VZCZCXRO4425
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0788/01 2801435
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071435Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4978
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 2386
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 3065
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 3177
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1606
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2440
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2809
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3225
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5672
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2359
RUZEHAA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000788 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR B. WALCH 
DRL FOR N. WILETT 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR M. GAVIN 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L. DOBBINS AND E. LOKEN 
STATE PASS TO DOL FOR S. HALEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EMIN PHUM PGOV ASEC ZI
SUBJECT: ZIM POLICE SHOOT STRIKING LABOR LEADERS 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) In a recent meeting, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) 
Secretary General Wellington Chibebe described in detail the recent 
shooting of three labor leaders at a government-owned asbestos mine 
in central Zimbabwe.  The workers were shot after a three-week 
strike had ground production at the mine to a halt; management 
allegedly called in police and Central Intelligence Organization 
(CIO) to coerce the workers back to the job.  Since the shooting, 
labor leaders have been fired and continue to face harassment. 
Chibebe also outlined the status of the current International Labor 
Organization (ILO) Commission of Inquiry into labor abuses in 
Zimbabwe.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) On October 2, we met with the Secretary General of the 
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Wellington Chibebe, along 
with the ZCTU lawyer and information officer.  Chibebe discussed a 
recent violent attack on labor leaders at the Shabanie asbestos mine 
and the outcome of an ILO Commission of Inquiry visit. (NOTE: ZCTU's 
controversial position on the constitution-making process will be 
reported septel. END NOTE.) 
 
--------------------------------- 
Shabanie Mine: Police Shoot 
and Arrest Striking Labor Leaders 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Chibebe detailed the ongoing and violent labor dispute at 
the government-owned Shabanie asbestos mine in central Zimbabwe.  On 
September 25, six police officers fired at a crowd and shot three 
members of the mine's labor committee during a peaceful sit-in at 
the mine; the shooting came during a protracted and tense strike. 
The roughly 2,280 mine workers went on strike on August 31 because 
they had only been receiving US$20-US$40 per month since the 
beginning of 2009, although their pay slips showed they should be 
paid US$150.  Management at the mine announced all outstanding wages 
and allowances would be paid on August 31, but failed to do so, 
prompting the strike.  According to the workers, the company 
management invited intelligence officers from the CIO to harass 
workers.  Around the third week of the strike, CIO agents briefly 
abducted some of the labor leaders and threatened them to attempt to 
get them to go back to work. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The workers refused to go back to work and gathered near 
the company on September 25 while waiting to meet with the mine 
directors.  The crowd numbered over 1,000 and included some of the 
workers' spouses.  According to ZCTU, management did not attend the 
meeting and instead sent six riot police armed with AK-47s and 
teargas.  When one of the leaders, Alois Zhou, asked where the 
management leaders were, the police beat him with a gun and shot him 
on the leg and hand.  Police also threw teargas canisters towards 
Qon the leg and hand.  Police also threw teargas canisters towards 
the sitting workers.  Two other leaders, Taurai Zhou and Simbarashe 
Chinhadada, were also shot in the leg as they ran away from police. 
(NOTE:  The three men are all MDC councilors as well as members of 
the mine's labor committee.  END NOTE.)  Police also beat one labor 
leader's wife.  She received medical treatment and is now in hiding 
from the CIO, which is threatening her because they believe she has 
photos of the incident on her cell phone. 
 
¶5. (SBU) After the shooting, the three men initially went to a 
nearby public hospital.  They were afraid to go to the mine's 
hospital because the doctor there (Dr. Mataga) is a member of the 
 
HARARE 00000788  002 OF 003 
 
 
ZANU-PF central committee.  When a lawyer from Zimbabwe Lawyers for 
Human Rights (ZLHR), Tichaona Chivasa, attempted to visit the three 
in the hospital, police denied him access, arrested him, and charged 
him with "obstruction of justice."  Another lawyer went to the 
police station several hours later to rescue him, and charges were 
dropped.  The three shooting victims have since been moved to a 
Harare hospital; one underwent surgery for his injuries. 
 
¶6. (U) Immediately after the sit-in, more than 50 workers were 
arrested and detained.  Nine spent the weekend in jail and, together 
with the three shooting victims, were charged with public violence. 
All were released on September 28 on US$10 bail. 
 
 
¶7. (U) On September 29, police and armed CIO officers visited other 
workers at their homes and threatened that they must return to work 
or face eviction.  The same day, armed CIO visited ZCTU's Zvishavane 
District Secretary at his home and demanded to know what ZCTU 
planned to do in response to the mine strike.  The CIO warned him 
not to work with the mine workers.  Because the majority of mine 
employees live in mine-owned housing and feared further violence, 
roughly 75 percent of workers returned to work on September 30. 
They have not received any of their back pay and expect to be paid 
US$20-US$40 again this month. 
 
