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

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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