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RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000463 
 
AF/S FOR S.HILL 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B.PITTMAN 
TREASURY FOR D.PETERS AND T.RAND 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND E.LOKEN 
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL 
CIA WASHDC 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA CRACKDOWN: INTIMIDATION INCREASES AHEAD OF RUNOFF 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Alongside the ongoing ZANU-PF directed violence in 
advance of Zimbabwe's June 27 presidential election runoff, the 
Mugabe regime's crack down on dissenting opinion is increasingly 
targeting the independent media and even those within the state 
media who favor more balanced coverage. According to local media 
watch-dog organizations, at least five members of the foreign media 
and five Zimbabwean journalists have been arrested or detained in 
relation to their coverage of events in Zimbabwe since the March 29 
elections, and others have been harassed and assaulted. In addition 
to outright violence, the systematic control of coverage and 
intimidation of journalists has also included the firing of a 
high-level media official for not following ruling party orders, the 
tightening of guidelines at the state-run Zimbabwean Broadcasting 
Corporation by ZANU-PF leaders, and a crackdown on the opposition 
press.  Even as campaigning for the run-off begins, these severe 
assaults and limits on freedom of expression are yet more evidence 
that the conditions for free and fair elections do not exist. 
Examples of arrests, detention, intimidation and assault follow. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------- 
FOREIGN JOURNALISTS TARGETED 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. Foreign journalists have been a major target of the government's 
campaign against the independent media. On April 3, New York Times 
correspondent and Amcit Barry Bearak and British freelance 
journalist Steven Bevan were arrested for allegedly practicing 
journalism without accreditation under AIPPA. Both were acquitted on 
April 16 and left the country. Canadian Broadcast Corporation 
correspondent Adrienne Arsenault was detained and released the same 
day. 
 
¶3. On March 27, Sipho Moses Maseko and Abdulla Ismail Gaibee, two 
South African engineers from Globecast Satellite, were arrested and 
accused of practicing journalism without accreditation. They were 
acquitted by a magistrate and released, but rearrested after police 
argued the magistrate's ruling was defective. After spending a 
weekend in jail, the South Africans were re-acquitted on April 14 
and left Zimbabwe without covering the elections, although they had 
in fact been accredited. 
 
¶4. Another, journalist, British Times of London correspondent 
Jonathan Clayton, was arrested on April 9, and convicted of making a 
false declaration of the motives for his presence in the country. 
He was fined and deported to South Africa on April 17. 
 
-------------------------- 
LOCAL JOURNALISTS ARRESTED 
-------------------------- 
¶5. On May 8, police arrested Davison Maruziva, editor of the 
independent newspaper The Standard over an opinion piece by 
opposition leader Arthur Mutambara that appeared on April 20 under 
the headline: "A shameful betrayal of national Independence." In the 
piece, Mutambara sharply criticized Mugabe for his handling of the 
general election. He also accused the government of intimidation and 
questioned its right to stay in office. Maruziva was released on 
bail on May 12. 
¶6. On May 7, police detained media lawyer Harrison Nkomo over 
allegations that he made an insulting statement about Mugabe on May 
¶2. He allegedly made the statement while appearing in the High Court 
on behalf of freelance journalist Frank Chikowore, who together with 
the former Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists 
Luke Tamborinyoka and six others, faced charges of inciting public 
violence under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). Chikowore 
and others were initially arrested for practicing journalism without 
a license under AIPPA after taking pictures of a bus allegedly 
burned by ZANU-PF supporters.  After discovering Chikowere was in 
 
HARARE 00000463  002 OF 004 
 
 
fact accredited, police charged him with burning the bus. 
Chikowere's trial is ongoing. 
¶7. On May 5, police arrested and detained Reuters photographer 
Howard Burditt for three days for allegedly using a satellite phone 
to send pictures. Burditt, a Zimbabwean national was covering the 
aftermath of the election, when he was arrested and jailed. In a 
statement, Reuters said the company "has long had a legitimate and 
fully accredited bureau in Harare, and has always complied with 
Zimbabwean regulations with the aim of accurately reporting the 
news." 
¶8. On April 10, former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network (ZBC) 
journalist Margaret Ann Kriel was arrested in Bulawayo and charged 
with practicing journalism without an accreditation under the Access 
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) after she 
allegedly interviewed several people, including opposition 
politicians. She was released on bail after being detained for two 
days and placed under house arrest. 
 
--------------- 
Other Incidents 
--------------- 
 
¶9. On May 16, four unknown assailants suspected of being ZANU-PF 
supporters assaulted freelance journalist Sydney Saize in Mutare, 
accusing him of being a "sell-out". Saize sustained a swollen lip. 
He writes for various online news agencies and is a correspondent 
for Voice of America's Studio 7, which has in the past year been 
jammed by government for its critical reporting of the political, 
social, and economic crisis in the country. 
 
