SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001416 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B; RRU-NEA IIP/G/NEA-SA WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC SECDEF FOR OASD/PA USCINCCENT FOR POLAD LONDON FOR MCKUNE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO AE TC SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ¶1. SUMMARY: A UAE columnist in "Al-Khaleej" calls a recent report on labor rights in the UAE from Human Rights Watch a credible report that should not be ignored or misinterpreted. He calls on the UAE authorities to open a dialogue with the organization and tackle problems related to labor issues in the UAE. End Summary. ¶2. Under headline "A question on Labor rights", Dr. Abdel- Khaleq Abdallah, a UAE columnist, wrote in a 4/11 op-ed in Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000): "The Human Rights Watch organization called on the UAE government to improve the situation of the expatriate labor force by enhancing work conditions and accommodations, and stopping the violation of labor rights against the more than 2,000,000 labors that are 91% of the labor force in the private sector... Human Rights Watch is a respected organization who is renowned for its precise reports, objectivity in its standpoints and its principle-based efforts against oppressive governmental practices... An official or public denial does not connote an absence of labor rights violation in the UAE as the labor problems are well-known and spoken of freely in the local press on a daily basis... The latest media release issued by Human Rights Watch states the UAE Ministry of Labor had received 260,000 labor complaints in 2004... All the labor demonstrations were peaceful except the last one which was angry and caused financial losses exceeding 6 million Dirham. Evidence indicates that the aggravation of the labor problems is related to the fact that the Ministry of Labor has only 80 inspectors to survey the activities of 200,000 trading companies in the UAE... The Human Rights Watch release rings alarm bells and points out that labor problems in the private sector are scandalous, acute and embarrassing, especially following the increases of laborers demonstrations. We should not submerge ourselves with an official or public denial just to make ourselves at ease. We should also not think that this organization has a hidden or biased agenda. It is important to engage in a dialogue with it and meet its Washington-based manager who will be visiting the UAE next week. This visit represents a precious opportunity, and maybe the last one prior to the release of the report, to clarify facts and think together on a persuasive answer to the persistent question surrounding labor rights in the UAE" SISON