UAE PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ON POLITICAL REFORM,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 001155

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM TC
SUBJECT: UAE PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ON POLITICAL REFORM,
CAMEL JOCKEYS (CORRECTED COPY)

REF: ABU DHABI 1002

Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Minister for Presidential Affairs Sheikh
Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan told Ambassador March 12 that Abu
Dhabi will begin consultations with leaders in the western
part of the emirate about broadening political participation
through representative municipal councils. When the
Ambassador urged rapid UAEG action to enforce the existing
ban on the use of trafficked underage camel jockeys, Sheikh
Mansour said that President Khalifa viewed the trafficking
issue as an embarrassment to the UAE, and that both the UAE
Interior and Labor ministers had promised to have a law in
place by April. However, Sheikh Mansour said it would be
difficult to end the controversial practice by the time of
the season-ending camel race at Al Wathba Camel Racetrack
(just outside the capital) in two weeks. End Summary.


2. (C) The Ambassador opened the meeting by commenting on the
initiatives being undertaken by the new UAE Cabinet in the
four months since President Khalifa took office, including a
plan to inject $405 million worth of infrastructure
improvements into the northern emirates. Sheikh Mansour said
the president would be visiting the northern emirates in
about two weeks, his first official visit there since taking
over from his father.

Broadening Political Representation
--------------


3. (C) In light of public discussion about the creation of
municipal councils in Sharjah and Ajman emirates, and the
possibility of future elections to the Sharjah councils
(reftel),the Ambassador asked Sheikh Mansour for his views
about the pace of broadening political representation
elsewhere in the UAE. &We,re working on that,8 Mansour
replied. He said Abu Dhabi Executive Council member Khaldoon
bin Mubarak would be Abu Dhabi emirate,s point person
responsible for discussing this issue with local leaders and
tribes. &We will start with the western area8 of Abu Dhabi
emirate, Mansour explained, ticking off the towns of Ruwais,
Mirfa, and Medina Zayed. He said that he had talked to his
brother, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed
(MbZ),about whether to announce this publicly, and that MbZ
had agreed to do so. &We will announce something soon,8
Mansour said, although he quickly clarified that he meant
more than a few weeks. &We have to do it in a good way for
our people,8 and that will require (civic) education, he
added.


4. (C) Sheikh Mansour said the concept of representational
government (he did not use the word elections) would be
introduced emirate-by-emirate, and the effort would be
&cooperative.8 Ambassador asked whether it would extend to
the Federal National Council, whose members are appointed at
present by the rulers of each emirate. Mansour said the UAE
would start with the municipal councils.

Trafficking in Camel Jockeys
--------------


5. (C) The Ambassador then raised the camel jockey issue with
Mansour, saying that trafficking in persons had been
discussed during the course of FTA deliberations March 8-10
with Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid (MbR),
Minister of Economy Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of
Information Sheikh Abdullah, and Finance MinState Kharbash.
The Ambassador then showed Mansour a copy of the March 10
sports section from Arabic daily &Al Bayan8 that carried an
article and photographs of the March 9 Nad Al Sheba camel
race in Dubai. Photos showed MbR and his older brother,
Finance Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, watching the races
from their vehicles. When the Ambassador pointed to the
photo depicting very young jockeys racing at the event,
Mansour replied, &I agree with you 100 percent. It,s not
some of them; it,s all of them8 who were under-age. (Note:
President Khalifa, Sheikh Mansour, and other Abu Dhabi
leaders had attended MbR,s luncheon at Nad Al Sheba, but had
skipped the actual race.)


6. (C) Mansour proceeded to describe what actions the UAEG
would be taking in the near future to address the TIP issue.
He said that Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed and
Labor Minister Dr. Ali Al Ka,abi had &promised us a law8
banning the use of children as camel jockeys. The new law,
which would enforce an existing ban on trafficked camel
jockeys, would be in place by April. (Comment: This is what
we have heard repeatedly from these same officials in earlier
meetings. We have not seen the draft legislation. End
comment.) Sheikh Mansour said that President Khalifa had
spoken to Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and
facto Foreign Minister (and UAE Camel Racing Federation
chairman) and instructed him not to allow these children to
enter the country. &It is embarrassing for our
government,8 Mansour said.

7. (C) While Sheikh Mansour pledged that the new law would be
in place in a matter of three to four weeks, he said that he
could not promise the Ambassador that the UAEG could take
action to stop the practice of using under-age children as
camel jockeys by the time of the season-ending race that will
be held in two weeks at the Al Wathba Camel Racetrack a few
miles outside the capital. &That would be a very hard
job,8 he said, referring to the difficulty of enforcing the
existing camel jockey ban without a law on the books.


8. (C) The Ambassador noted that with all the positive
developments in the U.S.-UAE relationship, the camel jockey
issue remained &a large ink blot on the UAE,s white page of
progress.8 She underscored the importance of the UAEG
enacting and enforcing the draft law banning the trafficking
and exploitation of minors for sport, and urged UAEG action
on repatriations/reintegration of boys trafficked for this
purpose.
SISON