PROTESTS AGAINST MONGOLIAN GOVERNMENT GROW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ULAANBAATAR 000261

SIPDIS

USAID FOR ANE CALISTA DOWNEY
STATE FOR EAP/CM

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID ECON KPAO MG
SUBJECT: PROTESTS AGAINST MONGOLIAN GOVERNMENT GROW

Ref: A) ULAANBAATAR 247

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET
DISTRIBUTION.


1. ( U ) SUMMARY: Protests organized by a loose
coalition of five local Mongolian groups have escalated
slightly in the past few days but remain peaceful;
business is conducted as usual in the capital city of
Ulaanbaatar. The protest groups are continuing to
demand respectively the resignation of all three
branches of government, the pullout of Ivanhoe Mines
from Mongolia, and compensation of four billion Tugrik
(approximately USD $ 3.3 million) from the state budget
for damages during the recent fires at SAPU company
buildings (REFTEL). While the daily number of
demonstrators fluctuates from under 100 to nearly 3,000
yesterday, the overall numbers have increased and now
six gers (yurts) and a tent have been erected on
Sukhbaatar Square in front of the Government House to
house permanent members of the sit in. After street
skirmishes with police on Sunday April 9, following an
attempt to build additional gers, the protestors
successfully called for a larger demonstration on
Tuesday April 11, attracting a crowd of 2,000-3,000.
Some streets remain blocked as police search likely
trucks for ger materials. The Mongolian People's
Revolutionary Party (MPRP),which controls the current
government, has organized counter protests of
comparable size reportedly by requiring city district
leaders to mobilize residents. The protests have not
disrupted government business except for periodically
blocking access to the Government House and the Prime
Minister's briefing to the diplomatic corps did not
touch upon the topic at all. END SUMMARY.

SUNDAY: POLICE SKIRMISHES, INCREASED CROWDS
AND MORE GERS
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2. (U) The recent spate of protests began to gather
strength on Sunday, April 9, after several days of
small crowds gathering on the square. Attempts to
construct additional gers (yurts in Russian) were only
partially successful as police blocked all roads
leading to the square and searched vehicles. A scuffle
developed on streets west of the square between 300-350
police and an approximately equal number of protestors
as police attempted to block entry of 3-4 trucks
carrying ger parts. After minor pushing and shoving
for 3-4 hours, the police confiscated the gers. The
Radical Reform movement filed an appeal with the
Ulaanbaatar Administrative Court to challenge the
confiscation of private citizen property (i.e. the
gers) and the widespread searching of trucks for ger
parts.


3. (U) Movement leaders made televised appeals for more
participants, additional ger parts and financial
contributions to increase the protests. They called
for a mass demonstration at 11:00am Tuesday April 11.
Ganbaatar, head of the Radical Reform Movement, pushed
for the exodus of Ivanhoe Mines stating "If Mongolia
were able to own fifty percent of the shares of the
deposits of Oyu Tolgoi (Ivanhoe's mine project site)
every citizen would receive USD $2,000 per month and
live without hunger and thirst." ( COMMENT: While
this comment is without any apparent solid foundation
in fact, it resonates with the increased popular
sentiment that mining proceeds are being withheld from
the citizenry. END COMMENT.)

TUESDAY: THOUSANDS TURN OUT AND
COUNTER DEMONSTRATIONS
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4. (U) After a relatively quiet Monday when protestors
didn't number above 100-150 at any given time, a mass

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demonstration gathered strength on Tuesday around
lunchtime with a majority of students and elderly in
the crowd estimated between 2,000-3,000 on the square.
Victims of the SAPU fire blocked the north entrances to
the Government House, keeping Members of Parliament
trapped inside for the afternoon (including two MP
invitees to the Charge's anti-money-laundering
luncheon). By 4:00pm a crowd of 300-400 began marching
down Peace Avenue for about a half mile and blocked
traffic for several hours, while counter demonstrators
marched in the opposite direction to Sukhbaatar Square.
The two groups met and minor scuffles ensued which were
dissolved with police assistance after an hour,
following which both groups dispersed peacefully.


