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SUBJECT: MORE ON TBILISI DEMONSTRATIONS

REF: MOSCOW 11071

1. C - ENTIRE TEXT.

SUMMARY
/------
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2. A GEORGIAN ACTIVIST IN THE "MODERATE"

CHAVCHAVADZE SOCIETY WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE ORGANIZED THE
INITIAL STAGES OF THE RECENT TBILISI DEMONSTRATION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

REVIEW AUTHORITY: MARTIN MCLEAN
DATE/CASE ID: 23 NOV 2009 200802196 UNCLA.SSIFIED
AND WAS PRESENT AT ITS DISPERSAL DESCRIBED EVENTS
RECENTLY WITH A SLIGHTLY NEW TWIST AND ADDITIONAL UNCLASSIFIED
INFORMATION. OF PARTICULAR INTEREST WAS HIS
DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE DEMONSTRATION TOOK AN
UNANTICIPATED TURN FROM DEMANDS ON ABKHAZIA TO
DEMANDS FOR COMPLETE GEORGIAN INDEPENDENCE AND OF A
MEETING OF DEMONSTRATION AND PARTY LEADERS ON APRIL
7. THIS, AND REPORTS FROM OTHER SOURCES, INDICATES
THAT THE EARLY APRIL EVENTS IN TBILISI HAVE HAD A
RADICALIZING EFFECT ON THE GEORGIAN POPULACE.

END SUMM:ARY

A NEW ANGLE
/ ------- ---
3 . OUR SOURCE I WHO B6
REPRESENTS THE "MODERATE" INFORMAL CHAVCHAVADZE
SOCIETY, PRESENTED A PICTURE THAT WAS CLEARLY BIASED
IN FAVOR OF HIS OWN GROUP. NEVERTHELESS, IT GIBES
WITH MUCH OF THE PREVIOUS INFORMATION WE HAVE
RECEIVED AND RINGS TRUE IN ITS BASIC FACTS.
ACCORDING TO HIM, HIS SOCIETY BEGAN A DEMONSTRATION
ON APRIL 4 IN SUPPORT OF A CONCRETE PROGRAM OF ELEVEN
DEMANDS ON ABKHAZIA. SINCE THEY KNEW ANY PLANS TO
ORGANIZE A LARGE DEMONSTRATION IN ADVANCE WOULD BRING
ABOUT PREVENTIVE MEASURES BY THE LOCAL GOVERMENT,
THEY SIMPLY BEGAN WITH A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE AND
MARCHED BY EACH OF THE MAJOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
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IN TBILISI, PICKING UP STUDENTS AND STAFF AT EACH

STOP, ON THEIR WAY TO THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE, WHERE
THEY ANNOUNCED THEIR INTENTIONS TO STAGE A SIT-IN
UNTIL THEIR ELEVEN DEMANDS WERE MET. BY THE TIME
THEY REACHED THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE THEY NUMBERED ABOUT
4, 000. BY THAT EVENING THERE WERE ABOUT 10, 000
PEOPLE IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING. FOR THE FIRST 26
HOURS, I ICLAIMS HE WAS AT THE MICROPHONE B6
ALMOST CONTINUOUSLY. OTHER INFORMAL GROUPS ALSO
GATHERED IN FRONT OF THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE AT THIS
TIME, WITH AT LEAST TWO PARALLEL DEMONSTRATIONS GOING
ON SIMULTANEOUSLY, PERHAPS MORE.

