US embassy cable - 05MANAMA1036

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001036 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, ECON, PREL, BA 
SUBJECT: UNEMPLOYMENT DEMONSTRATION TURNS VIOLENT 
 
REF: MANAMA 885 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C) A July 15 demonstration of the Committee for the 
Unemployed turned violent, with up to twenty protesters and 
one police officer sustaining injuries.  An RSO witness said 
protesters started the clash by pushing the police, and the 
police responded with baton blows.  The Committee, which was 
protesting a lack of unemployment benefits in the recently 
passed budget, has staged a number of rallies in recent 
months deemed illegal by the GOB and is clearly interested in 
picking a fight with the government.  Following the 
demonstration both the Committee and the GOB were widely 
criticized for their actions, which may contribute to an 
atmosphere conducive to a mutual reduction in hostility. 
 
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Rotten Eggs and Tomatoes 
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2.  (C) Defying repeated government warnings, 100-150 (RSO 
estimate) protesters from the Committee for the Unemployed 
gathered at the Al Fateh Grand Mosque July 15.  A police 
representative told the press that the demonstration was not 
permitted because its timing and location were inappropriate, 
and because the Committee's petition to demonstrate was not 
signed by five people from the area, a legal requirement. 
The Committee's well-publicized plan was to march towards 
parliament and pelt the building with spoiled eggs and 
tomatoes to symbolize that parliament is rotten and useless 
for not including unemployment benefits in the recently 
passed budget.  The protesters soon found their path blocked 
by riot police who had closed the roads around the 
parliament. 
 
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Protesters Beaten 
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3.  (C) According to press reports, the protesters demanded 
that they be allowed to continue their march, but the police 
refused.  A clash then erupted between the two sides, with 
each side claiming that the other started the violence.  An 
RSO investigator who was at the scene said Committee members 
started pushing the police, and the police responded first by 
pushing back and escalated to baton blows.  Ten to twenty 
protesters and one police officer reportedly suffered 
injuries.  Committee representatives said the injuries 
sustained by the protesters included broken bones and welts. 
Two local newspapers published graphic photos of welts caused 
by baton blows.  Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab of the 
dissolved Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) were among 
those beaten.  Several newspapers said that a police officer 
confiscated a photojournalist's camera at the demonstration, 
but the camera was later returned. 
 
4.  (SBU) The press reported that two related demonstrations 
occurred later in the day on July 15.  A number of people 
gathered at the hospital where the injured were being treated 
to protest the police actions, and the police allege that one 
of their patrol cars was attacked.  In the evening, several 
hundred people associated with the Committee reportedly tried 
to march from a mosque to a police station, but they were 
disbanded peacefully. 
 
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Council of Representatives Condemns Demonstration 
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5.  (C) On July 16, the Council of Representatives (COR) 
passed a statement condemning the demonstration as a 
"dangerous violation which should be strictly punished." 
The statement called the protest a threat to democracy and an 
insult to all Bahrainis.  It praised the "civilized manner in 
which the police deal with illegal demonstrations" and backed 
"all actions that the Ministry of Interior must take to 
maintain stability and security."  The debate on the 
statement was heated, and 11 of the 38 MPs present opposed 
it.  MP Abdulnabi Salman told EmbOff that the statement only 
exacerbated an already tense situation. 
 
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GOB and Committee Criticized 
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6.  (C) Both the GOB and the protesters drew harsh criticism 
following the demonstration.  Many observers felt both sides 
were to blame for the clash.  MP Salman said that he did not 
agree with the protesters' insulting stance against the 
elected chamber, but that it did not merit police brutality. 
Salman added that unemployment is a serious issue that the 
government must address before the situation gets out of 
control.  MP Mohammed Al Abbas told EmbOff that prior to the 
demonstration, he strongly discouraged Committee members from 
staging the rally.  He warned that it would escalate tension 
with the GOB and hurt their cause.  Al Abbas noted that while 
some in the Committee agreed with him, others insisted that 
public pressure is the only political tool that yields 
results.  Al Abbas was equally critical of the GOB for its 
poor economic policies and for the excessive police force 
used at the demonstration. 
7.  (C) Soon after the demonstration, EmbOff spoke with a 
number of Committee members and other activists who were 
disappointed with the approach Al Khawaja and others are 
taking.  They said Al Khawaja is so focused on antagonizing 
the GOB that he is destroying hope for productive engagement 
between the two sides.  Some commented that demonstrations 
are so frequent these days that they are losing their 
meaning.  At the same time, they say the police could have 
easily restrained the protesters without violence, and they 
condemned the beatings as excessive and dangerous. 
 
8.  (SBU) A diverse group of sports clubs, political 
societies, and the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society all 
issued public statements condemning the Committee.  On the 
other hand, opposition Shi'a political society Al Wifaq 
publicly condemned the police and said their treatment marked 
a return to the violent period of the 1990's under the State 
Security Law.  Al Wifaq called for a neutral investigation 
into the event.  The four political societies that boycotted 
the 2002 parliamentary elections, including Al Wifaq, issued 
a joint statement against police brutality. 
 
9.  (C)  The Committee held another rally on July 17 without 
police interference.  It had planned to stage a march to an 
undisclosed location, but canceled the march on the advice of 
leading Shi'a cleric Sheikh Ali Salman.  According to the 
press, Sheikh Ali advised Committee members to file a case 
against the Ministry of Interior for the July 15 police 
abuse, but not to organize more protests as the situation 
needs to cool down.  Leading Committee members told EmbOff 
that they would follow Sheikh Ali's guidance, but they 
believed Committee's recent demonstrations (reftel) had 
positively affected their cause.  As evidence, the members 
cited several new GOB initiatives to help the unemployed. 
 
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Comment 
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10.  (C) Both the protesters and the government handled the 
July 15 demonstration poorly.  Al Khawaja and other Committee 
members are clearly seeking to provoke a crisis with the GOB, 
which they hope will lead to greater political and economic 
influence for Bahrain's Shi'a majority.  As long as 
unemployment rates run high (currently 15-20% by some 
estimates) and hit primarily the Shi'a community, lack of 
jobs will be a potential source of instability.  The police, 
who were apparently acting on orders from the Ministry of 
Interior, reacted in an excessively violent way, playing into 
the hands of protest leaders.  On a positive note, a growing 
number of people on both sides, with memories of the 
turbulent 1990's fresh in their minds, are now interested in 
cooling down the situation. 
MONROE