JORDANIAN REACTION TO THE SUICIDES AT GUANTANAMO

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 004388

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL JO
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN REACTION TO THE SUICIDES AT GUANTANAMO
BAY

REF: A. AMMAN 4374


B. AMMAN 4245

Classified By: CDA Daniel Rubinstein for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Jordan's Islamic Action Front (IAF)
described the prisoner suicides at Guantanamo Bay as
"heartbreaking news," while the head of the Islamist-led
professional associations condemned the "killing" of the
three prisoners. Members of Parliament and the press issued
more measured, but still negative comments. Overshadowed by
the death of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the Guantanamo suicide
story prompted little reaction outside the media. END
SUMMARY.

IAF RESPONSE
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2. (U) Sheikh Hamza Mansour, President of the IAF Shura
Council, wrote in Islamist weekly Al-Sabeel that the
"heartbreaking news" of the suicide of three Guantanamo
prisoners is of "great consequence." Mansour alleged that
the Guantanamo inmates "do not enjoy the most basic human
rights," and he claimed that the countries whose citizens are
imprisoned at the facility have failed to press for their
release due to U.S. pressure. Mansour concluded by asking if
God or future generations would forgive the "crime" of
government silence in the face of the "torture" of Guantanamo
prisoners.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS STATEMENT
--------------


3. (U) Jordan's Islamist-led Professional Associations
Council (PAC) issued a statement strongly condemning the
"killing" of the three Guantanamo prisoners. The PAC
rejected the "allegations" of the U.S. that the prisoners had
committed suicide - noting that suicide is forbidden in
Islam. The head of the Medical Practitioner's association,
Dr. Hashim Abu Hassan, decried publicly the supposed lack of
international guarantees to "safeguard" the condition of
Guantanamo prisoners.

PARLIAMENTARIANS COMMENT
--------------


4. (C) MP Ra'id Qaqish (East Banker, Balqa) told Pol FSN that
he believed the suicides were "an act of protest" resulting
from considerable stress, and claimed that the U.S. is
pursuing a double standard: "On one hand, the U.S. hides
behind human rights slogans, while on the other hand its
violates human rights." Qaqish continued that the U.S.
decision not to join the International Criminal Court
indicates the U.S. is "not serious about human rights."


5. (C) MP Imad Ma'aya (East Banker, Madaba) said that
although he felt sorry for the prisoners "from a human
perspective," he nevertheless felt that they were
"criminals," and that frustration had led them to take their
own lives. Ma'aya strongly doubted that the prisoners were
"killed," but asserted that the U.S. sent "young, immature
officers" to run prisons "without enough experience and
training."

PRESS REACTION
--------------


6. (U) In a June 15 editorial in leading independent daily
Al-Ghad, columnist Manar Rashwani speculated that President
Bush,s reaction to the suicides - an expression of deep
concern - was an implicit acknowledgment of responsibility.
Rashwani wrote that every act of "torture" committed against
a prisoner at Guantanamo is, according to the Geneva
convention, a war crime perpetrated by the U.S. against
presumably innocent people. Rashwani concluded by asking if
anyone could convince the U.S. "to stop its terrorism."


7. (U) Al-Dustour columnist Hussein Rawashdeh wrote on June
14: "Guantanamo has become a witness to the misery of the
Western Civilization that is in cahoots with the American
immoral model of dealing with human beings. It is sad that
the voice of the Islamic world, whose citizens are being
targeted by inhumane practices, is absent. We hope that
those who admire the "western" model recognize the illusion
of civilization and will not hesitate to condemn and reject
this recklessness towards human rights and human dignity."

COMMENT
--------------


8. (U) Local reaction to the suicides at Guantanamo has been
largely muted by the high-profile news of the death of
Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, and the controversy surrounding the
arrest of four Islamist MPs who paid a condolence call on
Zarqawi's family (ref B). Local interest would have
undoubtedly been greater if one of the deceased prisoners had
been Jordanian, rather than from the Arabian peninsula.
Rubinstein