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MDC's Mbeki talks shocker: Cites state violence for threat to pull out
Njabulo Ncube, Financial Gazette (Zimbabwe)
October 18, 2007

President Thabo Mbeki's mediation effort was this week hanging by a thread after the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) threatened to pull out of the process citing escalating violence by Zanu PF against its supporters, documented in a report submitted last week to the Southern African Development Community (SADC). SADC appointed Mbeki to mediate in negotiations between the ruling Zanu PF party and the two factions of the MDC, which have so far led to an agreement on electoral reforms - a deal many saw as a sign of progress. But the fractured opposition has upped the pressure on the regional initiative endorsed by SADC leaders in March by approaching the Botswana-based secretariat of the 14-member grouping with a protest letter. In a new twist that might throw Mbeki's mediation into disarray and worsen a full-blown economic crisis gripping the country, the Morgan Tsvangirai faction of the MDC is alleging that more and more of its supporters have been persecuted even as dialogue between the two protagonists took place in Pretoria and at home. The MDC whose endorsement of the 18th constitutional amendment- a Zanu PF project - has created a rift between the party and its traditional backers (the civic society) presents in its letter to SADC a chronicle of recent incidents of repression against its supporters. The MDC accuses Zanu PF of negotiating in bad faith, citing the arrest this week of one of its Members of Parliament (MPs) and several people allied to it, among them student leaders and women activists.

Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the Tsvangirai camp of the MDC, confirmed his party had formally expressed its concern about the fresh violence to SADC. "It is summer at the dialogue in Pretoria, but winter time in Harare. Zanu PF is not showing the true spirit of dialogue by its continued persecution of our supporters and officials. There is no use for us to be in Pretoria sharing the same table with Zanu PF when our people are being targeted," said Chamisa. "Most of our meetings and rallies are being cancelled or interfered with by the State, yet the talks seek to ensure free and fair elections whose outcome is expected to be accepted by all parties to the talks," he added. Tsvangirai, who has been overseas for the past two weeks, is threatening to exit the talks if violence persisted. The former trade unionist said while his faction remained committed to dialogue, it increasingly doubts Zanu PF's sincerity. He has also previously threatened to boycott next year's elections if no further concessions, including the abolishment of security and media laws, were forthcoming.

While the Arthur Mutambara-led faction of the MDC remained tight-lipped about the issue, Elphas Mukonoweshuro, MDC secretary for international relations and a senior advisor to Tsvangirai, gave the strongest indication of a pullout, suggesting his faction could leave the talks within a week. A meeting of Tsvangirai's national council has been scheduled this weekend to decide on the talks. However, The Financial Gazette has established that the new threats have widened divisions within Tsvangirai's faction, with militant figures being pitted against officials who support a more pacifist route to dealing with Zanu PF. Tsvangirai has been under strong pressure from hawkish supporters since last month's agreement on Constitutional Amendment 18, and could be backing the boycott threats to placate dominant hard-line sentiment in his party. But this has only heightened internal tensions.

Police on Monday summoned the MDC MP for Glen View and the party's Harare organising secretary, Paul Madzore, to Harare Central Police, in what Chamisa said was an attempt to thwart the opposition from holding rallies in the capital. The MDC reports that since the start of the talks in April, police have disrupted a total of 103 opposition rallies. The party has recorded 4 122 rights violations between January and June this year. These included seven murders, 18 cases of rape, 69 kidnappings or abductions, 459 cases of torture, 2323 cases of interference or intimidation, 1141 cases of assault and 152 cases of unlawful detention. Efforts to get the police's reaction to the MDC's allegations were fruitless. Innocent Gonese, legal secretary for the Tsvangirai faction, told reporters on Tuesday that Zanu PF continued to abuse the legal system to crack down on opponents.

The collapse of a state case against a group of opposition activists charged with "terrorism" showed how Zanu PF was prepared to use the police to intimidate the opposition, he said. "The Zanu PF regime lied to SADC in Dar es Salaam, they lied to Parliament, and they lied to the people of Zimbabwe that the MDC harboured terrorists. Now that the cases have died a natural death, the only act of terrorism, which turns out to have taken place was the brutal assault, illegal detention and torture of MDC members who spent months in prison for no apparent reason," said Gonese. The activists were acquitted and had charges of terrorism against all but one of them withdrawn last week. Gonese revealed that in addition to a $4.7 trillion lawsuit against the state, the MDC is demanding an extensive and immediate investigation into the alleged acts of torture against its supporters at the hands of the police. Mbeki has reported progress in the talks between the two protagonists, describing last month's agreement as a "breakthrough".

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