MINERS CLASH WITH POLICE IN UPPER EGYPT

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 001394

SIPDIS

DRL/ILCSR FOR DANG
NSC STAFF FOR KUMAR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2029
TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM PGOV KDEM EG
SUBJECT: MINERS CLASH WITH POLICE IN UPPER EGYPT

REF: A. CAIRO 775

B. 08 CAIRO 1643

Classified By: Economic-Political Minister-Counselor
Donald A. Blome for reason 1.4 (d).


1. (C) On July 16, in the most recent example of Egypt's
ongoing wave of labor strikes and demonstrations (ref A),
quarry workers and owners protesting a local government
imposed tariff on cut stone clashed with police in the Upper
Egyptian city of Minya. According to local media reports, a
policeman was killed in the violence. Security officials
subsequently arrested 53 demonstrators. A Minya-based labor
rights activist, Maher Bushra, told us that after the protest
the local government informed demonstration leaders that it
would delay the imposition of the tariff. Bushra reported
that the situation in Minya is now calm.


2. (C) The Minya region is the center of Egypt's limestone
quarrying industry, with hundreds of quarries, many small and
unlicensed, clustered on the East Bank of the Nile (ref B).
The quarries are notorious for employing children and a
number of NGOs work with quarry owners and the local
government to improve the child workers' situation. Bushra
is concerned that the unrest and police crackdown could
interfere with the work of these NGOs.


3. (C) Comment: Of late, the GoE has taken a relatively
light hand with labor protesters, generally not responding
with violence or arrests to purely economic demands. Labor
activists, including Karim Saber of the well-regarded Land
Center for Human Rights, were surprised by Minya security
forces' harsh reaction to the miners' protest. While the
violence in Minya may be a purely local phenomena, Egyptian
labor activists, who regard the GoE's recent tolerance
towards strikers as a significant step forward for workers'
rights, will be watching closely for any signs of GoE
backtracking.
Tueller