DRL DAS BARKS-RUGGLES VISITS UAE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 001223 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR DRL, G/TIP, INL, NEA/RA, AND NEA/ARPI STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR KARESH AND ROSENBERG E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM ELAB AE SUBJECT: DRL DAS BARKS-RUGGLES VISITS UAE REF: A. ABU DHABI 864 ¶B. 05 ABU DHABI 3877 Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) Summary: DRL DAS Barks-Ruggles' March 15-18 visit to the UAE provided an opportunity to urge government action on a long-awaited amendment that would allow the creation of trade unions, as well as further movement on domestic political reforms and progress in combating human trafficking. The visit also allowed Barks-Ruggles to meet with members of the UAE's first human rights NGO and to hear firsthand about their objectives. Government and independent media showed a new willingness to discuss human rights, traditionally a sensitive topic in the UAE. DAS Barks-Ruggles' conversations on Iran-related topics are discussed septels. End Summary. Labor Minister Hopes Trade Union Law On Books Soon -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) At a meeting with Labor Minister Ali bin Abdullah al-Ka'abi March 18, DAS Barks-Ruggles and Ambassador Sison learned of a pending amendment to the labor law that would empower the Minister to issue a decree authorizing labor unions (Ref A). After approval by the Cabinet, the amendment will go to President Khalifa for signature, said al-Ka'abi. (Note: Although the Minister said the proposed amendment would be signed by the President after Cabinet approval, the rulers of the seven emirates -- the Federal Supreme Council -- will also need to approve the amendment before the President signs it. End Note.) The Ambassador urged the UAEG to move quickly on passing the amendment. Al Ka'abi seemed confident the Cabinet will approve the amendment during its March 20 session and expressed hoped that President Khalifa would sign it within a month to a month and a half. (Note: On March 15, Econoffs met with Labor U/S Khalid al-Khazraji who said that, as a first step, he envisioned labor union membership for expatriates, but not voting membership. He held open the possibility that this status could change over time, noting that a big step such as establishing labor unions needed to be implemented slowly. End note.) Revised Federal Labor Law; new UAE weekend? -------------- ¶3. (C) Al-Ka'abi related that he had formed a committee comprised of chambers of commerce members and business groups to view a draft of the proposed labor law. The group will provide feedback to the MOL to ensure buy-in from all stakeholders. The Minister said the "most important" part of the draft law is the changing of the weekend from the current Thursday-Friday schedule to a Friday-Saturday weekend to bring it more in line with the international business community. Al-Ka'abi said Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan favors the change and would even prefer a Saturday-Sunday weekend. However, there is also some opposition to the proposal, most notably from Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Minister of Finance and full brother to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid (MbR),UAE Vice President/Prime Minister (Ref B). ¶4. (C) DAS Barks-Ruggles and Ambassador emphasized that a revised labor law would be important in order to take a free trade agreement to the Hill and stressed the point that changes in the labor law should occur sooner rather than later. Ambassador told al-Ka'abi she hopes the new law will be passed before the Cabinet adjourns for the summer on July ¶15. Al-Ka'abi replied that the draft law needs Ministry of Justice approval before it can be sent to the Cabinet, but hopes the law will be passed soon. Control over free zone employees and domestic workers -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Turning to an issue in the UAE's free zones, Al-Ka'abi complained about gaps in the system created by the free zones. He said he understood MbR's motivation at the time to set up the free zones quickly absent government bureaucracy and noted that since MbR is a leader in the federal government, he is placed to change the laws to match his vision for the country. Al-Ka'abi believes the MOL should be granted authority to regulate the entire labor force without carve-outs for free zone employees and domestic workers. He urged Ambassador to raise this issue with MbR since there are a large number of free zones in the Emirate of Dubai. (Note: Al-Ka'abi specifically asked Ambassador not/not to tell MbR that he suggested this proposed change. Under the current ABU DHABI 00001223 002 OF 003 system, MOL inspectors are not allowed into the free zones to verify employment, visas, or job conditions. End note.) Seeking Greater UAEG Commitment to Combat TIP -------------- ¶6. (C) At a meeting with MFA U/S Abdullah Rashid al-Noaimi March 18, DAS Barks-Ruggles commended the UAE for the progress made to end the use of children as camel jockeys and for the progress to date on the new labor law, and called on the UAE to maintain this positive momentum through further progress in outstanding labor issues. Ambassador said that the Department was in the process of making decisions related to TIP tier ranking, and noted that the issue of trafficked sex workers will be a key issue. She and DAS Barks-Ruggles pressed the UAE to make a commitment to screening arrested prostitutes to separate prostitutes from trafficking victims. The police should be working with the victims to obtain information that would lead to arrests and prosecutions of the traffickers. ¶7. (C) Ambassador also reiterated the need for statistics of prosecutions in the UAE and passed al-Noaimi a copy of a February dipnote formally requesting this data. Al-Noaimi indicated that these statistics should be easy to compile. The Ambassador