Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SUVA61
2007-01-24 21:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Suva
Cable title:  

TONGA REMAINS FRACTURED FROM 11/16 RIOT

Tags:  PREL MARR EAID PHUM TN 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7722
PP RUEHPB
DE RUEHSV #0061/01 0242126
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 242126Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY SUVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3701
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0242
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1536
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 1118
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1310
RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND 0330
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 0736
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 SUVA 000061 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2017
TAGS: PREL MARR EAID PHUM TN
SUBJECT: TONGA REMAINS FRACTURED FROM 11/16 RIOT

REF: A. 06 SUVA 500

B. 06 SUVA 504

C. 06 SUVA 507

D. 06 SUVA 508

E. 06 SUVA 517

F. 06 SUVA 530

Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D).

Summary
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 SUVA 000061

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2017
TAGS: PREL MARR EAID PHUM TN
SUBJECT: TONGA REMAINS FRACTURED FROM 11/16 RIOT

REF: A. 06 SUVA 500

B. 06 SUVA 504

C. 06 SUVA 507

D. 06 SUVA 508

E. 06 SUVA 517

F. 06 SUVA 530

Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D).

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

1. (C) This telegram sketches factors that appear to have
contributed to the riot of Nov. 16 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, an
event that devastated the central business district (CBD) and
has left deep scars on every Tongan's psyche. Certainly on
Nov. 16, Tonga's political process was at center stage, with
Prime Minister Sevele seeking to harness the pace and extent
of reform, probably in consultation with the Palace, and with
pro-democracy activists on the other side striving to pile on
people-power pressure to up the pace and ensure a rapid and
definitively democratic outcome. Some allege power
jealousies within the pro-democracy movement played a part.
Others allege a small-business group's unhappiness with
Government policies played a significant role. Most likely,
the instigators, whatever their motives, did not intend the
degree of devastation that occurred. Police were
ineffectual. Armed Tonga Defense Service (TDS) troops
eventually restored order. Two months later, every Tongan
remains shaken, and the CBD, now cleared of rubble, is an
empty zone of concrete slabs. Septel will discuss issues at
play as Tonga attempts to punish wrongdoers, rebuild the
economy, and decide on political reforms. End summary.

"16/11" - a day of devastation for Tonga
--------------

2. (U) Reftels reported on the riot that devastated
Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga, on Nov. 16, 2006. Amb.
Dinger visited Jan. 19-21 to gauge the current state of play.
Most everyone uses the shorthand "16/11" to refer to the
day, and Tongans consider the riot to be their equivalent of
"9/11" in the U.S. The areas of the CBD destroyed that day
are still sealed off by armed TDS troops. Nearly all the
burned-out buildings have been removed, leaving a vast open
space of whitened-concrete slabs spread across approximately
six square blocks. The government buildings that suffered

mob damage to windows and doors have been repaired. Farther
from the center, isolated buildings that were torched are
gone, with vacant lots remaining.

All sides remain angry
--------------

3. (C) While the ruined buildings are removed, deep scars
remain within psyches. Almost everyone is angry. Government
ministers and supporters remain deeply offended that rioters
embarrassed Tonga to the world, destroyed many businesses and
jobs, and have not been contrite. Pro-democracy supporters
remain deeply frustrated by royal and government failure,
thus far, to enact far-reaching political reforms and by what
they see as a heavy-handed, military-oriented response to the
riot.

Prosecutions pending
--------------

4. (C) The Government's efforts to determine who instigated
the riot and press charges are well under way. Up to a
thousand people have been detained by the police and TDS
under emergency powers. Most have been subsequently
released. Court cases are beginning. The Attorney General
acknowledges a need to divert most cases to alternative
resolution processes, including a youth diversion program.
The AG expects about a hundred cases actually to go to trial.
Evidence in many cases will be video, including cell-phone
video, of riot scenes, plus testimony of some participants.
Extra prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges are being
recruited from Australia and New Zealand.

Pro-democracy MPs under fire
--------------

5. (C) The Government expects all seven
pro-democracy-oriented Peoples Representatives to Parliament
to be indicted on sedition and other charges. Thus far, two
have been taken in. Isileli Pulu remains in prison charged
with sedition and being a party to murder. He allegedly was
caught on video in the midst of the riot pointing toward the
King's Shoreline building. The bodies of seven rioters,

SUVA 00000061 002 OF 005


apparently trapped in flames, later were found there. The
most famous pro-democracy MP, Akilisi Pohiva, was taken in
just minutes before he was scheduled to meet with the
Ambassador on Jan. 17. Pohiva has since been released on
bail after being charged with three counts of sedition. The
Ambassador was able to meet with Clive Edwards, another
pro-democracy MP, who is convinced he will be detained, too.
Edwards flatly denies engaging in any criminal planning or
act, but he believes authorities are so angry about the riot
that they will pursue all who had a role in organizing the
political demonstration from which the riot exploded.