5. (U) The members of the Radical Reform Movement were
the most organized and coordinated, wearing violet
colored ribbons and ties to symbolize unity, explaining
that when all colors of the rainbow are mixed violet
results. Their leader, Ganbaatar, noted that the group
will turn the sit-in into a hunger strike if their
demands for government resignation and the exodus of
Ivanhoe Mines are not met. He stated, "We want to fill
Sukhbaatar Square with gers to remind government
leaders of the poverty in which the majority of their
citizens live."


6. (U) SAPU fire victims gathered first on the north
side of the square to block the main entrance of the
Government House. They claim that the 740 stallholder
victims of the fire in the market actually represent
12,500 victims if their families are included. The
protest used loudspeakers and whistles and threatened
to also begin a hunger strike if their demand for
compensation of four billion Tugriks is not met.


7. (SBU) The MPRP is rumored to have mobilized its city
district party members to organize residents, and
requiring each to gather at least fifty people, to
assemble across town in Liberty Square in a pro-
government counter demonstration. The group consisted
primarily of elderly and students with sign slogans
such as "We deserve stable government," and "Stop
disturbing the public with your narrow personal
ambitions." Students were bussed in from their
universities and reportedly promised 5,000 Tugrik (a
little over USD $4) to attend the rally in the name of
the Free Student's Movement, organized a few days
previously. Counter demonstrators with similar signs
also gathered across the street from Sukhbaatar Square
wearing blue ribbons and ties and the two groups joined
when the Liberty Square rally marched to Sukhbaatar
Square.

DEMANDS FROM DEMONSTRATORS TO POLICE
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8. (U) On Tuesday afternoon, the heads of the
movements were received by police chief Major General

D. Sandig-Ochir for a meeting. Journalists were not
allowed due to the "lack of space in the meeting room."
Reportedly the movement leaders made three demands: 1)
release from police detention eight persons arrested on
April 6 during the demonstrations, 2) allow additional
gers to be built on Sukhbaatar Square and stop
searching trucks, 3) instead of using police to stop a
political struggle, require them to protect the
demonstrators who have the right to be in Sukhbaatar
Square. O. Magnai, head of the Healthy Society
Movement, said that Sandig-Ochir agreed to allow more
gers to be built on the square but that the cases of
the eight detained protestors had been sent to the
courts already and thus were out of his hands.

MEDIA REACTION: IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT
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9. (U) Mongolia's freewheeling print media has been

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providing wide coverage of the protests. Pro-
opposition papers have been carrying relatively
favorable reports (the protests are popular movements
for change) as front page news while pro-government
outlets are more critical (the protestors are rabble
rousers threatening social stability) and have been
relegating protest stories to the inside pages and
playing down the numbers. In a recent example, pro-
opposition daily "Odriin Sonin" ("Daily News") ran a
front page story on April 10 with this headline: "The
number of Gers is Increasing and so is the Number of
Protestors." Reporting on the same basic story, pro-
government party organ "Unen" ("Truth"),ran the story
on page three with this headline: "The Number of Gers
Increased, but There are Fewer Protestors." Since gers
are large and immobile, the numbers are hard to
dispute. The number of protestors is much more fluid
and open to creative interpretation. Pro-opposition
outlets run the highest mid-day estimates while the pro-
government media appears to use lower morning or
evening numbers.


10. (U) The few ostensibly unbiased media outlets
questioned the feasibility of the protest goals.
Independent daily "Ardyn Erkh" ("People's Right") led a
skeptical article with a headline asking "Is it
Possible to kill Three Rabbits with One Bullet?,"
referring to the protestors' demands for the
resignation of the President, Government and
Parliament.


11. (SBU) COMMENT: While the numbers of protestors has
increased slightly and there were minor skirmishes with
police, the mood in the capital remains calm and
business continues as usual in both the government and
private sectors. Members of Parliament have noted that
while the general public appears to condone the
protests as an expression of free will and discontent
which is healthy for a democratic society, there are
not large numbers of average citizens joining the
primarily students and elderly on the square.
Protesters have sometimes blocked main traffic routes
near the square, provoking the ire of some residents.
One resident Ambassador was concerned that tired and
beleaguered police, many of whom had been on alert for
several consecutive days, might overreact to continued
provocations. There is also the question of how long
the current government will tolerate continued
transport disruptions before it feels the need to
underscore its control of the streets. Post will
continue to monitor and report events as they unfold.
END COMMENT.

GOLDBECK