Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05MANAMA880
2005-06-20 09:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

VISIT OF AMERICAN LAWYERS STIRS UP GTMO ISSUE

Tags:  KAWC PTER PREL BA 
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200943Z Jun 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000880 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, S/WCI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2015
TAGS: KAWC PTER PREL BA
SUBJECT: VISIT OF AMERICAN LAWYERS STIRS UP GTMO ISSUE

REF: A. STATE 97796


B. MANAMA 621

Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000880

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, S/WCI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2015
TAGS: KAWC PTER PREL BA
SUBJECT: VISIT OF AMERICAN LAWYERS STIRS UP GTMO ISSUE

REF: A. STATE 97796


B. MANAMA 621

Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (U) This is an action message -- see para 8.


2. (C) Summary: Two Amcit attorneys from law firm Dorsey
and Whitney, which represents on a pro bono basis the six
Bahraini detainees at Guantanamo, visited Bahrain June 13-15
to meet with family members, MPs, activists, and government
officials. The lawyers urged the GOB to be more forceful in
using diplomatic channels to press for the release or return
of the six. The lower house of parliament held a special
session on GTMO June 14, and a prominent MP complained of
mistreatment of the detainees and asked that the government
work harder for their return. Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs Abdul Ghaffar, speaking at parliament, insisted the
government was doing its best and noted that the USG had
refused a Bahraini offer to form a joint committee on the
detainees. The Embassy could help to set the record straight
if Washington agencies provided information that could be
used publicly to push back on the point that the six Bahraini
detainees are innocent and wrongly held. End Summary.


3. (U) Amcit attorneys Mark Sullivan and Joshua
Colangelo-Bryan from law firm Dorsey and Whitney visited
Bahrain June 13-15 and met with family members of the six
Bahraini detainees in Guantanamo, members of parliament, NGO
representatives, human rights activists, and government
officials. Dorsey and Whitney has represented the Bahraini
detainees on a pro bono basis for two years and
Colangelo-Bryan has visited GTMO twice in the past year. The
visit was the first time the lawyers met with family members
and officials.


4. (C) During a June 13 press conference, the attorneys
urged the GOB to use diplomatic channels to press for the
release of the detainees. Colangelo-Bryan said the long-term
viability of the GTMO detention center was being openly
questioned in the U.S., and the present time represents the
best opportunity for the GOB to get the detainees returned to
Bahrain. Sullivan and Colangelo-Bryan told the press June 15
that they had held "breakthrough talks" with Bahraini

authorities, led by MFA Assistant Under Secretary for
Coordination and Follow Up Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Mubarak Al
Khalifa, on the way forward in handling the detainee
situation. The MFA reportedly agreed to take the lawyers'
suggestion of pushing harder for the detainees' release
through diplomatic channels. Colangelo-Bryan told the press,
"We urged them to negotiate with the U.S. for the release of
the detainees, on the condition that they will be held in
custody for investigation here in Bahrain, and they were very
receptive." (Note: Shaikh Abdul Aziz did not raise the
issue during a June 19 meeting with Pol/Econ chief on other
subjects.)


5. (U) The Council of Representatives (COR - lower house of
parliament) held a special session on GTMO June 14. Head of
the Al Asala (Salafi) bloc Adel Al Moawada complained of
detainees being "treated like animals" and asked why no
Bahraini detainees have been returned when Bahrain is such a
staunch ally of the United States. Al Moawada claimed there
was no evidence linking the Bahrainis to Al Qaeda.


6. (C) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs/Information
Minister Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar told the COR that the GOB
held regular meetings with the American Ambassador and U.S.
officials on behalf of the detainees. He continued that the
government was "doing its best" and had asked the USG to free
the Bahrainis "because everyone knows they are innocent."
Abdul Ghaffar said that the GOB's request to form a joint
committee on the detainees had been refused by the U.S. The
press subsequently reported that the GOB had sent a
diplomatic note to the USG expressing Bahrain's readiness to
receive the detainees. The note also indicated Bahrain's
willingness to take them to the public prosecutor's office
for investigation and trial and, if convicted, to imprison
them. GOB sources told the press that the USG had refused
the proposal. (Comment: This is accurate; see reftels.)


7. (C) Comment: The GOB has been very cautious about pushing
us on the issue of the detainees, perhaps because it prefers
not to have to take possession of and responsibility for the
six detainees. Although we might expect stronger approaches
based upon the press readout of the meeting between the
American lawyers and Bahraini officials, Shaikh Abdul Aziz
chose not to raise the issue in the first opportunity he had
since the visit. Bahraini press coverage and the remarks of
parliamentarians repeatedly stress the innocence of the six.
Unfortunately, it has become the common and accepted
perception here that the Bahraini detainees are in fact
innocent. Concurrent press reports of detainee abuse at
Guantanamo add to the perception that Bahrain is being
treated unfairly by its American ally.


8. (C) Action request: By not commenting directly on the
detainees, we have in effect ceded the ground to the lawyers,
family members, politicians and other critics of the
detention of the six Bahrainis at Guantanamo. The Embassy
would appreciate consideration of points that could be used
publicly in Bahrain to push back on the point that the
detainees are innocent and wrongly held.

MONROE