AMNESTY INTN'L: DUTCH-IRANIAN CITIZEN RISKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000253 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2017 TAGS: PHUM IR NL SUBJECT: AMNESTY INTN'L: DUTCH-IRANIAN CITIZEN RISKS EXECUTION REF: THE HAGUE 194 AND PREVIOUS THE HAGUE 00000253 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew J. Schofer; reasons 1.4 (b an d d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Faleh al-Mansouri, a Dutch-Iranian citizen arrested during a May 2006 visit to Syria and extradited to Iran, remains in Iranian custody without Dutch consular access. The Dutch chapter of Amnesty International (AI) fears he may be executed in the near future. The GONL continues to follow the case closely. Al-Mansouri was, at the time of his arrest, head of an organization called the Ahwazi Liberation Organization (ALO) and an active member of AI Netherlands' Maastricht chapter. End summary. Amnesty International: Other ALO members just executed -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Poloff met February 5 with Amal van Hees, Middle East and North Africa Coordinator, Amnesty International (AI) Dutch Section. Van Hees said that al-Mansouri had served as an Iranian army colonel in the Shah's day and had deserted in ¶1980. He had lived for a number of years in Iraq, until being resettled in Holland as a refugee in 1989. He had become active in the Maastricht (Netherlands) chapter of AI and had been instrumental in focusing attention on the problems of the Arab Ahwazi community in Iran. Al-Mansouri was, until his arrest, the leader of a group called the Ahwazi Liberation Organization (ALO),but van Hees said she knew very little about it. ¶3. (SBU) Van Hees said that she was in frequent contact with al-Mansouri's son, Adnan, who she said had spoken with his father by phone shortly after the December 7 visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki to the Netherlands. Prior to the visit,neither al-Mansouri's family nor the GONL had spokn to or had access to al-Mansouri. Van Hees said that AI did not view the telephone conversation s assurance that al-Mansouri would be treated wel. She noted that Iran has executed other indivduals within weeks of such conversations. She aso said that two other ALO members have been executed in Iran in 2007. She did not give names. 4 (SBU) According to van Hees, UNHCR is aware of l-Mansouri's arrest and has been in touch with theGOI. Post has no independent confirmation of thi. Emigre politics within AI? -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Van Hees added that AI Netherands had tried to enlist the support of the Frenh and German sections of AI. The German section ad declined, and van Hees explained that this wa because of the influence of Iranian Shi'a emigres within AI Germany. Van Hees is herself a French itizen of Moroccan descent and, although seemingy objective on Mid-East events, was noticeably prtisan regarding Sunni-Shi'a politics. She saidshe believed AI's French Section would assist, and thought the French government might be preparedto intercede with the GOI at some point. GONL rmains hopeful -------------- ¶6. (C) Poltical Counselor and Poloff met February 7 with Dtch DCM to Tehran, Roderick Wols, who was in The Hague for consultations (septel). Wols confirmed tat the Dutch had still not been granted consularaccess to al-Mansouri, as the Iranian governmentrefused to recognize al-Manouri's dual nationaliy. He said he knew very little about the ALO but noted that an organization advocating the liberatin of a minority group was bound to touch a raw nerve in Iran. Forty percent of Iran is, he said, either non-Shia or non-Persian, and ethnic tensions are a concern. He also noted that al-Mansouri's residence in Baghdad during the Iraq-Iran war years does not help. ¶7. (C) Wols seemed hopeful that Foreign Minister Bot's December 7 meeting with Mottaki, in which al-Mansouri's case was raised, would have results. At a minimum, he said, the fact that the Iranians agreed to talk to the Dutch about the case was a step in the right direction. He noted al-Mansouri's phone call with his family as an encouraging step. Wols was careful, however, not to offer predictions THE HAGUE 00000253 002.2 OF 002 about al-Mansouri's ultimate fate or its potential implications for Dutch-Iranian relations. ARNALL