4. I IBELIEVED MEMBERS OF THE INFORMAL B6

ILYA THE RIGHTEOUS SOCIETY (PARTICULARLY ZVIAD

UNCL.ASSIFIED
GAMSAKHUBDIYA, WHOM I ICALLS A B6
"PROVOCATEUR"), WHICH WAS DEMONSTRATING SEPARATELY IN UNCLASSIFIED
FRONT OF THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SOUGHT TO DETRACT FROM
HIS OWN ORGANIZATION'S DEMONSTRATION. IN
I I VIEW, SINCE HIS GROUP HAD CALLED FOR A
SIT-IN, THE OTHER GROUP CALLED FOR A (MORE DRAMATIC)
HUNGER STRIKE LATE APRIL 4 TO EARLY APRIL 5 IN BEHALF
OF GEORGIAN ACTIVISTS TSERETELI AND BATIASHVILI, WHO
HAD BEEN DETAINED IN KUTAISI. ASSURANCES THAT THE
TWO HAD BEEN RELEASED AFTER A SHORT DETENTION DID NOT
DISSUADE THE HUNGER STRIKERS, WHO ONLY STOPPED THE
STRIKE WHEN THE TWO ARRIVED ON THE SCENE THE NEXT
MORNING. J lAND TAMARA CHKHEIDZE, THE MOST
VISIBLE L ADERS U.lf ·l·.Ii~ "MODERATE" CHAVCHAVADZE
SOCIETY, LEFT THE DEMONSTRATION SITE FOR THREE HOURS
THE EVENING OF APRIL 5. WHEN THEY RETURNED ABOUT 11
PM, THEY DISCOVERED THAT MORE RADICAL ELEMENTS HAD
"TAKEN CONTROL" OF THE MEETING AND ANNOUNCED A HUNGER

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STRIKE F()R AN "INDEPENDENT GEORGIA" UNTIL APRIL 14.

L -_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~IRIDICULED
THE NOTION THAT ONE COULD GAIN B6
INDEPENDENCE FOR GEORGIA THROUGH A TEN-DAY HUNGER
STRIKE. HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS WERE IN
EUPHORIA OVER THE IDEA, HOWEVER, AND AS THE DAYS
PASSED, ~HEIR EXCITEMENT AND ANTICIPATION THAT
GEORGIA WOULD BE INDEPENDENT IN A NUMBER OF DAYS
GREW. TEE CHAVCHAVADZE SOCIETY DECIDED TO MAINTAIN A
PARALLEL PRESENCE BUT DROPPED THEIR PLANS FOR A
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PAGE 02 MOSCOW 12141 02 OF 04 071213Z

STRICT SIT-IN UNTIL THE HUNGER STRIKE ENDED APRIL

14. THEY DECIDED THAT THE MORE DRAMATIC DEMANDS AND
MEANS OF THE OTHER GROUPS OVERSHADOWED THEIR OWN AND
THUS DECIDED TO BIDE THEIR TIME. WHILE MAINTAINING A
PRESENCE, SOCIETY MEMBERS VISITED FACTORIES AND
ENTERPRISES, URGING WORKERS TO STRIKE IN SUPPORT OF
THEIR DEMANDS ON ABKHAZIA. BY APRIL 7, VIRTUALLY ALL
OF TBILISI WAS ON STRIKE.

MEETING WITH PARTY LEADERS

/-------------------------
5. ON APRIL 7 AT 10 PM, MID-LEVEL GEORGIAN PARTY
LEADERS MET WITH DEMONSTRATION LEADERS AT A CHURCH
ACROSS FROM THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE. DEMONSTRATION
LEADERS INCLUDED CHKHEIDZE, DZABlRADZE, AND
I I (CHAVCHAVADZE SOCIETY); GAMSAKHURDIYA B6
AND KOSTAVA (ILYA THE RIGHTEOUS SOCIETY); TSERETELI
(NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE PARTY); CHANTURIYA (NATIONAL

lJNCL.A.SSIFIED
DEMOCRATIC PARTY); AND REPRESENTATIVES OF OTHER UNCLASSIFIED
INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS. ACCORDING TO I....--=__.........=------' B6
PARTY LE~ERS PROMISED THE INFORMAL GROUPS THE
FOLLOWING:

-- ONE HOUR PER WEEK ON TELEVISION FOR INFORMAL

ORGANIZATIONS;

-- A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SPACE IN REPUBLIC NEWSPAPERS;

AND

AN OFFER TO DISCUSS OTHER DEMANDS.

