This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 000720 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR PRM-CAMILLE D HILL 
ADDIS FOR REFCOORD JON EKLUND 
CAIRO FOR REFCOORD GERARD CHEYNE 
ATHENS FOR DHS JACOB ANTONINIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF YM HUMAN RIGHTS
SUBJECT: ROYG POLICE END SIT-IN BY ETHIOPIAN REFUGEES AT 
UNHCR SANA'A 
 
REF: A. SANAA 546 
     ¶B. SANAA 397 
 
¶1. (U)  Summary.  Following a partial closing by UNHCR of its 
offices in Sana'a and a threat to close permamently, Yemeni 
police intervened on March 19 to end the sit-in by Ethiopian 
refugees which began February 10, thus ending the potential 
security threat posed to the adjacent residence of the DCM. 
The question of long-term status of the group of Ethiopian 
refugees affiliated with the Mengistu navy remans unresolved, 
however, and a number of them remain in jail.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On March 11th the Assistant UN High Commissioner 
for Human Rights met in Geneva with Ahmed Al Basha, the 
Director of the Africa Department at the MFA, to discuss the 
sit-in and try to find a way to bring it to a peaceful end. 
According to Saad Al-Attar of UNHCR Sana'a who was present at 
the meeting, Al-Basha wanted a letter from UNHCR requesting 
the ROYG to disperse the crowd while UNHCR wanted the ROYG to 
end the demonstration peacefully in 3 to 4 days without a 
written request.  The Asst. High Commissioner authorized 
Al-Attar to close the Sana'a office if the sit-in was not 
brought to a peaceful end.  Al-Basha informed Al-Attar that 
he would return to Sana'a on March 13 to resolve the 
situation but instead decided to take a week-long holiday in 
Geneva.  With the sit-in continuing and the refugee camp 
taking on a semi-permanent quality including large tented 
areas, a hot food preparation facility and large numbers of 
regular inhabitants, Al-Attar sent most UNHCR employees to 
work from home or to work out of various NGO offices in 
Sana'a starting Monday March 15. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  On March 19 the ROYG moved to break up the 
demonstration.  According to an eyewitness account by the 
DCM, ROYG police removed the Ethiopian men from the sit-in 
site and dismantled their camp early on the morning March 19. 
 Later that morning over 100 Ethiopians, mostly women, 
re-occupied the site after police departed.  After repeated 
attempts by the police to negotiate with the demonstrators 
who eventually began to throw rocks at UNHCR's building, the 
police used high-pressure water to disperse the crowd and 
reportedly arrested over 100 men and women.  During the 
confrontation, some demonstrators fled over the wall to the 
DCMR compound but were quickly removed. The DCM departed the 
DCMR shortly after these incursions began. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  According to various reports from observers, 
employers of Ethiopian men and women and Ethiopians known to 
Embassy personnel, the arrested demonstrators, some of whom 
were mothers of infants and/or toddlers, were still in 
custody several days after the police action.  According to 
information provided by the MOI to the ARSO, as of March 30 
only men remain in custody but the number of detainees is 
unknown.  According to information provided by the PSO to 
UNHCR, PSO is holding the "leaders" of the demonstration. 
The other detainees will be released gradually upon execution 
of an undertaking by each detainee to refrain from future 
threats to Yemeni security. There is no word on when/whether 
the leaders will be released. 
 
¶4.  (U)  UNHCR employees returned to their offices on March 
20 but remain closed to appointments with refugees.  UNHCR 
plans to resume normal operations on April 3.  The DCM 
returned to his residence on March 19. 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  ICMC visited Sana'a and successfully interviewed 
cases referred by UNHCR during the course of the sit-in. 
Interviews were held at the Sheraton Hotel and were not 
interrupted by demonstrators.  Meanwhile, PRM has requested 
information about what they now refer to as The Naval Group 
from UNHCR in order to reevaluate whether they qualify for 
resettlement to the US.  According to Al-Attar, the response 
to this request is sensitive and will require careful 
drafting.  Al-Attar is now away on medical leave for an 
undetermined period of time.  His TDY replacement, Steve 
Corliss, has agreed to respond to the inquiry prior to the 
DHS visit to Sana'a but notes that UNHCR wants to see a 
'cooling-off' period prior to resuming any dialogue with the 
Naval Group. 
 
¶6.  (U)  Comment.  The immediate security threat to UNHCR and 
the DCMR has been removed but the ongoing dilemma of 
how/whether to resettle the Ethiopians, either in the U.S. or 
elsewhere, remains.  While it is unlikely that a referral 
will be forthcoming from UNHCR prior to the planned visit by 
DHS regional representative approximately one month from now, 
based on the successful conclusion of the ICMC visit Post 
believes DHS should go ahead with its plan to come to Sana'a. 
End Comment. 
HULL