DIPLOMATIC NOTE ON GTMO DETAINEES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000921 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, S/WCI E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2015 TAGS: KAWC PREL PTER BA SUBJECT: DIPLOMATIC NOTE ON GTMO DETAINEES REF: A. MANAMA 880 ¶B. STATE 97796 ¶C. MANAMA 621 Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) The Embassy received the following diplomatic note number 19/1/5-46123 dated June 26, 2005 from the MFA. Begin Text of Diplomatic Note: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain presents it complements the Embassy of the United States of America and has the honor to refer to the continued detention by the United States of six Bahraini citizens at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, namely Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Issa Ali Abdullah Al Murbati, Juma Mohammed Abdul Latif Al Dosari, Abdullah Majed Al Noaimi, Salah Abdul Rasool Al Baloushi, and Adel Kamel Abdualla Hajee. As the Embassy will doubtless be aware, this issue continues to be of great concern to the leadership, government, and people of Bahrain. The session of the Council of Representatives on 14 June 2005 highlighted once again this concern, reflected also in the continued coverage of the issue in Bahrain's media. Moreover, the matter is of great personal concern to Bahrain's leadership. The Kingdom of Bahrain therefore maintains its strong desire to see the release and repatriation of the above individuals, and reiterates its readiness to take all necessary measures to ensure the full rehabilitation of these individuals, and their full reintegration into society. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to point out the following: ¶1. All investigations, both within Bahrain and by the delegations sent by the Government to Guantanamo, have found no evidence of criminality for any of the above-mentioned detainees. Nor has any evidence been found that such individuals possessed weapons, were involved in terrorism, or took part in any attack against the United States or its interests abroad. ¶2. The Government has found no serious allegations against any of the Bahraini detainees, and is unaware of any specific allegations having been made by the United States authorities. Nevertheless, all six remain in detention, and two are believed to be held in solitary confinement. ¶3. According to the information in the media, Juma Mohammed Abdul Latif Al Dosari has been subjected to physical and mental mistreatment and abuse, which has caused him both physical and psychological harm. Moreover, Mr. Al Dosari's well-being has been further affected by the news that his father is seriously ill. Requests for information in this regard by Bahrain's Embassy in Washington, D.C., have not been answered by the United States government. ¶4. It was revealed in December 2004 that two Bahraini detainees were to be released from Guantanamo. To date, however, no further action has been taken. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore has the honor to request that the Embassy bring this matter, and the above issues, to the urgent attention of the concerned authorities in the United States government, reflecting the high priority given to the issue by Bahrain and its people. The Ministry further requests the United States government to provide information on the detention of the above-mentioned six individuals, their current status, and on the progress being made towards their release and repatriation. In light of the allegations of mistreatment, the Ministry also seeks recent medical reports on all six detainees. In light of the historic, close and friendly relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of America, and in particular their close and ongoing cooperation to maintain international peace and security and to fight against terrorism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs looks forward to receiving an early and positive response to the above requests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Embassy of the United States of America the assurances of its highest consideration. End Text. ¶2. (C) Comment: This diplomatic note is the result of the government's publicly stated agreement to push harder for the detainees' release through diplomatic channels following the June 13-15 visit of two American attorneys from law firm Dorsey and Whitney, which represents the detainees on a pro-bono basis (Ref A). With regard to point three above, the Ambassador briefed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs/Information Minister Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar informally on the medical condition of detainee Al Dosari in November 2004 with information provided by DOD through S/WCI. On point four, the Bahraini media published comments from Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa in December 2004 that two detainees would be released. We do not know the source of Shaikh Mohammed's information that releases were coming; the Embassy never delivered such a message. ¶3. (C) Comment continued: The Embassy reiterates Ref A action request for points we could use publicly and with the GOB to push back on the point that the detainees are innocent and wrongly held. By not commenting directly on the detainees, we have in effect ceded the ground to those who claim they are innocent. MONROE