6. ~I====~~_~ISAID HIS OWN ORGANIZATION WAS B6

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PREPARED TO STOP THE DEMONSTRATION AND STRIKE IF THEY

RECEIVED THE ABOVE PLUS ALL ELEVEN DEMANDS ON
ABKHAZIA. HE FELT THE PARTY LEADERS WERE READY TO
NEGOTIATE, BUT HIS EFFORTS WERE EFFECTIVELY ANNULLED
BY THE ATTITUDE OF OTHER INFORMAL LEADERS. HE QUOTED
TSERETELI AS SAYING, "WE DO NOT TRADE (MY NE
TORGUYEM) WITH OUR INDEPENDENCE. WE WILL ENTER
NEGOTIATIONS ONLY IF PATIASHVILI WILL AGREE TO
DISCUSS THE POSSIBILITY OF SECESSION FROM THE USSR."
TO WHICH GAMSAKHURDIYA ADDED, "WHY TALK TO
PATIASHVILI; WE SHOULD SPEAK ONLY WITH GORBACHEV."
I IMADE CLEAR HIS IMPATIENCE WITH WHAT HE B6
SAW AS EXTREME STANDS THAT WOULD GAIN NO CONCRETE
END. AT THIS POINT, THE CHAVCHAVADZE SOCIETY
REALIZED THERE WAS NO HOPE FOR THEIR ELEVEN DEMANDS,
SINCE THE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WERE NOT PREPARED TO
STOP DEMONSTRATING UNTIL INDEPENDENCE WAS PUT ON THE
TABLE.

APRIL 8 - CONTINUED RADICALIZATION

/---------------------------------
7. ON APRIL 8, THERE WAS A MEETING AT THE
UNIVERSITY, ATTENDED BY MANY OF THE DEMONSTRATION
LEADERS, INCLUDING OUR SOURCE AND GAMSAKHURDIYA. OUR
SOURCE FOUND MANY OF GAMSAKHURDIYA'S COMMENTS
IRRESPONSIBLE, SUCH AS DISCOUNTING THE DANGER OF THE
USE OF TROOPS, BECAUSE "THERE ARE MANY RUSSIAN
OFFICERS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN TBILISI, AND THE
AUTHORITIES DON'T WANT TO RISK THEIR LIVES."

UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED

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UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED
AFTERWARD, AT THE GOVE:RNMENT HOUSE, GAMSAKHURDIYA
CALLED ON CONSTRUCTION AGENCIES TO SEND CONCRETE AND
OTHER MA~RIALS TO THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE TO BUILD
BARRICADES, SO THE DEMONSTRATION COULD NOT BE
DISPERSED. I ICALLED THIS EFFECTIVELY B6
ANNOUNCI'NG AN UPRISING AND ASKED MERAB KOSTAVA TO
ADDRESS ~HE CROWD IN OPPOSITION TO THE SUGGESTION,
WHICH KOBTAVA DID. GAMSAKHURDIYA THEN WITHDREW HIS
SUGGESTI~N. ONE HOUR LATER GAMSAKHURDIYA SUGGESTED
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THAT PEOFLE BRING TRUCKS, BUSES, AND CARS TO BLOCK

OFF ALL ACCESS STREETS TO THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE, IN
ORDER TO SLOW ANY EFFORT TO DISPERSE THE
DEMONSTRATION. THIS WAS DONE AND LATER IMPEDED THE
ESCAPE OE DEMONSTRATORS FROM THE AREA, ACCORDING TO
OUR SOURCE, BANNERS WITH THE SLOGANS, "DOWN WITH THE
COMMUNIS'T REGIME" AND "DOWN WITH THE ROTTEN RUSSIAN
EMPIRE" VlERE HUNG. I I FELT THAT SUCH
SLOGANS, TOGETHER WITH CALLS FOR BARRICADES AND
BLOCKING OFF ACCESS STREETS, PROVIDED THE GROUNDS FOR
THE GOVEENMENT TO REACT AS IF TO AN ATTEMPT TO
OVERTHROW THE CURRENT REGIME. I IACCUSED
GAMSAKHURDIYA IN PARTICULAR OF CONTRIBUTING TO A TYPE
OF "POLl 'TICAL HYSTERIA" AND HELD HIM PARTIALLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BLOODY RETRIBUTION METED OUT TO
THE DEMONSTRATORS.