said she was also asking the Consul General to talk with the Dubai police, where most arrests happen. Al-Noaimi replied that the UAE was working with law enforcement authorities to sensitize them on the difference between criminals and victims, and then to provide victims with help. He believed the message was getting across but asked the U.S. to push the issue with the Ministry of Interior and the police. In response to his query about training options, the Ambassador committed to looking into whether the U.S. offers specific training on handling sex trade cases, in addition to the broader human rights training already provided. ¶8. (C) DAS Barks-Ruggles also offered U.S. assistance in helping the UAE to formulate an interagency process, to regularize which actors handle which pieces of an investigation, a process that has proved successful elsewhere. Ambassador noted some of the positive innovations the UAE has put into place to help abused laborers, such as setting up hotlines and distributing information in various languages, and suggested the UAE now apply some of the same tools to combating sex trafficking. Exchange with UAE's New Human Rights NGO -------------- ¶9. (C) On March 16, DAS Barks-Ruggles met in Dubai with Mohammad Ghubash and Abdul Ghaffar Hussain, two of the founders of the Emirates Human Rights Association, the UAE's first independent human rights organization. The wide-ranging discussion included an overview of the new organization and the state of human rights in the UAE. Ghubash and Hussain explained that the main obstacle the organization has faced has been from the government. The government was slow to approve the organization's application and since then, the government, primarily through the security services, has attempted to gain influence over the board of directors and the membership. They indicated that the organization would benefit if the USG were to confer "ts blessing." Although they would like the U.S. to encourage the UAEG not to interfere, this would best be done by publicly acknowledging and supporting the group's goals. ¶10. (C) Ghubash and Hussain stated that although the human rights situation in the UAE is much better than many of the neighboring countries, there is room for considerable reform and improvement. They hope that human rights improvements in the UAE will encourage the neighboring countries to follow suit. The organization will focus its efforts on reform of the courts and the police, as well as improving the rights of laborers. Hussain pointed out that the Shari'a courts in the UAE impose flogging as a sentence and that this practice had to stop. He added that Iran and Saudi Arabia meted out even more draconian sentences. ¶11. (C) The association's board of directors elected to decline any funds from the government to maintain their independence. Ghubash and Hussain stated that the board was depending on friends and sympathizers in the business community to fund their association's operations. They also mentioned that UAE law prohibits their association's acceptance of foreign funds. Ghubash and Hussain told DAS Barks-Ruggles that they have been in contact with Human Rights Watch in New York and the International Republican ABU DHABI 00001223 003 OF 003 Institute for advice, expertise, and networking. New Willingness to Discuss Sensitive Reform Issues -------------- -------------- ¶12. (U) The UAEG news agency and both the Arabic and English dailies published remarks by Barks-Ruggles on political reform and human rights, suggesting a new willingness on their part to discuss these sensitive topics. Barks-Ruggles' statements at a press conference were carried widely. "We'll continue to urge a greater voice for the people of the UAE in their government because that's an important step towards building democracy," she said. Barks-Ruggles stated: Both press freedom and political freedom are important and there is "room for improvement in both. A free press keeps governments and people honest. I gave the example earlier of our own press dealing with issues about allegations of torture ... at Abu Ghraib (prison in Iraq). The U.S. press broke that story. I'd hope to see further freedoms here." ¶13. (U) Turning to the UAE,s human rights record, Barks-Ruggles noted "advances" and said that the government "has been very careful in trying to work on some of the more serious issues that we've raised in the past, including most prominently perhaps the trafficking small children for camel jockeys. It's an important step to improve not only the image of the UAE at home and overseas but also to begin addressing labor issues writ large. There's still a lot of progress that needs to be made in trafficking of persons, a whole host of subset issues including illegal immigration and sex workers. But we're beginning to see progress as society comes to grips with difficult issues." She told the press that the U.S. was "very pleased" about the formation of a human rights association and looked forward to seeing the group's work. Addressing a question about whether the U.S. had the moral authority to lecture others about human rights abuses, Barks-Ruggles replied, "As a member of the international community, we have a responsibility to talk about human rights ... We have to continue to raise these issues because they are absolutely vital to security, peace, and each person's right to enjoy life." ¶14. (U) Barks-Ruggles denied that the U.S. was seeking to impose Western-style democracy in the region: "We understand that democracy is something that needs to spring from the people. So we are not saying it should be the U.S. or the British-style democracy. The shape and form that democracy takes is different. But we think that it is important for all people to have their voices heard in their government. The press is one way of doing that and the ballot is another and we think that both are important." ¶15. (U) This cable has been cleared by DRL DAS Erica Barks Ruggles. SISON