¶10. On April 17, individuals wearing army uniforms assaulted and 
robbed Zimbabwe Union of Journalists President Mathew Takaona. On 
April 18, journalist and VOA correspondent Stanley Karombo was 
assaulted by Zanu-PF supporters during Independence Day 
celebrations. After the assault, police searched Karambo's home and 
then detained him for four days before releasing him without charge. 
 
 
-------------------- 
TURNING ON THEIR OWN 
-------------------- 
 
¶11. On May 14, Henry Muradzikwa, the CEO of the state-run Zimbabwe 
Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH), was fired for reportedly defying an 
order by Information and Publicity Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and 
Permanent Secretary George Charamba to deny the opposition Movement 
for Democratic Change (MDC) any positive radio or television 
coverage and bar the MDC from placing campaign advertisements in 
advance of the June 27 presidential run-off. Muradzikwa has stated 
that he was unaware of the reason for his dismissal, though he did 
note in an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent that "nobody has 
the right to instruct me on how to act as this was outside the law," 
and that directives should be issued exclusively from ZBH board 
members. Muradzikwa had previously been fired from three other state 
media organizations, reportedly under similar circumstances. His 
replacement, Happyton Muchechetere, was a senior ZBC journalist and 
former principal press officer in the office of the president.  He 
is considered a staunch ZANU-PF loyalist. 
 
¶12. ZANU-PF has established an information and publicity committee 
to spearhead Mugabe's run-off campaign, chaired by ruling party 
elder Patrick Chinimasa (who was also Minister of Justice until 
losing his seat in the March 29 parliamentary contest). Chinimasa 
and his committee will presumably control the content of The Herald 
now that Muradzikwa is no longer in control. 
 
----------------- 
ZBC Leads the Way 
 
HARARE 00000463  003 OF 004 
 
 
----------------- 
 
¶13. ZANU-PF's campaign theme is "100 percent Empowerment: Total 
Independence." On May 6, Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu gave 
a radio interview in which he echoed the ruling party's campaign 
tactic of linking Zimbabwe's sovereignty to ZANU-PF's continued 
leadership, stating that the role of ZBC was to "tell the true 
Zimbabwean story by having more programs on the liberation war...to 
remind people that so much blood was lost in order for them to enjoy 
today's independence." Local NGOs tracking media freedom report that 
the ZBC has devoted significant post-electoral reporting to 
politically-motivated violence in rural areas, attributing the bulk 
of culpability to the opposition and white farmers. 
 
------------------------------ 
Attack on the Opposition Press 
------------------------------ 
 
¶14.  A 14-tonne truck belonging to the opposition The Zimbabawean 
newspaper was stopped and burned on Sunday.  The truck was carrying 
60,000 copies of Sunday's edition.  (NOTE.  The Zimbabwean is 
published in South African and trucked into Zimbabwe.  END NOTE) 
The driver and distribution agent were badly beaten. 
 
---------------------- 
WATCH-DOG GROUPS REACT 
---------------------- 
 
¶15. Media watch-dog groups are privately relaying concern that, in 
addition to ZBC, the media environment will be far more restrictive 
than for the March 29 election. One expert asserted that while 
freedom of expression has always been limited in Zimbabwe, that now 
there is effectively none. With rural areas under the thumb of 
ruling party thugs, the ability of domestic journalists to garner 
first hand sources has been severely affected. Details of the 
re-accreditation process for journalists have yet to be announced by 
ZANU-PF, but many expect the process, similar to the last election, 
to be arduous. Previously journalists were required to be accredited 
twice- by both the Ministry of Information and the Zimbabwe 
Electoral Commission (ZEC), allowing for multiple roadblocks to 
gaining permission to report. Only one journalist who received 
accreditation by the Ministry was denied it by ZEC; however, NGOs 
suspect this may become a more prevalent obstacle in the run-up to 
the June 27 contest. 
 
¶16. Although foreign correspondents are expected to attempt to both 
officially and clandestinely return to Zimbabwe to cover the 
elections, media freedom NGOs assert that the government is planning 
to target and track local "fixers" used by foreigners to obtain 
sources. According to the NGOs, by impeding the correspondents' 
ability to gain information from fixers, the ZANU-PF hopes to 
contain the amount of credible information that will reach 
international media houses. To counter this and other ruling party 
attempts to censor coverage, civil society organizations again plan 
to operate a communications center open to all journalists covering 
the election on June 27 in order to facilitate real-time information 
sharing. 
 
¶17. COMMENT. There was extensive coverage of the March 29 elections 
both by accredited journalists and by international journalists who 
clandestinely entered the country. This coverage certainly played 
some role in the relative openness of the elections. Given ZANU-PF's 
intent to win the June 27 election at all costs, we expect to see 
continued prosecution and persecution of journalists in Zimbabwe, 
and efforts to prevent international journalists from coming to 
Zimbabwe. END COMMENT. 
 
MCGEE 
 
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