17 Jan 2011
Attempted suicides by self-immolations seem to be spreading through north Africa as a final expression of social misery.
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| Hundreds of youths clashed with police in several cities in Algeria over food price rises and unemployment [REUTERS] |
Self-immolation as a form of protest is neither new (Buddhist monks did it to protest the Vietnam war) nor currently unique north African countries (one 2005 study in Iran focused on 98 such cases in a five-year period in one Tabriz alone, and multiple cases have been reported in Afghanistan ). However, the succession of the suicides in the region and their root causes - poverty, frustration with lack of opportunities, etc. - seem to make them part of a disturbing trend.
In Cairo, a man set himself ablaze on Monday near parliament in a protest against poor living conditions.
In Algeria, where riots over the last few weeks have broken out in parallel to the unrest in Tunisia, newspapers gave their first reports on Sunday and Monday of at least four men who set themselves
on fire in provincial towns in the last five days.
And in Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott, police sources said Yacoub Ould Dahoud, 40, a company director and member of a wealthy family, staged a self-immolation protest on Monday against alleged government mistreatment of his tribe.
Witnesses said he doused himself in gasoline while sitting in his locked car in front of the presidential palace, and set himself on fire. Security forces and passers-by broke the windows to remove him. He was sent to hospital with severe burns.
Activists throughout the Arab world say they have been inspired by the example of Tunisia, the first country in generations where an Arab leader was toppled by public protests.
The Tunisian protests that brought down Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the former Tunisian president, erupted after the suicide of 26-year-old Mohammed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire on December 17 because police seized his grocery cart, saying he didn't have the proper permit to sell produce.
Bouazizi died weeks later of his burns, becoming a martyr to crowds of students and the unemployed protesting against poor living conditions. Ben Ali had visited him in hospital, a gesture that failed to win him public sympathy.
Desperation and 'misery'
Algeria's public suicide attempts - four in one week - have been the topic of debate in the countries daily newspaper.
A man in his forties on Wednesday also set himself ablaze in Bordj Menaiel in the Boumerdes region near the Algerian capital, according to the El Watan.
Desperate over not being listed to receive housing benefits, the father of six doused himself with gasoline and set it alight, but a town official intervened to stop the fire, the daily said.
The man was hospitalised but his life is not in danger, it said.
Another, man named Senouci Touat doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire in the city of Mostaganem, 350 km west of the capital Algiers, El Watan and El Khabar newspapers reported. He too, survived.
Mohsen Bouterfif set himself ablaze on Thursday in Algeria's Tebessa province when a town's mayor failed to secure him a house.
Newspapers said on Sunday he had died, but a government source later said he was alive at hospital and might survive.
The fourth incident took place in the town of Jijel, newspapers said.
"Billions of dollars have been invested in development programmes with no positive impact over the daily life of Algerian citizens," wrote the Algerian daily El Watan.
"Signs of social misery are visible all over the country ... Algeria's street is rumbling. A hotbed of violence is very likely."
The demonstrations that brought down Ben Ali erupted after the self-immolation of 26-year-old vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire on December 17 because police had confiscated his vegetable cart.
Bouazizi died weeks later of his burns, becoming a martyr to crowds of students and the unemployed protesting against poor living conditions.
A horrific final statement
Like Tunisians, many other Arabs are frustrated by soaring prices, poverty, high unemployment and systems of rule that ignore their voices.
In Egypt, authorities are adamant that there will be no large-scale unrest.
A witness who worked in parliament said the Egyptian man poured fuel over himself and then set himself alight when people tried to approach him on Monday.
A security source said that the man, Abdouh Abdel Moneim, aged about 50, suffered light injuries because parliamentary security quickly put out the flames.
"The man was frustrated because he could not get his ration coupons from Ismailiya (east of Cairo) to buy subsidised goods. He came to parliament to find someone to help him," he said.
The local mayor said the man had a history of mental illness but Ayman Nour, a opposition politician, said Abdel Moneim had been troubled by economic conditions.
"Definitely, definitely, definitely," said Nour when asked if there was a link between the incident and Tunisian events.
"Security is leaning in the direction of making him out to be psychologically ill. I want to say that Egypt is full of psychologically troubled people because of what happens here."
"Tunisia is now the model to follow for all Arabs. The time for dictators and dictatorships is over," said Mohamed Lagab, political analyst and teacher of political science at Algiers university.
