RIOTS BREAK OUT IN ORAN AND BOUSSAADA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000944 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ASEC AG SUBJECT: RIOTS BREAK OUT IN ORAN AND BOUSSAADA Classified By: DCM Thomas F. Daughton; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Riots erupted in recent days in two parts of Algeria for two very different reasons. In response to the downgrading of a local soccer team, two days of riots broke out in the desert city of Boussaada. Four days of rioting broke out in the westerm port city of Oran after the GOA announced a highly contentious list of government housing recipients. This kind of disturbance has become commonplace, and appears likely to remain so unless the government offers diversions other than soccer and improves the quality of life of its citizens. End Summary. UNFAIR HOUSING DISTRIBUTION ¶2. (U) On July 2 an American academic living in Oran explained to PolOff that every 2-3 months the GOA doles out new housing to inhabitants of Oran's poorest neighborhood, Planteurs, in the district of Sidi El-Houari. The move is part of a GOA program called Resorption de l'Habitat Precaire (RHP) that relocates low-income families from condemnable buildings to safe new housing. Our contact reported that civil unrest started on June 28 at the local sports stadium where the Office of Promotion and Management of Housing (OPGI) announced the 1,000 names that would receive new housing. Many attendees whose names were not announced or who received smaller apartments than expected hurled chairs and bottles in response to the announcement. A nurse from the local hospital told our contact that a municipal official required six stitches as a result of being hit in the head with a bottle. ¶3. (U) According to our source, on June 29 and 30 the violence was confined to the main square, Kleber. By July 1, demonstrators focused their anger on the Sidi El-Houari OPGI office, burning tires and breaking windows. July 2 press reports claim that the riot police responded quickly and efficiently, cordoning off streets leading to Kleber Square and OPGI. According to a July 2 report in Liberte, 25 policemen and rioters sustained injuries, while police arrested 30 rioters. Demonstrators demanded a full investigation and cancellation of the list. The July 1 meeting between family representatives and the municipality of Wahran accomplished little. Al Jazair News reported on July 2 that security experts fear the situation will deteriorate if OPGI moves forward with relocating the 1,000 inhabitants using the original list. Our contact told us that he did not witness any violence where he lives, far from Planteurs in the center of town. SOCCER DISAPPOINTS ¶4. (U) In the north-central desert city of Boussaada (Msila region),inhabitants expressed their anger last week over the national football league's relegation of their soccer team, Amei Boussaada, to a less prestigious inter-league division. Rioters took to the streets, erecting barricades and burning tires for two days. A Liberte report indicated July 2 that riot police used tear gas and arrested 22 citizens. The local municipal head organized a meeting with the Amei Boussaada's management to discuss ways to avoid more violence. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: Disturbances like the latest events in Oran and Boussaada occur frequently in Algeria, and occasionally garner attention from the independent media. The discontent stems from diverse sources ranging from anger over a lack of decent public services to something as seemingly mundane as downgrading a soccer team. The government's ongoing failure to address issues like housing effectively suggests that such localized violence is likely to continue. FORD