A man claiming to be a founder of the notorious youth militia, popularly known as the Green Bombers, told United States embassy officials that the first recruits to the National Youth Service, as it was officially called, were trained for the express purpose of playing a role in the upcoming presidential elections.
Prosper Izaya said that he was heavily involved with NYS from its inception in 2001, following the 2000 parliamentary elections in which ZANU-PF faced substantial opposition for the first time.
He said he had personally commanded a unit of youth militia who, in cooperation with Chenjerai Hunzvi’s war veterans, carried out a pre-election campaign of political violence in Mashonaland West from Kariba to Kadoma.
He left the NYS after the 2005 elections because he was no longer comfortable with the breadth of militia violence to become a teacher.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08HARARE640, YOUTH MILITIA FOUNDER DESCRIBES LEGACY OF
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Reference ID |
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VZCZCXRO8649
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0640/01 2111452
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 291452Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3228
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2183
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2302
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0834
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1579
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1937
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2358
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4789
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1448
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000640
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR G. GARLAND
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
DRL FOR K. GILBRIDE
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/29/2018
SUBJECT: YOUTH MILITIA FOUNDER DESCRIBES LEGACY OF
ELECTORAL VIOLENCE
Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4 (d)
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On July 28, Emboffs met with Prosper Izaya,
who claimed to be among the founders of Zimbabwe’s National
Youth Service (NYS), the official name of the government’s
notoriously violent youth militia. Izaya relayed his
involvement in NYS’s inception in 2001, the first civilian
attacks in 2002, the organization’s expansion after the 2002
national election and his eventual departure for the teaching
profession following the youth militia’s violent role in the
2005 parliamentary election. Izaya went on to describe
ongoing violence and farm seizures in his home area of
Mashonaland Central, for which he holds Muzarabani South’s
ZANU-PF MP responsible. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (C) On July 28, ARSO and poloff met with Prosper Izaya,
who claimed to be among the founders of Zimbabwe’s National
Youth Service (NYS), the official name of the government’s
notoriously violent youth militia (also known as the Green
Bombers in a reference to their uniforms). Since 2001, the
NYS has a well-documented history of perpetrating, with
impunity, human rights abuses against civilians, including
politically-motivated violence, farm invasions and torture.
Over the past several years, the media and NGOs have accused
NYS leadership of abusing its oft destitute recruits at NYS
training camps, including providing substandard housing,
employing food depravation, and sexually abusing female
recruits.
¶3. (C) After nervously requesting that Emboffs guarantee
the confidentiality of the discussion, Izaya stated that he
was heavily involved with NYS from its inception in 2001,
following the 2000 parliamentary elections in which ZANU-PF
faced substantial opposition for the first time.
International observers reported extensive electoral fraud in
that election. Izaya’s efforts included the drafting of the
first training modules and the intake of NYS’s first class of
recruits at Border Gezi training camp in Mt. Darwin,
Mashonaland Central, approximately 250 km north of Harare.
(NOTE: The naming of the training camp after ZANU-PF hero
Border Gezi, who, together with former War Veteran
Association President Chenjerai ‘Hitler’ Hunzvi, spearheaded
the use of war veterans and youth militia to inflict
political violence, reflects the violent and anti-Western
political ideology of the NYS. END NOTE.) Described by
Izaya as youths aged 10-30 with little education who were
seeking to obtain government jobs after their service, the
first NYS recruits were trained for the express purpose of
playing a role in the upcoming presidential election.
¶4. (C) The class graduated from training in December 2001
and was deployed with the intent of perpetrating violence
against opposition supporters in the run-up to the
presidential election. Izaya stated that he personally
commanded a unit of youth militia who, in cooperation with
Hunzvi’s war veterans, carried out a pre-election campaign of
political violence in Mashonaland West from Kariba to Kadoma.
The 2002 election was ultimately deemed not free or fair by
observers, who noted pre-election and election day violence.
Izaya then described his role in the NYS’s expansion after
the “successful” 2002 election, noting that the militia grew
quickly from an initial intake class of 100 in 2001 to
classes of thousands by the following year. ZANU-PF bases in
towns across Zimbabwe served as recruiting centers and
numerous training camps were established throughout the
country, all with the goal of training youth militia “for use
in the forefront of violence.”
¶5. (C) Izaya stated that after the 2005 parliamentary
elections, which were boycotted by a faction of the
HARARE 00000640 002 OF 002
opposition and deemed not free or fair by observers, he
became uncomfortable with the breadth of militia violence and
left the NYS to take a teaching position with the Ministry of
Education (he claims to have a degree in Sociology from the
University of Zimbabwe). Izaya continues to teach in
Muzarabani South, Mashonaland Central, but said he is no
longer affiliated with the Ministry. Izaya went on to
describe ongoing violence, displacements, and farm seizures
in his home area, for which he holds ZANU-PF Muzarabani South
MP Edward Raradza responsible. Raradza, a tobacco farmer and
vice-president of the government-affiliated Zimbabwe Farmers
Union, ran unopposed in the ZANU-PF stronghold during the
March 29, 2008 by-election. According to Izaya (and multiple
media reports), Raradza has orchestrated numerous attacks on
opposition supporters and farms in his constituency since
national elections in March. Izaya stated that following a
recent police roundup of ZANU-PF thugs in Muzarabani, Raradza
paid their fines and ensured their release, though poloff has
not been able to confirm this. Izaya reported that some
schools remain closed and many Zimbabweans in the area are
displaced as a result of the violence.
¶6. (C) Izaya offered to provide further information on
political violence and the NYS to Emboffs in future,
including NYS paperwork and training modules (NOTE: It was
unclear whether Izaya had access to new NYS materials or was
offering only historical documents. END NOTE.) Izaya stated
that as a result of his “position” and the political
situation, he was concerned for his safety if the information
he was shared was attributed. Apparently seeking some kind
of Embassy assurance as to his safety, Izaya noted that he
might be comfortable with the information becoming public “in
the near future, once an embassy relationship was
established.” Emboffs stated that they could not provide
such protection.
¶7. (C) COMMENT: It is unclear what additional information
Izaya might have access to given his departure from the NYS
some years ago. Nonetheless, his description of the
evolution of the NYS demonstrates the systematic use of youth
militias to control electoral periods and perpetrate violence
since the rise of the opposition in 2000, and highlights the
continuing importance of the NYS to the regime. Likewise,
his reports of ongoing government-sponsored violence in
Mashonaland Central supports other reporting we have received
and indicate the continuation of ZANU-PF intimidation
tactics, regardless of recent good-faith claims by Mugabe
administration officials. END COMMENT.
MCGEE
(92 VIEWS)
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