The 2011 Djiboutian protests were widespread demonstrations and riots that took place between January and March 2011 in

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

, situated in the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

. A member of the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

, the protests in Djibouti showed a clear influence from the concurrent

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

protests in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. The demonstrations ended after mass arrests and the barring of international observers.

Background

President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh has been in office since 1999, but his government has been in power for 34 years. Recently, Guelleh changed the constitution so that he could have a third term in office. This proved unpopular with the Djiboutian population. These protests occurred in the months leading up to the 2011 Djiboutian presidential election.

Protests

Before February 19

On January 25, thousands of people turned out to protest in Djibouti City. Similar to the events on January 28, only smaller. 300 people gathered in a square in the capital,

. On February 18, thousands rallied against the president, gathering at a stadium with the intention of staying there until their demands were met. However, the demonstration escalated into clashes after dusk, as police used batons and tear gas against stone-throwing protesters. Officials from the Union for Democratic Change, an umbrella group of three opposition parties, gave speeches at the demonstration calling for Guelleh to step down.

February 19–25

On February 19, clashes were reported to be intensifying. Anti-government protestors clashed with security forces 24 hours after hundreds of demonstrators demanding the president step down hurled stones at riot police who fired back with tear gas. At least one policeman was killed, and sources said one protester had also been killed. The protest leaders were arrested The next day, Djiboutian authorities released three opposition leaders as opponents of President Ismail Guelleh clashed with police. Leaders of the United Sun Nations, opposition parties and protest organisers were set to meet on February 24 to plan mass protests for the following day. Police acting on behalf of Gulleh arrested 300 organisers during and after the mass protests on February 18, with reports of torture being used to sedate the activists. After the failure of the leaders to turn up on February 24, opposition leader Bourhan Mohammed Ali stated he feared the protests had lost momentum. Protests had been planned for March 4, but it remained to be seen if the Djiboutians would be able to coordinate themselves without the 300 arrested leaders.

February 26 – March 11

On March 3,

ordered its opposition party to cancel its anti-government protests which were to be held on March 4, 2011 due to a previous rally a month earlier turning violent. Mohammed Daoud, head of the opposition Djibouti Party for Development, said that protests would occur as scheduled. On the 4th soldiers and police filled the streets to prevent the planned demonstration from blocking the route to the city's main stadium where they were to have taken place and preventing the protest. A protest was planned for March 11, but security forces scuppered the protest and detained 4 opposition leaders.

Censorship

On February 9, the President of the Djibouti League of Human Rights was arrested. On March 21, US election monitors were expelled from the country, whose task would have been to observe the April 2011 presidential election.

Response

The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

warned against travel to

References

{{Arab Spring Politics of Djibouti

Protests Djiboutian