Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05MANAMA1036
2005-07-18 10:39:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

UNEMPLOYMENT DEMONSTRATION TURNS VIOLENT

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM ECON PREL BA 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001036 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM ECON PREL BA
SUBJECT: UNEMPLOYMENT DEMONSTRATION TURNS VIOLENT

REF: MANAMA 885

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001036

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM ECON PREL BA
SUBJECT: UNEMPLOYMENT DEMONSTRATION TURNS VIOLENT

REF: MANAMA 885

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) A July 15 demonstration of the Committee for the
Unemployed turned violent, with up to twenty protesters and
one police officer sustaining injuries. An RSO witness said
protesters started the clash by pushing the police, and the
police responded with baton blows. The Committee, which was
protesting a lack of unemployment benefits in the recently
passed budget, has staged a number of rallies in recent
months deemed illegal by the GOB and is clearly interested in
picking a fight with the government. Following the
demonstration both the Committee and the GOB were widely
criticized for their actions, which may contribute to an
atmosphere conducive to a mutual reduction in hostility.

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Rotten Eggs and Tomatoes
--------------


2. (C) Defying repeated government warnings, 100-150 (RSO
estimate) protesters from the Committee for the Unemployed
gathered at the Al Fateh Grand Mosque July 15. A police
representative told the press that the demonstration was not
permitted because its timing and location were inappropriate,
and because the Committee's petition to demonstrate was not
signed by five people from the area, a legal requirement.
The Committee's well-publicized plan was to march towards
parliament and pelt the building with spoiled eggs and
tomatoes to symbolize that parliament is rotten and useless
for not including unemployment benefits in the recently
passed budget. The protesters soon found their path blocked
by riot police who had closed the roads around the
parliament.

--------------
Protesters Beaten
--------------


3. (C) According to press reports, the protesters demanded
that they be allowed to continue their march, but the police
refused. A clash then erupted between the two sides, with
each side claiming that the other started the violence. An
RSO investigator who was at the scene said Committee members
started pushing the police, and the police responded first by

pushing back and escalated to baton blows. Ten to twenty
protesters and one police officer reportedly suffered
injuries. Committee representatives said the injuries
sustained by the protesters included broken bones and welts.
Two local newspapers published graphic photos of welts caused
by baton blows. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab of the
dissolved Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) were among
those beaten. Several newspapers said that a police officer
confiscated a photojournalist's camera at the demonstration,
but the camera was later returned.


4. (SBU) The press reported that two related demonstrations
occurred later in the day on July 15. A number of people
gathered at the hospital where the injured were being treated
to protest the police actions, and the police allege that one
of their patrol cars was attacked. In the evening, several
hundred people associated with the Committee reportedly tried
to march from a mosque to a police station, but they were
disbanded peacefully.

-------------- --------------
Council of Representatives Condemns Demonstration
-------------- --------------


5. (C) On July 16, the Council of Representatives (COR)
passed a statement condemning the demonstration as a
"dangerous violation which should be strictly punished."
The statement called the protest a threat to democracy and an
insult to all Bahrainis. It praised the "civilized manner in
which the police deal with illegal demonstrations" and backed
"all actions that the Ministry of Interior must take to
maintain stability and security." The debate on the
statement was heated, and 11 of the 38 MPs present opposed
it. MP Abdulnabi Salman told EmbOff that the statement only
exacerbated an already tense situation.

--------------
GOB and Committee Criticized
--------------

6. (C) Both the GOB and the protesters drew harsh criticism
following the demonstration. Many observers felt both sides
were to blame for the clash. MP Salman said that he did not
agree with the protesters' insulting stance against the
elected chamber, but that it did not merit police brutality.
Salman added that unemployment is a serious issue that the
government must address before the situation gets out of
control. MP Mohammed Al Abbas told EmbOff that prior to the
demonstration, he strongly discouraged Committee members from
staging the rally. He warned that it would escalate tension
with the GOB and hurt their cause. Al Abbas noted that while
some in the Committee agreed with him, others insisted that
public pressure is the only political tool that yields
results. Al Abbas was equally critical of the GOB for its
poor economic policies and for the excessive police force
used at the demonstration.

7. (C) Soon after the demonstration, EmbOff spoke with a
number of Committee members and other activists who were
disappointed with the approach Al Khawaja and others are
taking. They said Al Khawaja is so focused on antagonizing
the GOB that he is destroying hope for productive engagement
between the two sides. Some commented that demonstrations
are so frequent these days that they are losing their
meaning. At the same time, they say the police could have
easily restrained the protesters without violence, and they
condemned the beatings as excessive and dangerous.


8. (SBU) A diverse group of sports clubs, political
societies, and the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society all
issued public statements condemning the Committee. On the
other hand, opposition Shi'a political society Al Wifaq
publicly condemned the police and said their treatment marked
a return to the violent period of the 1990's under the State
Security Law. Al Wifaq called for a neutral investigation
into the event. The four political societies that boycotted
the 2002 parliamentary elections, including Al Wifaq, issued
a joint statement against police brutality.


9. (C) The Committee held another rally on July 17 without
police interference. It had planned to stage a march to an
undisclosed location, but canceled the march on the advice of
leading Shi'a cleric Sheikh Ali Salman. According to the
press, Sheikh Ali advised Committee members to file a case
against the Ministry of Interior for the July 15 police
abuse, but not to organize more protests as the situation
needs to cool down. Leading Committee members told EmbOff
that they would follow Sheikh Ali's guidance, but they
believed Committee's recent demonstrations (reftel) had
positively affected their cause. As evidence, the members
cited several new GOB initiatives to help the unemployed.

--------------
Comment
--------------


10. (C) Both the protesters and the government handled the
July 15 demonstration poorly. Al Khawaja and other Committee
members are clearly seeking to provoke a crisis with the GOB,
which they hope will lead to greater political and economic
influence for Bahrain's Shi'a majority. As long as
unemployment rates run high (currently 15-20% by some
estimates) and hit primarily the Shi'a community, lack of
jobs will be a potential source of instability. The police,
who were apparently acting on orders from the Ministry of
Interior, reacted in an excessively violent way, playing into
the hands of protest leaders. On a positive note, a growing
number of people on both sides, with memories of the
turbulent 1990's fresh in their minds, are now interested in
cooling down the situation.
MONROE