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Conflict Incident Report

Activists, Police Clash Near Energy Ministry

Associated Timeline/Case: 
Waste Management Conflict (Starting January 25, 2014)
EDL Conflict (starting July 11, 2014)
Date of incident: 
September 29, 2015
Death toll: 
0persons
Number of Injured: 
0persons
Actors/Parties Involved: 
Lebanese Civilians

Activists from “We Want Accountability” movement and security forces clashed on Tuesday near the Energy Ministry after the protesters blocked one of the facility's entrances.
Ministry employees told them that the ministry is a red line, refusing to remain trapped in their offices in Beirut's Corniche al-Nahr area.
But the demonstrators stressed they want accountability, saying their intention is not to ransack the ministry.
The clash caused the glass door of the entrance to be broken.
“We are not here to break anything,” said one of the protesters, adding that a policeman broke the glass after he tried to block the entrance.
“We will hold more protests but we will not say where,” he told MTV.
“I am here today to tell Lebanese officials that we will hold them accountable,” said another protester.
“We can no longer pay two bills,” she said.
Lebanon suffers from severe power cuts and the people purchase electricity from private individuals or firms having generators.
After the Naameh landfill closed in July, trash piled up in the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon leading to mass demonstrations against the country's entire political class and its failure to provide basic services.
The protests have been organized by the “You Stink” movement, “We Want Accountability” and other civil society activists.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/190810-activists-police-clash-near-en...

Primary category: 
Collective Action [inc. protests, solidarity movements...]
Classification of conflict (primary): 
Policy conflicts
Conflicts associated with political decisions, government or state policies regarding matters of public concern, such as debates concerning law reforms, electoral laws, and protests of the government’s political decisions, among others.
Classification of conflict(secondary):
Individual acts of violence
Violent incidents which do not have a specific or a known political agenda but are caused by the general proliferation of weapons, of trained and untrained soldiers or militants, by the general inefficiency of the Justice system, and past-traditions and histories of violence within society.