A NIGHT OF EXALTATION
j--------------------
8. CHAVCHAVADZE SOCIETY LEADERS REPORTEDLY MET APRIL
8 TO DISCUSS THEIR CONCERN WITH THE DIRECTION THE
DEMONSTRATION WAS TAKING TAMARA CHKHEIDZE WARNED
THERE WOULD BE BLOODSHED -- A FEAR THE OTHERS DID NOT
SHARE AT THAT POINT. THEY DECIDED TO TRY TO TAKE THE
DEMONSTRATION BACK INTO A MORE "MODERATE" CHANNEL ON
APRIL 9. WHEN EMBOFF ASKED WHY THEY DID NOT TRY TO
ARGUE THEIR POINTS EARLIER, I ISAID THE B6
CROWD OF MOSTLY YOUNG PEOPLE WAS SO EXCITED AT THE
PROSPECT OF IMMINENT INDEPENDENCE THAT ANYONE
SUGGESTING THIS WAS NOT REALISTIC WOULD HAVE BEEN
REJECTED AS A "KGB AGENT." IN SHORT, HE AND THOSE
WHO SHARED HIS VIEWS WERE "AFRAID" TO SPEAK. HE
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PAGE 03 MOSCOW 12141 03 OF 04 061836Z

DESCRIBED THE MOOD THE NIGHT OF APRIL 8 TO 9 AS ONE

OF EXALTATION AND NEAR-HYSTERIA, WITH EACH PERSON
"GOING CRAZY IN HIS OWN WAY." SOME DANCED, SOME
SANG, SO~ SAID PRAYERS, SOME HELD CANDLES.

THE DISPERSAL
/------------
I
9. PESCRIPTION OF THE DISPERSAL OF B6
THE DEMONSTRATION MESHES WITH THOSE WE HAVE HEARD
FROM OTHER UNOFFICIAL SOURCES. THE TANKS ROLLED IN
AT 4 AM, FOLLOWED BY "THOUSANDS" OF MILITIA FROM THE
SPECIAL CROWD-CONTROL UNITS. WITH THE TANKS AT ONE
END OF THE CROWD AND THE MILITIA AT THE OTHER,
MILITIA UNITS THREW GAS CANISTERS INTO THE CROWD.
OUR SOURCE CLAIMED THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF GAS WERE
USED, THE FIRST OF WHICH APPEARED TO BE TEAR GAS.
THE SECOND WAS INVISIBLE BUT CAUSED DIFFICULTY
BREATHING AND A DRY THROAT AND EYES. THE SPECIAL
MILITIA UNITS BEAT PEOPLE WITH RUBBER TRUNCHEONS.
ONE REASON MANY WOMEN WERE KILLED WAS BECAUSE THEY
WERE SMALLER AND FELL UNDER THE BEATINGS, AFTER WHICH
THEY WERE EITHER TRAMPLED OR KILLED BY THE "SEVERAL
HUNDRED" SHOVEL-WIELDING SOLDIERS WHO FOLLOWED.
THESE SHOVELS WERE AS SHARP AS RAZORS, ACCORD ING TO
I IWHO SAID THEY CUT THROUGH PEOPLE LIKE
BUTTER.