¶8. (U) According to ZCTU, eight labor leaders employed at the mine 
-- including the three shooting victims -- were dismissed on 
September 30.  Their lawyer was not told about the hearing.  The 
workers were charged with being absent from work without leave, 
defying the memo to return to work, and illegal work stoppage.  The 
eight who were dismissed are known for their MDC activism.  Workers 
who belong to ZANU-PF were reinstated.  In a long memo to Minister 
of Labor Paurina Mupariwa (MDC-T), ZCTU asks what the difference is 
between "the inclusive government and the colonial masters..." and 
declares that the incident at Shabanie "proves that slavery is back 
in Zimbabwe." 
 
¶9. (U) On Friday October 2, co-Minister of Home Affairs Giles 
Mutsekwa (MDC-T) decried the incident and said that he was 
disappointed that senior officials at the mine had tried to cover up 
for the police.  Mutsekwa said, "We have repeatedly told the police 
that they should always refrain from using firearms against 
defenseless people."  He also declared that the government was going 
to make the incident a "cabinet issue."  ZCTU has called for 
Mutsekwa and co-Minister Kembo Mohadi (ZANU-PF) to resign and for an 
official inquiry into the shootings. 
 
--------------------------- 
Shabanie: ZANU-PF Cash Cow? 
--------------------------- 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) The mine has reportedly fallen into disrepair since the 
Q10. (SBU) The mine has reportedly fallen into disrepair since the 
Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) took it over in 2004.  After 
expropriating Shabanie and Mashava Mines (the two largest asbestos 
mines in Zimbabwe) from SMM Holdings, the government appointed 
Arafas Gwaradzimba as administrator.  According to Chibebe, 
Gwaradzimba is a "ZANU-PF strongman" closely aligned to Defense 
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who grew up nearby.  SMM was once one 
of Zimbabwe's largest single employers with close to 6,000 employees 
and export earnings accounting for a significant proportion of the 
country's export revenues.  The former owner, Mutemwa Mawere, a 
crusader of the black economic empowerment mantra, fell out with 
Mugabe and was charged with illegally externalizing foreign currency 
 
HARARE 00000788  003 OF 003 
 
 
in 2004.  Using the charges as justification, the government took 
over SMM.  Mawere fled to South Africa and has been fighting the 
take-over in court ever since. 
 
¶11. (U) Some observers believe ZANU-PF benefits from the cash flow 
the Shabanie mine generates, even though the company has not 
prospered under GOZ management.  The Financial Times has reported 
that the charges against Mawere had kept the mine from securing 
loans it needs to replace ageing equipment.  In a report to Legal 
Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa in May, Gwaradzimba said the 
situation at the two mines had deteriorated with equipment in urgent 
need of replacement: "as it stands right now, it is extremely 
dangerous to carry out mining activities because of the sorry and 
sad state of the mines' plant and equipment." 
 
-------------------------------------- 
ILO Report on Labor Abuses Forthcoming 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Turning to the ILO's ongoing, broad investigation into 
labor rights violations in Zimbabwe, Chibebe explained that the 
ILO's Commission of Inquiry should release its preliminary report to 
the ILO governing board by the end of October.  (NOTE: The 
Commission of Inquiry is the ILO's highest level investigation, and 
the Zimbabwe investigation is only the twelfth that the ILO has ever 
undertaken.  END NOTE.)  The Commission began work in February 2009 
after ZCTU complained to the international body that the government 
had violated international labor standards.  ZCTU has presented the 
Commission with information on violations since 2002.  The recent 
incident at Shabanie Mine will be discussed at an ILO meeting in 
March.  Chibebe expects that the governing board will discuss 
Zimbabwe at its next meeting in November. 
 
¶13. (SBU) The three-member Commission visited Zimbabwe in April and 
August to investigate the claims.  Although they requested to meet 
with President Mugabe and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, both 
refused.  The delegation did meet with the ZANU-PF Ministers of 
Information (Webster Shamu) and Foreign Affairs (Simbarashe 
Mumbengegwi).  The delegates were followed by CIO during both visits 
but were generally free to investigate.  The investigation aims to 
look at whether the government has violated ILO conventions 87 
(Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize) and 
98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining). 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶14. (SBU) The shooting at Shabanie is further proof that rule of law 
and respect for labor rights have not yet returned to Zimbabwe.  The 
entire series of events from the mine's refusal to pay employees 
their full wage to the lawyer's incarceration when attempting to 
visit the victims in the hospital reads like a laundry list of human 
Qvisit the victims in the hospital reads like a laundry list of human 
rights violations - none of which have been adequately addressed by 
the government.  While the ILO Commission of Inquiry will likely 
produce a damning report documenting labor violations going back to 
2002, recent events at Shabanie demonstrate that even international 
attention probably will not change the situation for workers on the 
ground absent fundamental change in Zimbabwe's governing process. 
END COMMENT. 
 
PETTERSON