 
 Regarding GOZ plans to enforce the PVO Act, Raftopoulos said 
the GOZ seems to be stepping up its efforts to rid the 
country of human rights and democracy NGOs and civic groups. 
Raftopoulos said some civic groups are developing contingency 
plans in case the GOZ forces them to cease operations. 
 
¶5.  COMMENT: Through its parliamentary majority, ZANU-PF 
seems to be consolidating its power by passing more 
restrictive legislation and recent GOZ rhetoric suggest 
certain NGOs are the next imminent targets.  The decision to 
ban from the country Zimbabweans who criticize the Government 
seems to be a particularly egregious step, and we would 
appreciate Department's guidance on whether it violates any 
international agreements to which Zimbabwe is a party. END 
COMMENT. 
 
SULLIVAN