Welcome to Mongolia… Please pardon our “Special Situation”
Written by Pete on July 12th, 2008
Ulanbataar
Valley in Ulanbataar
It was expected that a new (democratic?) party would take power and win by a sizeable margin after the July 2nd election. The communist party (currently in power) saw fit to announce their victory a few hours before all the votes were cast. This caused many people to feel as if the elections were rigged and led to a protest-turned riot outside the communist part headquarters near Sukhbaatar square in the middle of UB. The few civilian and military police were quickly overwhelmed by the 2000-3000 person crowd. The building became the target of rocks, Molotov cocktail, guns, and red paint. The aftermath resulted in the Communist Party Headquarters destroyed by the fire, a nearby museum (with many irreplaceable artifacts and art) burnt, and even more tragic 5 deaths.
Riot Damage - Communist Party Headquarters
The next day security forces were summoned from across the country (rumors say Russia sent help as well), a curfew, and martial law declared in UB. Accounts from foreigners during this time was that UB became a ghost town of empty streets for 4 days and anyone on the street was required to show identification (passport). Those who could not produce identification where taken to jail. Second and third hand accounts said this really amounted to either a “fine” for those who were clearly foreign tourist and/or a 70 hr detainment, though I have not met anyone who actually experienced this first hand.
Communist Party headquarters after riots
Please note this is in no way a factual account, simply the story as pieced together from a few suspect sources. Actual facts can be found here http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-07/06/content_6822378.htm
Tags: Mongolia
31
AM
Wow Pete! There are a couple of pictures that I think are some of your best yet. Beautiful composition, photojournalistic and they tell a great story.
Mongolia looks spectacular.
Are pants required in communist countries? Or are they considered to be “just a guideline?”
9
PM
Pete it looks like you are having a fantastic time already. I was telling someone yesterday about your trip and realized again how proud I am of you for doing this! We need to figure out when and where we are going to come meet up with you. We miss you in San Diego!