Political reforms, Parliament, and Pressure
--------------

6. (C) Per reftels, the atmosphere on Nov. 16 was highly
charged. A National Committee for Political Reform had
submitted a report recommending an all-elected Parliament, a
significant change from Tonga's current model that is
dominated by the King's appointed cabinet and a group of nine
elected Nobles. Prime Minister Sevele tossed in a counter
proposal that would have retained for the King the
possibility of appointing enough MPs to join with Nobles to
retain a majority in Parliament. Pohiva and his
pro-democracy colleagues, who had been relatively satisfied
with the NCPR report, then offered up their own counter
proposal. The pro-democracy MPs insisted that Parliament
take a vote on the way forward before adjourning for the
year. They orchestrated large and vocal demonstrations
outside Parliament for several days.


7. (C) Prime Minister Sevele, the Nobles, and most of Cabinet
were wary of the crowds and wanted to defer decision-making
to a calmer negotiating environment. Sevele had proposed a
few days before to have Parliament approve the NCPR report
"in principle," and then create a nine-person committee (3
pro-democracy MPs; 3 Nobles; 3 from Cabinet) to consider
options and provide a solution when Parliament reconvenes in
May. Pohiva reportedly agreed, though he later could not win
support from his colleagues. The Speaker declined to convene
a Parliament session Nov. 16, the last feasible day for a
vote, citing the threatening tone of the demonstrations just
across the street. Instead, Sevele called a mini-Cabinet
meeting in his office for mid-afternoon and invited some
pro-democracy MPs.

Politics, media, business motives
--------------

8. (C) In the meantime, the crowd at Pangai Si'i park just
across from Parliament and next to the PM's offices was
angry. Most of the several thousand demonstrators were there
to support pro-democracy, anti-monarchy themes; but another,
smaller group was vocal in its opposition to change. The
groups exchanged insults, ramping up tension. Pro-democracy
leaders, including Pohiva, gave fiery political speeches.
Some in the pro-democracy group had additional agendas.

-- The Government reportedly had cut off power to a
pro-democracy TV station, OBN, just a day or two before Nov.

16. OBN had been providing a near-constant forum for Pohiva
and pro-democracy leaders, in contrast to the Government's
Tonga TV that had reportedly given very little coverage to
the pro-democracy movement but had accented the Government's
stance. The official reason for cutting off OBN was that the
managers had no license to broadcast and no right to the land
on which the station was built. The facts are complicated
and relate back to the late King, who had "given" the land
without paperwork to an American religious broadcaster who
had a license. The American later transferred his rights to
OBN's current religious-based team. The issues were in
litigation and had not been resolved as of the power cut. We
hear a group of OBN supporters were among those who marched
to Pangai Si'i Nov. 16.

-- Also, one of PM Sevele's pet projects was a clean-up of
Tonga customs. He appointed a committee that recommended
shutting down all bonded warehouses to be replaced by one or
two new bonded warehouses. A small-business group strongly
objected, alleging that members of the PM's committee were
planning to control the new warehouse businesses, a shift of
graft, not a clean-up. The small-business group also was
very irritated by a major influx of ethnic-Chinese retail
shops in Nuku'alofa. The small-business group is alleged to
have trucked in young men from rural areas, primed them with
alcohol, and aimed them toward destruction. Some witnesses
allege molotov cocktails were at the ready.

SUVA 00000061 003 OF 005



Mini-Cabinet meeting under pressure
--------------

9. (C) Accounts differ on just what spark set off the riot
and whether that spark was lit before or after the PM's
mini-Cabinet meeting began. Pro-democracy leaders say they
went to Sevele's office in good faith and asked in reasonable
tones for a written decision supporting a fully elected
Parliament. With that, they said they would do their best to
calm the volatile crowd outside. Government participants
describe Pohiva as shouting demands in "or else" terms. The
initial response was inaction. In fact, Edwards said, the AG
spent a crucial half hour or more loudly praying for divine
guidance (not an unusual occurrence in Tonga). Eventually,
the pro-democracy leaders departed, only to be begged back at
the office gate by the PM's advisor Senitule.

