HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP PROTESTS GTMO, REQUESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 001547 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI AND S/WCI E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2015 TAGS: KAWC PTER PHUM PREL BA SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP PROTESTS GTMO, REQUESTS WASHINGTON VISIT Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is an action message; please see para 7. ¶2. (C) Five members of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) called on the Ambassador October 16 to protest the detention of six Bahrainis in Guantanamo and to request the Embassy's assistance in arranging meetings for a BHRWS delegation to Washington. The BHRWS officers present were Secretary General Houda Nonoo, Deputy Secretary General Tariq Al Saffar, General Advisor Omar Al Mardhi, Regional and International Relations Director Faisal Fulad, and Press and Media Director Ahdeya Ahmed. ¶3. (C) Al Mardhi opened the meeting by saying the delegation had come as a human rights society, not a political group. Like the United States, he said, the BHRWS condemns terror. As human rights advocates, however, they believe the United States should comply with international conventions and treat the GTMO detainees fairly. He stressed that BHRWS does not share the detainees' political beliefs, but seeks to protect their rights to a fair trial, no indefinite detention, public legal proceedings, legal representation, and if convicted, proper penalties applied in a legal fashion. Al Mardhi said the families of the detainees were suffering. They hear about torture, sleep deprivation, and lack of rights, and they do not know what will happen next. ¶4. (C) Fulad added that the Society was concerned about news of a hunger strike among the detainees. (Note: The English daily Gulf Daily News ran an article October 19 reporting U.S. attorney Joshua Colangelo-Bryan's remarks that detainee Issa Al Murbati is being fed via a tube.) Fulad, who is also a member of the Shura Council, said that he values the strong relations between the United States and Bahrain. The free trade agreement (FTA) and cooperation on the Forum for the Future conference, to be held in Manama November 11-12, are proof of the good ties. However, there are many in Bahrain who use GTMO to attack U.S. policies. For example, Islamists in parliament were using the issue to put pressure on the government regarding implementation of the FTA. He said that a Bahraini detainee's death in Guantanamo would have a terrible impact on relations. ¶5. (C) The Ambassador told the group they should remember that the detainees were taken on the field of battle and were declared enemy combatants. The United States is a rule of law country, and a process exists for reviewing the status of all the detainees on an annual basis. We have no desire to detain innocent people, he said, and we transfer them when we have determined that they no longer pose a threat to the United States and its allies. ¶6. (C) Fulad said that BHRWS delegation would like to visit GTMO to inspect the condition of the Bahraini detainees. The Ambassador replied that Bahraini government teams, the Red Cross, and American lawyers had visited the Bahraini detainees at GTMO, but other groups were not given access. He pledged to pass the request to Washington, though he did not expect it to be approved. Fulad said he was aware of Saudi, Qatari, and UAE NGO delegations having visited Washington for meetings at DOD and State, and asked the Ambassador to help arrange a similar visit for the BHRWS. The Ambassador agreed to pass their request to Washington. ¶7. (C) Action Request: Post understands that private visits to GTMO are not permitted. However, we request guidance for an Embassy response to the BHRWS request to meet with DOD and State officials in Washington about the Bahraini detainees. MONROE