THE GOVERNMENT has accused Western ambassadors on Wednesday of breaching Zimbabwe’s laws and undermining President Robert Mugabe’s government by "cooking up" evidence of political violence.
U.S. ambassador James McGee and diplomats from Britain, the European Union, Japan, the Netherlands and Tanzania were questioned for about 45 minutes at a police checkpoint outside the capital Harare on Tuesday.
They were also held up at a rural hospital where they visited victims of post-election violence and were questioned by officials about their reasons for being there.
The Secretary for Information and Publicity, George Charamba told the Herald newspaper that the incident was of serious concern.
He said that diplomats were not above the law in Zimbabwe and should abide by the laws of the land.
"In Zimbabwe even mighty America is not above the law of the land. We have rules and regulations and his predecessor (Ambassador Christopher Dell) should have told him that," Charamba said.
McGee is reported to have breached a rule that prohibited them from travelling more than 40 km (25 miles) outside Harare without prior clearance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ambassador was reportedly on his way to Centenary, some 150km outside Harare.
Ambassador McGee argued with the police for an hour, after which he was escorted back to Harare.
A report accused the envoys of "circumventing diplomatic protocol" and going on a "spirited campaign to demonize the government ahead of the presidential election run-off".
Charamba indicated that there were international protocols and conventions forbidding diplomats from interfering in the affairs of a sovereign state.
Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states: “Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.”
Section 2 of Article 41 states that, “All official business with the receiving State entrusted to the mission by the sending State shall be conducted with or through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the receiving State or such other ministry as may be agreed.”
"The presence of several journalists from private-owned media houses in his (McGee's) convoy appeared to confirm suspicions that the 'fact-finding missions' have largely been stage-managed to come up with 'cooked up evidence' of political violence" in support of the opposition, read a report in the daily paper.
The U.S. State Department through its embassy in Harare issued a statement condemning what it called "harassment" of the diplomats.
“The May 13 detention and questioning of the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe and diplomats from five other missions in Harare by Zimbabwean security forces constitutes harassment …,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement Wednesday.