Victory? Too late
--------------

10. (C) By that time, the crowd outside the PM's office
building was casting stones, breaking windows, and seemingly
losing control. By some accounts, Pohiva tried to calm the
nearest members of the throng from stoning Senitule before
the two re-entered the building to receive a statement,
signed by Sevele, agreeing to a fully elected Parliament for
the 2008 elections. (Sevele since has noted that the
statement was made under duress and in any case would need
formal approval of Parliament and the King to be valid.)
With the written statement in hand, Pohiva, Edwards, Pulu,
and others returned to the crowd, gained access to the media,
declared "We have won," and pleaded with the crowd to go home
since their objective had been achieved.

A riot in phases
--------------

11. (C) However, by then, the riot was in full gear.
Initially, demonstrators stoned government offices near the
park, breaking windows, including at the PM's office and the
Treasury. Then a group of 500 or so rioters headed for the
business district. Several eye-witnesses say the riot built
in stages. Initially, there appeared to be simultaneous,
perhaps planned attacks to trash targeted, politically
relevant businesses: the PM's grocery store; the King's
Shoreline building; the Princess's duty-free store; the
King's Indian cronies' hotel. Rioters snatched alcohol from
shops, becoming more unruly. Some rioters then started
setting fires to the targeted buildings they had earlier
trashed, beginning with Shoreline. With that, hundreds of
people who had merely been avid spectators began stealing
everything not nailed down. Some rioters turned their
attention to small shops owned by ethnic-Chinese. As the day
was windy and dry, flames quickly devastated most of the CBD.

Instigators? Pro-democracy personal ambition?
-------------- -

12. (C) The PM and AG are convinced the pro-democracy MPs
must bear the blame. At the least, they fired up the mob
with incendiary political rhetoric. Allegedly they plotted
destruction. Asked what possible advantage the pro-democracy
movement could perceive from devastating Nuku'alofa, the PM
suggested the intent was to convince the King to remove the
Sevele Government for horribly misjudging the public mood and
to install a true pro-democracy PM, in effect to engineer a
coup. People's Rep. Edwards scoffed at that suggestion,
saying if activists had intended a coup, they would have
carefully designed one. Another, related theory is that
Pohiva and other long-time pro-democracy leaders deeply
resented the King's selection of Sevele, a pro-democracy
activist with lesser and shorter credentials, to be the first
modern-day "commoner" PM. Thus, the argument goes, crassly
personal political ambition was the driving force. A
long-time pro-democracy activist said he and Sevele had opted
to take a different path from Pohiva's "socialist agenda."
Some argue that Sevele's proposal for people's reps to be
elected from single-member rather than island-wide districts
triggered political angst, particularly among the Tonga'tapu
people's reps. Single-member districts would leave
Nuku'alofa with only one constituency; but all three current
Tonga'tapu people's reps, plus Sevele, reside in the capital.

Small business grudges?
--------------

13. (C) Another theory for the riot is that the
small-business activists, incensed about the bonded warehouse
scam, infiltrated criminal thugs and young toughs into the

SUVA 00000061 004 OF 005


crowd, and then activated them to target enemy businesses for
destruction. People point to the burning of a Jones Co.
store well outside the CBD as particularly relevant evidence.
Mr. Jones is one of the members of PM Sevele's committee who
allegedly was to profit from the new bonded-warehouse
arrangement. A number of stores torched in the CBD, and
particularly the Chinese shops, could also fit this theory.
A prominent businesswoman who was recently arrested on riot
charges is an active member of the small-business
organization.

A modest plan that exploded?
--------------

14. (C) A cabinet minister suggested that Pohiva's effort to
force a vote in Parliament on political reforms was
illuminating. The theory goes that Pohiva had to know the
People's Reps would lose any vote, as usual, since Cabinet
and Nobles combined have an overwhelming majority. Thus, the
presumed aim was to trigger mob action in the streets. Some
witnesses say pro-democracy speakers in the lead-up to the
riot publicly counted down the days to the 16th. Perhaps
Pohiva was pessimistically recalling a past instance when a
land commission, set up with fanfare, consulted widely and
put forth proposals, only to be ignored. Perhaps angry
radicals who burned a few cars and an abandoned royal
residence in a rural area during political tensions in
August-September 2005 were intending to take out frustration
on political opponents, the PM and royal family, for the
history of such failed expectations. Activists might have
intended another modest demonstration of public frustration,
a few trashed buildings to catch the elite's attention, not
anticipating that a boozed-up mob, access to a petrol
station, and high winds would whip up a conflagration.

