VZCZCXRO5606
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #1357 3301623
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261623Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8442
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BAMAKO 001357 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KISL SOCI PHUM PINR PGOV ML
SUBJECT: POLICE TEAR GAS ISLAMIC GROUP IN BAMAKO 
 
REF: BAMAKO 01336 
 
1.(SBU)  An estimated 40 individuals were slightly injured on 
November 13 in Bamako when Malian security forces used tear 
gas and batons to disrupt a protest meeting organized by 
Modibo Sangare, the president of the National Union for 
Rebirth (UNPR).  The UNPR is a fringe political party 
dedicated to the preservation of Islamic values.  Sangare and 
his supporters, including many women in full hijab, gathered 
to express opposition to proposed legislation that would 
abolish the death penalty and provide increased rights for 
women and children (reftel).  The UNPR intended to hold a 
protest march but failed to receive the required permits from 
Bamako city officials.  Sangare consequently converted the 
march into a "meeting" at UNPR headquarters. 
 
2.(SBU)  As an outspoken advocate of Sharia law, Sangare is 
at the extreme of Mali's Muslim society and has little if any 
support amongst the Malian public.  The UNPR holds no elected 
offices.  Sangare said lack of funds prohibited the UNPR from 
conducting a census of its members and was therefore unable 
to provide details on the number of UNPR members.  Despite 
Sangare's obvious lack of support amongst the Malian public, 
his vocal opposition to the new legislation introduced by 
President Amadou Toumani Toure, and the city of Bamako's 
repeated refusals to give the UNPR permission to march, have 
translated into a significant amount of local press coverage. 
 A report of the November 13 meeting in the government 
newspaper "L'Essor" quoted Sangare as saying "the moment has 
come for Muslims to break with pacifism, which is starting to 
lead our country down the wrong path.  It is time for this 
situation to change.  We need to show our strength, because 
we are fighting on God's behalf.  He who gives his life to 
God does not die in vain."  Police then tear-gassed the 
meeting. 
 
3.(SBU)  Sangare ran for President of Mali in 2002, receiving 
less than 12,000 votes.  In 2007 Sangare failed to qualify 
for the presidential ballot after the UNPR proved unable to 
pay the USD 20,000 registration fee.  In a brief discussion 
with the Embassy, Sangare described himself as Mali's only 
"Muslim" presidential candidate - a pointed jab at the 
secular platforms of Mali's mainstream political leaders and 
parties.  Despite his strident rhetoric, Sangare rejected the 
use of violence and said the UNPR would fight against any 
attempt to abolish the death penalty in Mali with acts of 
civil disobedience such as sit-ins, protest marches and calls 
for nation wide referendums. 
 
4.(SBU)  Sangare favors the strict application of Sharia law 
and said he supported public stoning and the amputations of 
hands in accordance with the Koran.  He also advocated for 
separate public transport facilities for men and women, and 
separate health care systems for men and women patients and 
doctors.  Sangare attributed what he regards as a decline in 
Malian morality to Mali's failure to implement the death 
penalty since the 1980s, the abolition of child labor and 
laws forbidding parents from beating their children.  "We 
were whipped as children," said Sangare of his generation of 
Malians, "and it didn't kill us." 
 
5.(SBU)  Despite his fundamentalist views and disagreement 
with certain aspects of U.S. foreign policy, Sangare said he 
looked up to the U.S. as an important defender of religious 
freedom.  He noted that elected officials in the U.S. take 
oaths of office on a bible and that "In God We Trust" is 
written on U.S. currency.  He also contrasted American 
acceptance of veiled Muslim women with laws in France banning 
Muslim girls from wearing head scarves to school. 
 
6.(SBU)  Comment: Sangare and the UNPR have little to no 
support in the arena of Malian public opinion, even though 
Sangare's outspoken opposition to legislation abolishing the 
death penalty resonated with many Malian Muslims. 
Ironically, Bamako city official's heavy-handed treatment of 
the UNPR's request for marching permits may have actually 
boosted the party's level of support and public profile, 
eliciting some sentiments of solidarity from more mainstream 
opposition parties, including the African Solidary for 
Democracy and Independence (SADI).  SADI condemned the use of 
force against the UNPR on November 13 and described Malian 
authorities' actions as a violation of democratic liberties. 
McCulley