VZCZCXRO1873
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0237/01 0561155
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251155Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1926
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000237 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL AND INR/AA 
PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PHUM KDEM ECON SG
SUBJECT: Senegal: GOS adopts Tough Stand Against Street 
Demonstrators. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On February 21, Senegalese police arrested seven 
people, including one attorney, during an unauthorized demonstration 
in Dakar.  The demonstrators were protesting against the demolition 
of a local soccer stadium that is now earmarked for a major business 
project allegedly orchestrated by the Mayor of Dakar, Pape Diop, in 
partnership with businessmen from China.  End Summary. 
 
Business not soccer 
------------------- 
¶2. (SBU)  In 2004, the Mayor of Dakar decided to give to the State 
the Assane Diouf Stadium, a large dirt pitch used by citizens living 
in the Plateau (where the Embassy is located), Medina, and Geuele 
Tapee districts, for a "public utility project."  In return the 
citizens of the area were to receive an alternate location for their 
soccer pitch.  In reality, this deal never materialized as promised 
and instead, in 2008 when the whole country was focused on the 
annual pilgrimage to Touba, bulldozers demolished the stadium in 
order to make way for the "Kawsara" project, a 16 billion CFA (32 
million dollars) Chinese-built commercial center.  Faced with 
resistance from young activists from the area, the GOS shelved the 
project for a year, but now seem determined to begin construction - 
if necessary, by force. 
 
Seven arrests, including one attorney 
------------------------------------ 
¶3. (SBU) On February 21, youth from the Rebeuss neighborhood where 
the stadium is located called for a demonstration to protest against 
the loss of their stadium.  As usual, the Prefect of Dakar forbade 
the demonstration on the grounds that it would "be a threat to 
public order."  And, as usual, the organizers ignored this 
prohibition, which led the police to use force to disperse the 
demonstrators.  Three young people from the neighborhood and four 
opposition leaders who were holding a political rally in the area 
were arrested. 
 
GOS accuses opposition 
---------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) In a press release, the GOS accused the coalition of 
opposition parties of purposely ignoring the local government edict 
and using the issue as a publicity stunt.  Two opposition leaders, 
Khalifa Sall, who is the leader of the opposition list for the 
position of Mayor of Dakar, and Ali Haidar, the chairman of the 
Ecological Party, took part in the demonstration sustaining minor 
injuries from rubber bullets.  Sall went to the police to ask to be 
arrested in solidarity with two members of his campaign team, but 
the police turned him away.  He told Poloff, "They did not want to 
give my campaign any publicity by throwing me in jail." 
 
Freed on bail 
------------- 
¶5. (SBU) After two nights in police custody, the three youth from 
Rebeuss were charged with "threatening public order" and released on 
bail.  The other four, who were arrested in a car as they were 
leaving a political rally that was concomitantly taking place in the 
area, were also released on bail.  The car was being driven by 
attorney Birame Sassoum Sy, who is an opposition candidate and 
leader of the list of candidates for the local government of Medina 
and the Regional Council of Dakar.  He, Thioye Ba, and Birane Kane, 
members of the Socialist Party, as well as Ndiaye Ba of the 
Socialist Front, a small party represented at the National Assembly, 
were all charged with "insulting law enforcement officers."  The 
fourth occupant of the vehicle, Moussa Taye, managed to escape 
arrest by running away.  Taye is one of the coordinators of the 
campaign for the opposition in Dakar.  He joked with Embassy staff 
that "a coordinator should not let himself be caught! That would 
defeat the object of the exercise." 
 
Abuse and Corruption 
--------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) These arrests are a continuation of a trend whereby the 
government is bent on limiting any opposition demonstrations, even 
though this right is enshrined in the constitution.  While in police 
custody the rights of the detained were violated.  One of them, 
Cheikh Ahmed Tijane Radji, a hip hop singer, had his dreadlocks cut 
off.  Thioye Ba and Birane Kane told Embassy staff that they were 
held, twenty people to a small cell, in appallingly unhygienic 
conditions.  When they asked for a broom to clean the cell they were 
told by officers that the broom cupboard was locked.  Kane said he 
was eye-witness to blatant corruption in the main police station of 
Dakar, as those who could pay 20,000 CFA (USD 40) were allowed to go 
out to stretch their legs and make extended calls.  Attorney Biram 
Sassoum Sy told Embassy that the circumstances of their arrest were 
very violent as police first insulted and then took them by force 
from his car.  A lawyer involved in the case told Embassy that, even 
after receiving bail, all seven men were purposely handcuffed to go 
to an adjacent office to conclude the administrative formalities for 
their release. 
 
 
DAKAR 00000237  002 OF 002 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶7. (SBU)  A prominent opposition leader told Embassy that the only 
language that Wade and his party really understand is violence and 
he and his colleagues will not miss any opportunity to take their 
political battle to the streets.  However, so far, and as underlined 
by the meager turnout at the Rebeuss demonstration, it is not clear 
that the people are yet ready to follow them down this road. 
Bernicat