VZCZCXRO0377
PP RUEHLMC
DE RUEHUM #0261/01 1020806
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120806Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9716
INFO RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 2150
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4883
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1436
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2035
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ULAANBAATAR 000261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID FOR ANE CALISTA DOWNEY 
STATE FOR EAP/CM 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID ECON KPAO MG
SUBJECT: PROTESTS AGAINST MONGOLIAN GOVERNMENT GROW 
 
Ref: A) ULAANBAATAR 247 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  ( U )  SUMMARY: Protests organized by a loose 
coalition of five local Mongolian groups have escalated 
slightly in the past few days but remain peaceful; 
business is conducted as usual in the capital city of 
Ulaanbaatar.  The protest groups are continuing to 
demand respectively the resignation of all three 
branches of government, the pullout of Ivanhoe Mines 
from Mongolia, and compensation of four billion Tugrik 
(approximately USD $ 3.3 million) from the state budget 
for damages during the recent fires at SAPU company 
buildings (REFTEL).  While the daily number of 
demonstrators fluctuates from under 100 to nearly 3,000 
yesterday, the overall numbers have increased and now 
six gers (yurts) and a tent have been erected on 
Sukhbaatar Square in front of the Government House to 
house permanent members of the sit in.  After street 
skirmishes with police on Sunday April 9, following an 
attempt to build additional gers, the protestors 
successfully called for a larger demonstration on 
Tuesday April 11, attracting a crowd of 2,000-3,000. 
Some streets remain blocked as police search likely 
trucks for ger materials.  The Mongolian People's 
Revolutionary Party (MPRP), which controls the current 
government, has organized counter protests of 
comparable size reportedly by requiring city district 
leaders to mobilize residents.  The protests have not 
disrupted government business except for periodically 
blocking access to the Government House and the Prime 
Minister's briefing to the diplomatic corps did not 
touch upon the topic at all.  END SUMMARY. 
 
SUNDAY: POLICE SKIRMISHES, INCREASED CROWDS 
AND MORE GERS 
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- - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- 
 
¶2. (U) The recent spate of  protests began to gather 
strength on Sunday, April 9, after several days of 
small crowds gathering on the square.  Attempts to 
construct additional gers (yurts in Russian) were only 
partially successful as police blocked all roads 
leading to the square and searched vehicles.  A scuffle 
developed on streets west of the square between 300-350 
police and an approximately equal number of protestors 
as police attempted to block entry of 3-4 trucks 
carrying ger parts.  After minor pushing and shoving 
for 3-4 hours, the police confiscated the gers.  The 
Radical Reform movement filed an appeal with the 
Ulaanbaatar Administrative Court to challenge the 
confiscation of private citizen property (i.e. the 
gers) and the widespread searching of trucks for ger 
parts. 
 
¶3. (U) Movement leaders made televised appeals for more 
participants, additional ger parts and financial 
contributions to increase the protests.  They called 
for a mass demonstration at 11:00am Tuesday April 11. 
Ganbaatar, head of the Radical Reform Movement, pushed 
for the exodus of Ivanhoe Mines stating "If Mongolia 
were able to own fifty percent of the shares of the 
deposits of Oyu Tolgoi (Ivanhoe's mine project site) 
every citizen would receive USD $2,000 per month and 
live without hunger and thirst."  ( COMMENT:  While 
this comment is without any apparent solid foundation 
in fact, it resonates with the increased popular 
sentiment that mining proceeds are being withheld from 
the citizenry.  END COMMENT.) 
 
TUESDAY: THOUSANDS TURN OUT AND 
COUNTER DEMONSTRATIONS 
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- - - - -- 
 
¶4. (U) After a relatively quiet Monday when protestors 
didn't number above 100-150 at any given time, a mass 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000261  002 OF 003 
 
 
demonstration gathered strength on Tuesday around 
lunchtime with a majority of students and elderly in 
the crowd estimated between 2,000-3,000 on the square. 
Victims of the SAPU fire blocked the north entrances to 
the Government House, keeping Members of Parliament 
trapped inside for the afternoon (including two MP 
invitees to the Charge's anti-money-laundering 
luncheon).  By 4:00pm a crowd of 300-400 began marching 
down Peace Avenue for about a half mile and blocked 
traffic for several hours, while counter demonstrators 
marched in the opposite direction to Sukhbaatar Square. 
The two groups met and minor scuffles ensued which were 
dissolved with police assistance after an hour, 
following which both groups dispersed peacefully. 
 