Counter theories: blame the PM?
--------------

15. (C) Two prominent members of the NCPR have publicly
blamed PM Sevele for precipitating the crisis. Ref D
reported on the view of Sitiveni Halapua, head of the Pacific
Island Development Program (PIDP) in Honolulu and chief
drafter of the NCPR report. Halapua placed major blame on
Sevele for putting forward his own reform proposal that
unnecessarily created confusion in the reform process, moving
discussion from Parliament to Cabinet thereby raising alarms
in the streets, and failing to have adequate security plans
in place. Ana Taufe'ulungaki, a University of the South
Pacific academic and NCPR member, was similarly critical of
Sevele's role in an analysis she wrote just after the riot.

Blame the King and/or Cabinet?
--------------

16. (C) Ever since the Palace (the then-Crown Prince via the
late King) appointed Sevele the first modern-era "commoner"
PM, Sevele has said the Palace accepts the need for political
reform. Our own past conversations with now-King George V
suggest the monarch will gladly cede much power to
Parliament, though he wants to ensure he can continue to have
decisive influence on at least some important issues. Sevele
has not admitted it, but it is certainly possible that the
King and PM were in league to permit meaningful reform, by
Tonga standards, but to ensure retention of royal
prerogatives. Also, most members of the current Cabinet were
appointed to their positions. It was only in the past two
years, in a reform move, that the King appointed two people's
reps and two Nobles from Parliament into Cabinet. Most of
the un-elected Cabinet members reportedly see no future for
themselves in an all-elected Parliament. Some may not mind
returning to private lives; others may have encouraged the
Palace and PM to propose adjustments to the NCPR
recommendations to retain sufficient appointed members of
Parliament to form a majority with the Nobles reps.

Blame the police?
--------------

17. (C) By nearly all accounts, the Tonga Police Force did a
poor job of attempting to control a volatile situation in
mid-November. We hear Sevele believes some in senior police
positions were actively colluding with pro-democracy leaders
in the lead-up to the riot. Police were present on Nov. 16.
They attempted to separate competing crowds and to be a
buffer between the crowds and public buildings; however, once
the riot exploded, the police were totally overwhelmed. We
hear Australian and New Zealand police who arrived in
following days believe Tonga police judged rightly that
attempting, unarmed, to stop the rioting would have been

SUVA 00000061 005 OF 005


nonsensical.

Praise the TDS?
--------------

18. (C) Two factors brought the situation under control.
First, after nightfall, rioters became exhausted, too drunk
or too burdened with looted items to continue. Second, PM
Sevele called the armed TDS into the streets. We are told
that the TDS was a decisive element on Nov. 17 and 18 when
some elements attempted to resume destructive acts, including
by using heavy construction equipment to shield their
movements. TDS soldiers cocked their weapons and reportedly
fired into the air, causing the potential rioters to retreat.
The TDS also set up armed check points that controlled
traffic and subdued any potential crowds. Perhaps inevitably
when a military force trained for warfare is called on to do
policing, some reports of arbitrary or unnecessary use of
force have surfaced. In general, though, most sources were
reasonably complimentary of TDS performance at a troubled
time.

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

19. (C) PM Sevele's management of the reform process
undoubtedly raised alarms in the pro-democracy movement.
Sevele's reform counter-proposal and his shift of venue from
Parliament to Cabinet were surely intended to slow the pace
of electoral reform and to engineer a result that, in line
with Tonga tradition, would allow the King, if he so wishes,
to retain a majority coalition in Parliament via his own
Cabinet appointments plus the votes of the Nobles. That
outcome would frustrate the pro-democracy movement's goal to
ensure, via an all-elected Parliament with an absolute
majority of people's reps, that the King could no longer
dominate Tonga politics. Those stakes are important
politically, so it is no surprise that the democracy movement
energized people-power pressure.


20. (C) It strikes us that none of the supposed instigators
of the riot could have intended the full scope of what took
place. Certainly, some pro-democracy activists might have
wanted to vividly illustrate public outrage at perceived
efforts by Palace and PM to manipulate reform. They might
have judged that trashing a few politically targeted
businesses was one more useful exercise of pressure.
Certainly, the small business activists may have seen an
opportunity to strike back at larger opponents. It is
possible, though it strikes us as unlikely, that the
pro-democracy leadership somehow believed street violence
could split the King from the PM and bring about a "coup."
It seems clear Sevele did misjudge the political atmosphere
and how much room he had to maneuver for his preferred pace
and degree of reform. In the end, Mother Nature's winds
turned a nasty, targeted riot, into a major political,
economic, and cultural disaster for Tonga.


21. (C) It appears all players deserve some blame.
Inevitably, and understandably, much attention in the two
months since the riot has been focused on finding and
prosecuting perpetrators. With that process proceeding,
significant attention also must focus forward, on rebuilding
economic infrastructure, re-energizing political reform, and
finding ways to promote reconciliation. Septel discusses the
way ahead.
DINGER