GERDEC SURVIVORS' HUNGER STRIKE PRESSURES GOA

UNCLAS TIRANA 000444 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT, ICITAP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL AL SUBJECT: GERDEC SURVIVORS' HUNGER STRIKE PRESSURES GOA ¶1. (U) Twelve weeks after the March 15 explosion at Gerdec, compensation remains a key demand for many survivors. Eight former employees of the Gerdec ammunition disassembly plant began a hunger strike June 6, demanding additional financial compensation and other reimbursements from the GOA. While the strike had initially garnered minimal public attention, a visit from Socialist Party (SP) MPs and G99 civil society activists on June 9 succeeded in raising the group's profile, prompting a heated exchange in Parliament between the opposition and majority. ¶2. (U) The strikers are demanding compensation of $4,000 for each former plant employee, one year's salary and health and social insurance coverage. (Note: Each employee working at the blast site received about $600 from the GOA immediately after the explosion, but further compensation has not been forthcoming. Some of the employees who lived in Gerdec have also received compensation for lost property.) In addition, the strikers are also demanding payment of $15,000 for each person who was injured in the blast. ¶3. (SBU) The head of the SP Parliamentary Group, Valentina Leskaj, and SP Assembly Chairman Gramoz Ruci (the second highest official in the SP hierarchy) visited the hunger strikers on June 9 and roundly criticized the government for ignoring their plight. G99 leader Erjon Veliaj, former head of the anti-corruption NGO Mjaft!, has also visited the blast site regularly, providing moral and material support to the strikers. ¶4. (U) A 17 year-old hunger striker was forced to abandon the strike yesterday after suffering from low blood pressure and other hunger-related medical symptoms. Aside from the eight hunger strikers, approximately 40 to 50 relatives and supporters have congregated with the group, which is camped out near the blast site. The Government has so far made no public statement on the hunger strike, but Democratic Party parliamentarians have said the group's demands are illogical and accused the opposition of manipulating the workers for their own political benefit. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: The hunger strike is another example of the Berisha Government's relentless mishandling of the Gerdec tragedy. In addition to other private donors, a group of prominent local businesses led by the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund has raised over 100,000 euros to assist Gerdec victims. However, despite weeks of urgent pleas, the GOA has refused to release the names of the dead and injured so the donated funds can be disbursed. The frustrated donors are now considering returning the donations to contributors while the GOA twists in the wind of public opinion over the hunger strike from another self-inflicted wound. The hunger strike is also coinciding with Prime Minister Berisha's "Albania in NATO" cross-country campaign tour while his Government has been keen to marginalize critics protesting issues surrounding the Gerdec tragedy. The hunger strike, although still minimal in its impact, risks derailing the Government's efforts to focus public attention away from the Gerdec tragedy. The involvement in the hunger strike of G99, loosely allied with the opposition, indicates the intent of anti-Government forces to ensure that Gerdec remains a persistent political headache for the Prime Minister. WITHERS