VZCZCXRO4952
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0203/01 0741058
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141058Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2583
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000203 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD AGOA ZI
SUBJECT: Zimbabwe input for 2008 President's report on AGOA 
 
 
RE:  STATE 20082 
 
¶1.  Status:  Not eligible, largely for reasons related to political 
pluralism, economic reform, corruption, rule of law, and human 
rights. 
 
¶2.  Market Economy/Economic Reform/Elimination of Trade Barriers: 
The government pays lip service to Marxist economic principles but 
has increasingly used ideology to mask growing official corruption. 
Zimbabwe is an unattractive investment destination for most 
foreigners and Zimbabweans alike.  The IMF estimates the 
government's budget deficit at more than 60 percent of GDP 
(including quasi-fiscal activities), and predicted that inflation 
would end 2007 at 150,000 percent, which it indeed reached according 
to reliable private sector estimates.  The Reserve Bank's decision 
to fix the exchange rate despite the country's hyperinflation has 
undermined what is left of the country's export sector and caused 
foreign exchange scarcity, fueling a parallel foreign exchange 
market.  Zimbabwe's IMF voting rights remain suspended and the 
government has shown no political will to implement the 
comprehensive package of macroeconomic and structural reforms 
required for their restoration and to regain eligibility for IMF 
technical assistance and lending.  The country is not servicing its 
large external debt and is falling further into arrears. 
 
¶3.  Political Pluralism/Rule of Law/Anti-Corruption:  The 
government, dominated by President Robert Mugabe and the ruling 
ZANU-PF party since independence, continued to resort to brute force 
to perpetuate its rule.  The opposition and civil society operated 
in an environment of state-sponsored intimidation and violence. 
Unlawful killings and politically motivated abductions occurred. 
Security forces used arbitrary arrest and detention, excessive 
force, and torture to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. 
 Elections in 2002 and 2005 were neither free nor fair as the 
government and the ruling ZANU-PF party, which controls the 
electoral machinery, used violence, intimidation and vote rigging to 
affect the outcomes.  The government's assault on human rights and 
democracy increased significantly during the year despite a regional 
initiative to improve Zimbabwe's political environment for 
presidential and parliamentary elections in 2008.  Security forces 
and ruling party supporters targeted political opposition party 
leaders in a brutal and systematic campaign to dismantle opposition 
structures.  Government voter registration and education efforts 
were woefully inadequate.  The opposition's access to the media and 
rights to freedom of association and free speech were curtailed. 
Government efforts to influence and intimidate the judiciary have 
seriously eroded independence and undermined the rule of law. 
Senior government officials and police have willfully defied court 
orders that are not politically acceptable to the ruling party.  The 
government and ruling party have closed independent news media in 
recent years.  Corruption in government is endemic.  The government 
has redistributed expropriated commercial farms to the ruling party 
elite and granted them privileged access to foreign exchange and 
fuel.  The government-appointed Anti-Corruption Commission, 
established in 2005, has yet to register any notable 
accomplishments.  The government prosecutes individuals selectively, 
focusing on those who have fallen out of favor with the ruling party 
and ignoring transgressions by favored elite.  Lengthy pretrial 
detention is also a problem. 
 
¶4.  Poverty Reduction:  The government maintains several programs 
that ostensibly provide food or basic services to the poor. 
However, the programs are grossly under-funded and their 
implementation is often influenced by politics, with areas 
represented by the opposition disadvantaged.  Moreover, the 
government's economic policies have caused most Zimbabweans to grow 
progressively poorer.  Human development indicators that were once 
among the best in sub-Saharan Africa have deteriorated sharply. 
Zimbabweans will face acute food shortages again this year. 
 
¶5.  Labor/Child Labor/Human Rights:  The government lacks the 
commitment and resources necessary to enforce labor standards 
effectively.  It frequently uses repressive laws and intimidation to 
limit workers' right to organize and hold labor union meetings.  The 
government continued to harass the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions 
(ZCTU), the country's largest trade union, and its leadership.  In 
September 2006, police arrested and severely beat several senior 
leaders of ZCTU for their role in planning a peaceful demonstration. 
 In September 2007, police arrested three ZCTU members for 
distributing flyers about a labor action and reportedly beat them. 
On February 19, 2008, ZANU-PF supporters abducted nine members of 
the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), a ZCTU 
affiliate, during a peaceful demonstration in Harare.  The group was 
taken into the ZANU-PF Harare province headquarters and severely 
assaulted for more than an hour with clenched fists, booted feet, 
and iron rods. Their assailants accused them of supporting main 
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).  Police later 
picked up the PTUZ members from the ZANU-PF offices and took them to 
the Harare Central Police station before eventually taking them to 
the hospital for medical attention.  Police charged several PTUZ 
members with "criminal nuisance."  The government has taken steps to 
marginalize the traditional unions and the formal labor dispute 
resolution mechanism. There have been attempts to supplant 
 
HARARE 00000203  002 OF 002 
 
 
legitimate labor leaders with hand-picked supporters.  Zimbabwe has 
ratified all eight core ILO Conventions.  In October 2007, the 
Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare signed a 
Memorandum of Understanding with the ILO to collaborate on a 
multi-phased program for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor, which was expected to address child labor issues and the 
implementation of ILO Convention 182, including activities 
pertaining to the prevention of child labor and the protection of 
working children.  However, the government's commitment to 
children's rights and welfare remains weak.  Children work in 
agriculture, street vending, and as domestic servants.  There are 
reports that an increasing number of girls are involved in 
prostitution, especially in border towns.  Primary education is not 
compulsory, free, or universal for any children, and an increasing 
number of Zimbabwean children have fallen out of the education 
system.  The government continues to evict citizens forcibly and to 
demolish homes; and it uses repressive laws to suppress freedom of 
speech, press, assembly, movement, and association.  Security forces 
arbitrarily arrested and detained journalists, demonstrators, and 
religious leaders and reportedly tortured members of the opposition, 
union leaders, and civil society activists.  There were also reports 
of unlawful killings and politically motivated kidnappings. 
 
MCGEE