US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1420

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001420 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, MV, Maldives 
SUBJECT: MALDIVES:  PROTESTERS DETAINED AFTER DEMONSTRATION 
IN CAPITAL TURNS VIOLENT 
 
REF: 04 COLOMBO 1337 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (U) An unknown number of arrests were made in the 
Maldivian capital of Male' late August 13 after protests 
against the arrests of three prominent opposition activists 
turned violent.  National Security Services (NSS) forces were 
called in to assist the police in quelling the disturbance 
after demonstrators overwhelmed the police.  The Government 
alleges that "a large cache of blunt and sharp weapons" were 
found at a "rally headquarters" used by the opposition 
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), a charge the MDP Spokesman 
disputed.  A curfew was imposed in the capital from 12:00 
a.m. - 4:00 a.m. August 14.  As of mid-day August 14, the 
situation had returned to normal, but both the Government and 
MDP do not rule out the possibility of additional 
disturbances later in the evening.  We have received no 
reports of Americans affected by the incident.  The Embassy 
continues to follow the situation closely.  End summary. 
 
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ANNIVERSARY OBSERVANCES TURN VIOLENT 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U)  Police arrested an as-yet undetermined number of 
protesters late August 13 after a demonstration by Maldivian 
Democratic Party (MDP) sympathizers demanding the release of 
three party members detained the previous day turned violent. 
 Speaking to poloff by telephone on August 14, Government 
Spokesman Mohamed Shareef said that the protests, which began 
in a residential area of Male' about 4:00 p.m. local time, 
deteriorated into violence about four hours later, as 
demonstrators reportedly began throwing stones and bricks at 
police.  Two policemen were severely injured in the melee, 
Shareef reported, including one who was reportedly pulled off 
his motorcycle and beaten up by the mob.  According to 
Shareff, police used tear gas to disperse the protesters 
about 10:00 p.m. local time. (Note:  A reporter for a local 
newspaper and a Maldivian employee of a multilateral 
organization who observed the demonstrations told us in 
separate conversations that the police also charged 
demonstrators with batons; Shareef, on the other hand, said 
that no baton charge occurred.)  The demonstrations, however, 
continued until midnight when the streets were finally 
cleared after the government announced a midnight - 4:00 a.m. 
curfew.  Shareef said that calm had returned to Male' at OOB 
August 14 (schools, businesses and government offices are 
open on Sunday), but said he feared further disturbances 
might occur later in the evening.  To avert that possibility, 
the police were "trying to identify the ringleaders" who 
incited the previous evening's violence, he said.  Shareef 
added that he was in the process of confirming the number of 
arrests or injuries resulting from the August 13 incident, 
but assured us that the ICRC and family members would be 
given access to detainees. 
 
3.  (SBU) Because the police had been unable to control the 
disturbance, Shareef reported that the National Security 
Service (NSS) were called in to assist in quelling the 
violence.  The August 13 disturbance was particularly 
worrisome to the Government, Shareef said, because it 
occurred in a densely populated residential area where 
innocent bystanders could be easily caught up and injured in 
the violence.  The NSS "worked in partnership with the 
police" to restore order, Shareef said, for the first time 
since the formal separation of the civilian police from the 
NSS last year.  He emphasized that anyone detained in 
connection with the disturbance is now in police custody and 
that no Members of the Special or People's Majlis are among 
the detainees. 
 
4.  (SBU)  The August 13 violence appears to have been 
sparked by the Government's response to a (at least 
initially) more peaceful demonstration held by MDP party 
members the previous day to mark the one-year anniversary of 
the detentions of pro-reform activists by the Government 
(Reftel).  MDP Chairman Mohamed Naseem and several others who 
staged a sit-down protest after Friday prayers August 12 were 
urged to disperse by police, Shareef reported, but refused, 
eventually drawing a crowd of about 300 which later became 
unruly and attacked police.  Even though Naseem and other MDP 
council members were not themselves acting violently, Shareef 
acknowledged, they were nonetheless arrested and detained by 
police as "catalysts" of the disturbance.  Shareef confirmed 
that 38 protesters, including Naseem, remain in detention. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Following Naseem's arrest, the NSS later on August 
12 raided an MDP "rally headquarters," recovering a "large 
cache of blunt and sharp weapons," according to a faxed 
report the Embassy received from the Maldivian Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs.  When asked about this report, Shareef said 
that besides retrieving approximately 100 steel rods and 
"mallets" from the site, the NSS had also apprehended a man 
"red-handed" in the act of operating a machine to cut the 
steel bars into uniform size, which the man allegedly 
admitted were to be distributed among demonstrators to wreak 
further havoc.  The security forces then destroyed the site, 
according to Shareef (the "rally headquarters" seems to have 
been a tent-like, temporary structure), but the office 
headquarters of MDP remain open. 
 
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OPPOSITION DISPUTES CHARGES 
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6.  (SBU) MDP Spokesman Mohamed Latheef, who lives in 
self-imposed exile in Colombo, disputed the Government 
version of events in a separate conversation with poloff on 
August 14.  Charging that President Gayoom is attempting to 
"bleed the country to death," Latheef accused the Government 
of perpetrating the violence itself through proxy "private 
militias."  While acknowledging that his daughter, who had 
been initially detained by police August 12, had been 
released, Latheef alleged that Naseem had been "beaten up" 
before being taken into custody.  The "weapons" found by the 
NSS at the MDP site, Latheef contended, were no more than 
construction materials that the landlady had been keeping 
since before the MDP rented the "rally headquarters" at a 
neighboring construction site on the same property.  Latheef 
said he challenged the NSS to turn over its findings to any 
impartial authority to assess their credibility, asserting 
that the investigation could not stand up to even "minimal 
scrutiny."  He added that he feared further disturbances 
could erupt. 
 
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NO REPORTS OF AMERICANS AFFECTED 
--------------------------------- 
 
7.  (U)  The Embassy has received no reports of Americans 
affected by the August 12-13 unrest in Male'.  (Note:  Most 
foreign tourists, who stay on separate resort islands and 
enter and leave the country via a separate "airport" island, 
never visit Male'.)  We will continue to follow the situation 
closely. 
 
 
 
ENTWISTLE