EMBASSY STIRS UP HUMAN RIGHTS DEBATE REGARDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000325 SIPDIS SIPDIS LABOR FOR I/LAB DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/ILCSR AND FOR G/TIP EMBASSIES FOR LABOR OFFICERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREL KPAO ELAB QA SUBJECT: EMBASSY STIRS UP HUMAN RIGHTS DEBATE REGARDING FOREIGN LABOR REF: DOHA 291 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES MICHAEL A. RATNEY, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Reactions to Embassy's April 8 press conference on the annual Human Rights Report continued to appear in Doha's media, including a debate on the role of a free media in democratic development. Simultaneously, Qatari authorities shut down more than 80 companies for labor violations, and leaked a draft copy of a new labor law, on which the Al Jazeera satellite channel has provided unprecedented on-air coverage. One local English-language newspaper, emboldened by this opening up of public discourse, has published provocative photos and stories about labor abuses. While the Government has not announced a campaign to let "a thousand flowers bloom," it has not taken any steps of which Embassy is aware to stifle the debate, and Doha's thoughtful journalists and some Qatari officials are taking advantage of the permissive environment to discuss one of the Gulf's most existential problems -- the treatment of foreign workers. END SUMMARY -------------- EVERYONE HAS THEIR SAY -------------- ¶2. (U) As reported reftel, immediate reactions to Charge's press briefing on human rights included largely unbalanced reporting and a negative editorial within the Arabic press, with mostly straightforward reporting of his comments in the English-language newspapers. On April 11, another op-ed appeared in Arabic daily "Al Sharq," written by political science professor Mohammed Saleh al-Misfer entitled "Rules of the Diplomatic Profession." Misfer excoriated diplomats as "immune spies," and criticized Charge by name for "violating diplomatic norms by talking about things that fall outside the scope of his job." Misfer wrote that the state would be within its rights to declare Charge persona non grata if he persists in criticizing laws that have been issued and approved by the Qatari Government. ¶3. (U) On April 15, Arabic daily "Al Raya" reported comments by Mariam al-Malki, National Coordinator of the Trafficking in Persons Office, that the Human Rights Report's examples of sexually abused domestic workers were "based on old information." She added, "We do not work because of a report, but from a belief within that human rights must be respected," and that Qatar's efforts to improve human rights were not just an attempt to burnish its international image, but because of the Qatari leadership's desire to protect human dignity. ¶4. (U) On April 17, English daily "Qatar Tribune" ran a summary of a public seminar organized by the National Council for Arts and Heritage to discuss human rights. The piece quoted a Qatari attendee from the al-Marri family who said that the National Human Rights Council's 2006 report "was not tough enough," because it focused only on the problems of expatriates, and not those of Qataris as well, such as those who had unfairly lost their citizenship. One panelist from Qatar University was quoted as saying that human rights should not be seen as a construct imposed by the West, since Islam addressed human rights problems long ago, particularly with regard to women. ¶5. (U) On April 20, "Al Raya" published a front-page interview with the director of the Central Prison, who assured his audience that the prison was run in full compliance with international human rights standards, and that he welcomed visitors at any time to the facility. -------------- IN DEFENSE OF PRESS FREEDOM -------------- ¶6. (C) On April 19, Editor-in-Chief of Arabic daily "Al Arab" Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud called Information Assistant to seek input for an op-ed he was considering for the following day. A senior Qatari official, he said, had questioned why he had decided to report on Charge's press conference, and wondered what message the USG was trying to convey. Mahmoud decided it was time to answer this and other questions arising from "Al Arab's" coverage. Charge agreed to brief him on the record, and on April 20, al-Mahmoud ran a half-page op-ed titled, "No One Owns the Truth." Al-Mahmoud cites reactions DOHA 00000325 002 OF 002 that flew "fast and furious" after his paper published its report on the press conference, and said that the U.S. State Department had every right to comment on human rights abuses in Qatar. "Discussing a problem," he said, is not shameful; "what is shameful is not doing anything about it." The media also has the right and the obligation to report on such issues "in order to help remove obstacles on our path to progress" and to "clean our conscience" ahead of Judgement Day. ¶7. (C) In a conversation with Information Assistant following his briefing with the Charge, Mahmoud said he did not know whether the op-ed would land him in trouble with the authorities or not. "Everyone here talks about censorship," he said, "but no one has ever come to me and said, 'Look, here are the red lines, don't cross them.'" As of April 21, Mahmoud had not received any admonitions, official or otherwise. -------------- DOHA ABUZZ ABOUT SPONSORSHIP LAW -------------- ¶8. (SBU) On April 17, "Al Arab" and Al Jazeera ran stories about a leaked copy of a draft labor law that the Government had been promising to issue for months. Conflicting accounts emerged about whether the law would abolish exit visa regulations for foreigners, and to what extent a laborer would be free to switch between Qatari sponsors. On April 19, Al Jazeera conducted "person on the street" interviews with expatriate Doha residents regarding the draft law. (NOTE: It is rare for Al Jazeera to comment on any Qatari political issue, much less conduct on-air interviews. END NOTE) ¶9. (U) On April 20, English daily Gulf Times ran a front-page, above the fold article on abuses by companies that hire foreign workers. A large photo showed South Asian laborers sleeping on the floor of the airport while waiting for their Qatari sponsors to pick them up. Meanwhile, all press outlets reported on the closure of 87 more companies for labor abuses. -------------- COMMENT: CARPE DIEM ON HUMAN RIGHTS -------------- ¶10. (C) It is hard to tell with certainty what effect the Embassy's press conference is having on the thinking of senior Qatari leaders, but we have clearly hit a nerve here. Labor abuses have long been a hot topic of conversation among diplomats and expatriate journalists. What has changed in the past two weeks is that "Al Arab" has covered and commented on labor rights in Qatar for the first time in Arabic, which has opened up the debate to Qatari citizens, most of whom only read the Arabic press. The fact that, since April 8, so many Qatari elites have been commenting on the Human Rights Report both in the press and among themselves is a positive development, and a milestone for the development of Qatar's media freedom. ¶11. (C) While we do not believe that the Government has made a conscious decision to "let a thousand flowers bloom," we believe that officials are indirectly participating in this debate through, for example, floating a trial balloon with the leaking of its draft sponsorship law. With no reliable public opinion polling and a citizenry that makes up a scant but powerful 12 percent of its total population, the Government is keen to reform its labor system in such a way that both expatriates and Qataris are satisfied with the outcome. It is gratifying to see the Human Rights Report provide a vehicle for this sensitive discussion to take place among Qataris in the public sphere. RATNEY