The United States said on Thursday it has raised its concerns with Zimbabwe over a political opponent’s arrest which it called a bid to intimidate and muzzle democratic opposition.
State Department deputy spokesperson Tom Casey also told reporters in Washington that that the US ambassador to Harare, James McGee, spoke on Wednesday to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after he was released after several hours in custody.
”Our ambassador did speak to him, expressed concern about his condition,” Casey said.
But Tsvangirai ”did report he was not mistreated while in custody”.
”Certainly that is an improvement over how he has been treated by Zimbabwe’s security forces and we’re glad to see that,” Casey added.
He said Tsvangirai’s ”detention was clearly an effort at trying to intimidate the opposition in Zimbabwe and prevent them from being able to explain and peacefully express their views and carry on the activities they have planned.”
In Zimbabwe on Wednesday, Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of running a dictatorship after he was briefly detained by the police and needed court approval to address supporters.
Ten months after being assaulted at another anti-Mugabe rally, Tsvangirai told supporters his detention early on Wednesday by police who picked him up while he was sleeping was a bad omen for elections due in March.
The deputy State Department spokesperson added: ”We want to encourage the government of Zimbabwe to do what they have pretty consistently failed to do over time.”
That is to ”allow the opposition and allow all individuals in Zimbabwe the opportunity to freely express their views, to campaign and to also operate in a manner that you would expect in a free society,” Casey said.
”Again it raises continued concerns about the unwillingness of President Mugabe to allow political space for any kind of opposition activities to take place,” he added.
When asked if the ambassador personally protested to Harare, Casey replied he did not know whether it was the US ambassador or some other US diplomat who contacted officials in Harare.
But he added: ”I know we have raised our concerns with the Zimbabwean government.” ‒ Sapa-AFP