ROYG SUPPRESSES DEMONSTRATIONS WITH TANKS AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000610

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL YM
SUBJECT: ROYG SUPPRESSES DEMONSTRATIONS WITH TANKS AND
PLANES

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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


1. (C) The ROYG used military force including tanks, other
armored vehicles and aircraft to suppress demonstrations in
southern Yemen on April 1. The protests, which stemmed from
an incident where military applicants from Dhale were refused
enlistment, continued today, with many demonstrators arrested
and at least one reportedly killed. This incident is the
latest in a string of increasingly hostile confrontations in
the governorates of the former South Yemen. As the Secretary
General of one of Yemen's opposition parties told POL/E
Chief, quelling demonstrations by force is unlikely to
improve the situation. End Summary.

Demonstrations Turn Ugly in Dhale and Lahj
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2. (C) On April 2, Secretary General Yassin Noman of the
opposition Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) asserted to POL/E
Chief that, on April 1, the ROYG used tanks, armored vehicles
and aircraft to disperse demonstrators in the southern
governorates of Dhale and Lahj. (Note: A security source
told EmbOff that pickup truck-mounted 50-caliber machine guns
were deployed instead of tanks in Lahj. End Note.) Early
the same day, according to Basha Bashraheel, editor and owner
of the Aden-based independent al-Ayyam newspaper, security
forces raided houses to arrest what he described as "everyone
with a role in protests in the South in the last eight
months." Noman told POL/E Chief that a total of 15 people
had been detained, including "six or seven" members of the
YSP.


3. (C) The protests have continued, according to Ahmed
al-Hajj of Associated Press. On April 2, citizens of Dhale
were back in the streets in greater numbers. He said that
hundreds of protestors were arrested and one had been killed.
The rioters include disaffected youths, retired military
officers, and their supporters. Leaders of the protest
movement reportedly made speeches calling for "southern
liberation" from the northern-dominated regime while orange
flags of the former People,s Democratic Republic of Yemen
(PDRY) were openly displayed by demonstrators.

How Did We Get Here?
--------------


4. (C) Noman confirmed to POL/E Chief press reports that a
refusal to admit youths from Dhale into the military had
precipitated demonstrations that, earlier in the week, had
included protestors carrying a donkey to the headquarters of
the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) in Dhale,
chanting, "No donkeys after this day," and pelting the
building with stones. (Note: The symbol of the GPC is a
stallion. End Note.) The protestors also attacked
governmental facilities and shops, and paralyzed traffic. He
claimed that the ROYG had promised to hire local youths but,
when over 500 young men from Dhale showed up at an induction
camp in Reem in the neighboring governorate of Ibb, only 10
were given jobs. Bashraheel added that officials mistreated
and humiliated the applicants. One officer reportedly told
unsuccessful applicants "if you want jobs in the army, bring
your mothers to beg for you first."


5. (C) Dhale has been the epicenter of anti-government
protests in southern Yemen. Most of the military leaders of
the former PDRY were from Dhale or Radfan in the neighboring
Lahj Governorate. Dhale was also considered a stronghold of
southern nationalism in 1967, when South Yemen was a British
colony. Dhale is semi-tribal in nature and most of its
people are perceived as "warriors." Dhale was the only local
council in which the opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP)
won a majority in the September 2006 elections.


6. (C) The demonstrations have adopted an increasingly
separatist tone in recent months as the Saleh regime reacts
to the mounting civil unrest with increased repression and
cosmetic gestures that fail to address the underlying issues.
Noman told POL/E Chief, "If the regime continues to try and
solve problems with force, there will, of course, be a
reaction." A statement issued on April 1 by the rally,s
organizers blamed the Saleh regime for undermining national
unity, demanded the return of plundered land, and called for
an international investigation into political murders and
arbitrary detention practiced against southerners.


7. (C) Speaker of the Parliament Yahya al-Raie told the
Ambassador today in no uncertain terms that the ROYG blames
the current spate of unrest in the South on opposition

parties who, Raie asserted, are abusing the liberties
afforded them under the democracy Yemen has worked so hard to
achieve. He claimed, as other senior ROYG officials have
done, that the opposition wants to force more concessions
from the government, and will use any means to achieve this
end. Noman drew a line between party affiliation and
southern unrest. He averred that, while there are YSP
members among the protestors, there are non-affiliated people
as well, and even GPC members. He emphasized that the YSP is
working to resolve the nation's problems within the context
of unity, but acknowledged that some party members had left
because of its pro-unity stance.

Al-Jazeera: Let's Go to the Tape
--------------


8. (C) An interesting side note to the demonstrations is that
Al-Jazeera was able to broadcast footage of them. For the
last several months, any non-ROYG film crew that has tried to
film demonstrations in the South has been harassed and, in
many cases, had their film confiscated. An Al-Jazeera
contact told PAO how the ban been circumvented. The film was
not shot by an Al-Jazeera crew. It had been passed by what
the contact described as "activists." The fact that these
activists were able to prepare broadcast-quality film shows a
degree of organization and media savvy not seen previously
among southern protesters.

What's Next?
--------------


9. (C) While claiming not to be pessimistic, Noman was far
from positive in his view of the situation in the South and
throughout Yemen. "Frankly," he said, "I am afraid." He
added that when he looked at the future in Yemen he saw it
"pregnant with problems." He described the mood of the
country as "boiling" and complained that the ROYG's refusal
to solve the underlying issues that cause southerners to feel
discriminated against only "sharpens" those problems.

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


10. (C) Noman is far from impartial in his assessment of the
situation. He is the Secretary General of the party the ROYG
is trying to blame for southern unrest. Further, at least
six of his fellow party members have been arrested and may or
may not have been transferred out of the South to Sana'a.
This being the case, he has reason to see events in a
jaundiced light. His opinion, however, is representative of
the view of many Yemenis who see the ROYG refusing to make
needed reforms to address discontent in the South (and
throughout the country). If the ROYG continues to substitute
suppression for reform, many feel the problems will only
worsen. End Comment.
SECHE