¶5. (U)  The members of the Radical Reform Movement were 
the most organized and coordinated, wearing violet 
colored ribbons and ties to symbolize unity, explaining 
that when all colors of the rainbow are mixed violet 
results.  Their leader, Ganbaatar, noted that the group 
will turn the sit-in into a hunger strike if their 
demands for government resignation and the exodus of 
Ivanhoe Mines are not met.  He stated, "We want to fill 
Sukhbaatar Square with gers to remind government 
leaders of the poverty in which the majority of their 
citizens live." 
 
¶6. (U)  SAPU fire victims gathered first on the north 
side of the square to block the main entrance of the 
Government House.  They claim that the 740 stallholder 
victims of the fire in the market actually represent 
12,500 victims if their families are included.  The 
protest used loudspeakers and whistles and threatened 
to also begin a hunger strike if their demand for 
compensation of four billion Tugriks is not met. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The MPRP is rumored to have mobilized its city 
district party members to organize residents, and 
requiring each to gather at least fifty people, to 
assemble across town in Liberty Square in a pro- 
government counter demonstration.  The group consisted 
primarily of elderly and students with sign slogans 
such as "We deserve stable government," and "Stop 
disturbing the public with your narrow personal 
ambitions."  Students were bussed in from their 
universities and reportedly promised 5,000 Tugrik (a 
little over USD $4) to attend the rally in the name of 
the Free Student's Movement, organized a few days 
previously.  Counter demonstrators with similar signs 
also gathered across the street from Sukhbaatar Square 
wearing blue ribbons and ties and the two groups joined 
when the Liberty Square rally marched to Sukhbaatar 
Square. 
 
DEMANDS FROM DEMONSTRATORS TO POLICE 
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- - - -- - - - - - -- 
 
¶8. (U)  On Tuesday afternoon, the heads of the 
movements were received by police chief Major General 
¶D. Sandig-Ochir for a meeting.  Journalists were not 
allowed due to the "lack of space in the meeting room." 
Reportedly the movement leaders made three demands: 1) 
release from police detention eight persons arrested on 
April 6 during the demonstrations, 2) allow additional 
gers to be built on Sukhbaatar Square and stop 
searching trucks, 3) instead of using police to stop a 
political struggle, require them to protect the 
demonstrators who have the right to be in Sukhbaatar 
Square.  O. Magnai, head of the Healthy Society 
Movement, said that Sandig-Ochir agreed to allow more 
gers to be built on the square but that the cases of 
the eight detained protestors had been sent to the 
courts already and thus were out of his hands. 
 
MEDIA REACTION: IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT 
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-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Mongolia's freewheeling print media has been 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000261  003 OF 003 
 
 
providing wide coverage of the protests.  Pro- 
opposition papers have been carrying relatively 
favorable reports (the protests are popular movements 
for change) as front page news while pro-government 
outlets are more critical (the protestors are rabble 
rousers threatening social stability) and have been 
relegating protest stories to the inside pages and 
playing down the numbers.  In a recent example, pro- 
opposition daily "Odriin Sonin" ("Daily News") ran a 
front page story on April 10 with this headline: "The 
number of Gers is Increasing and so is the Number of 
Protestors."  Reporting on the same basic story, pro- 
government party organ "Unen" ("Truth"), ran the story 
on page three with this headline:  "The Number of Gers 
Increased, but There are Fewer Protestors."  Since gers 
are large and immobile, the numbers are hard to 
dispute.  The number of protestors is much more fluid 
and open to creative interpretation.  Pro-opposition 
outlets run the highest mid-day estimates while the pro- 
government media appears to use lower morning or 
evening numbers. 
 
¶10. (U) The few ostensibly unbiased media outlets 
questioned the feasibility of the protest goals. 
Independent daily "Ardyn Erkh" ("People's Right") led a 
skeptical article with a headline asking "Is it 
Possible to kill Three Rabbits with One Bullet?," 
referring to the protestors' demands for the 
resignation of the President, Government and 
Parliament. 
 
¶11. (SBU) COMMENT: While the numbers of protestors has 
increased slightly and there were minor skirmishes with 
police, the mood in the capital remains calm and 
business continues as usual in both the government and 
private sectors.  Members of Parliament have noted that 
while the general public appears to condone the 
protests as an expression of free will and discontent 
which is healthy for a democratic society, there are 
not large numbers of average citizens joining the 
primarily students and elderly on the square. 
Protesters have sometimes blocked main traffic routes 
near the square, provoking the ire of some residents. 
One resident Ambassador was concerned that tired and 
beleaguered police, many of whom had been on alert for 
several consecutive days, might overreact to continued 
provocations.  There is also the question of how long 
the current government will tolerate continued 
transport disruptions before it feels the need to 
underscore its control of the streets.  Post will 
continue to monitor and report events as they unfold. 
END COMMENT. 
 
GOLDBECK