10. I /SAID A GEORGIAN MILITIA MAN PRESENT B6

CLAIMED THE "SEVERAL HUNDRED" SHOVEL-WIELDING SPECIAL

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TROOPS MOVED THROUGH THE STREET TURNING OVER THE

BODIES OF THOSE ON THE GROUND AND KILLING THOSE STILL
ALIVE. THE SAME MILITIA MAN REPORTED THAT HE HAD
CARRIED A GIRL TO SAFETY BY PHYSICALLY BREAKING THE
SPECIAL-UNIT LINE; BEHIND HIM WAS ANOTHER GIRL HE
HOPED TO LEAD THROUGH. SHE WAS TRIPPED BY A SOLDIER
AND MURDERED. WHEN THE MILITIA MAN THREW HIMSELF ON
THE SOLDIER IN RAGE, THE SOLDIER ATTACKED HIM WITH
HIS SHOVEL, CUTTING THROUGH THE MILITIA MAN'S
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lJNCLASSIFIED
BULLET-PROOF VEST AND INTO HIS FLESH. UNCLASSIFIED B6
CLAIMED THE SHOVEL-WIELDING SPECIAL TROOPS HAD GRAY
CREAM SPEEAD ON THEIR FACES AND RED PLUGS OR FILTERS
IN THEIR NOSTRILS. ON THE ARTISTS HOUSE ACROSS THE
STREET FROM THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE HUNG U. S. AND
GEORGIAN FLAGS (DEMONSTRATORS HAD SUBSTITUTED THE
GEORGIAN FOR THE SOVIET FLAG). IN A FEAT OF
PHENOMEN~ PHYSICAL CONDITIONING, ONE SPECIAL FORCES
SOLDIER JUMPED TO THE SECOND-FLOOR BALCONY AND RIPPED
DOWN BOTH THE U.S. AND GEORGIAN FLAGS, CUTTING THEM
TO SHREDS. I JALSO ECHOED REPORTS THAT
LOCAL MILITIA HAD SAVED MOST OF THE DEMONSTRATORS BY
FORMING EXIT PATHS THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT TROOPS; HE
WAS SURE "AT LEAST 1,,000 WOULD HAVE DIED IF NOT FOR
THE LOCAL MILITIA."

11. I ISAID HE ESCAPED WITH MERAB KOSTAVA B6

THROUGH A MILITIA CORDON AFTER BEING BEATEN OVER THE
HEAD WITH A RUBBER TRUNCHEON. KOSTAVA WENT HOME AND
WAS SOON ARRESTED. I lAND CHKHEIDZE LEFT
TBILISI; I IWAS TOLD LATER POLICE CAME TO
HIS APARTMENT AT 6 AM LOOKING FOR HIM. HE SPENT THE
NEXT WEEK IN HIDING, RETURNING HOME ONLY AFTER THE
CURFEW WAS ENDED AND TROOPS WITHDRAWN.

COJ.+.lENT
/------
12. THE CHAVCHAVADZE SOCIETY HAS PLAYED A "MODERATE"
ROLE AMONG INFORMAL GROUPS, DECLINING TO CALL FOR
OUTRIGHT INDEPENDENCE, ALTHOUGH HAVING THIS AS A
LONGTERM GOAL. THEIR ACTIONS OVER THE PAST YEAR HAVE
GENERALLY STRUCK US AS POLITICALLY MORE BALANCED AND
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SOPHISTICATED THAN SOME OF THE OTHER MORE "RADICAL"

GROUPS. IN THIS CASE, THEY CLEARLY FELT THEY HAD A
CHANCE OF ACHIEVING THEIR GOALS VIS-A-VIS ABKHAZIA
AND THUS BUILDING UP POLITICAL CAPITAL AND
INFLUENCE. EVENTS GOT AWAY FROM THEM, HOWEVER.
I IFEARS THAT DEMONSTRATORS' CALLS FOR B6
EFFECTIVELY OVERTHROWING THE REGIME WILL PROVIDE THE
GROUNDS FOR GOVERNMENT LEGITIMIZATION OF ITS ACTIONS,
EVEN IN THE WEST. IN FACT, IN TBILISI THE RUMOR WAS
THAT PRESIDENT BUSH HAD CALLED THE DEMONSTRATORS

UNCLASSIFIED
"ANTI-PERESTROYKA." WHETHER LEADERS WHO PUSHED FOR
CALLS FOR INDEPENDENCE WERE "PROVOCATEURS" OR
UNCLASSIFIED
IDEALISTS OR ATTENTION-SEEKERS, THE BRUTALITY USED IN
CRUSHING THE DEMONSTRATION HAS HAD A RADICALIZING
EFFECT ON THE GEORGIAN POPULATION. EVEN THE
CHAVCHAV~ZE SOCIETY REFERRED TO GEORGIA AS AN
"ANNEXED NATION" IN ITS RECENT LETTER TO WESTERN
LEADERS (REFTEL). THERE IS A SUBSTANTIAL POSSIBILITY
THAT THE SITUATION IN GEORGIA WILL GET MORE HEATED
OVER THE MONTHS TO COME.

13. LENINGRAD MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. MATLOCK

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