ECUADOR: GITMO TALKING POINTS DELIVERED

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001817

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2015
TAGS: KISL KPAO PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: GITMO TALKING POINTS DELIVERED

REF: A. SECSTATE 142348


B. QUITO 1804

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires AI Larry Memmott for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d).


1. (C) Charge delivered talking points in reftel A to
Palacio on August 3 during a private session with the
President (reftel B). Palacio promised to review them.


2. (C) Guayaquil PolOff and Quito PolIntern delivered
talking points in reftel A to MFA Subsecretary for Bilateral
Affairs Alejandro Davalos on August 4. Davalos indicated
that he understood USG efforts to thwart international
terrorism and believed that enemy combatant's rights were
being respected in the Guantanamo detention facility. He
agreed that the detainees could not be considered lawful
combatants as described by the Geneva Conventions owing to
al-Qaeda not being a state actor. However, Davalos expressed
concern that the detainees' resided in a "legal limbo" since
they were not covered under the Geneva Conventions, nor did
they fall under the auspices of the U.S. judicial system. In
addition, he questioned the length of time detainees would be
kept at the facility.
MEMMOTT