AMCIT ANTI-TIP ACTIVIST FACES ALLEGATIONS OF BABY SELLING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 000213

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP FOR GPATEL, INL, DRL, NEA/ARP FOR BMASILKO,
L/DL, CA/OCS/ACS FOR GLYNN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/8/2018
TAGS: PREL PHUM KCRM KWMN ASEC ELAB AE
SUBJECT: AMCIT ANTI-TIP ACTIVIST FACES ALLEGATIONS OF BABY SELLING

REF: A. DUBAI 92; B. ABU DHABI 337; C. 07 DUBAI 629

DUBAI 00000213 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Paul Sutphin, Consul General, Consulate Dubai,
UAE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: Outspoken UAE human rights activist Sharla
Musabih (dual national AmCit/Emirati and founder of City of
Hope, the first women's and children's shelter in the UAE) has
been the focus of increasingly pejorative press coverage (ref A)
which recently escalated to accusations of selling babies.
Conversations with individuals who have been questioned by Dubai
Police indicate that local police are following up on the
allegations and might bring a trafficking case against the
activist and another AmCit who took legal custody of an
abandoned child three and one half years ago. End summary.


2. (U) In a May 20th "Gulf News" article (broad circulation
English daily),three women of differing nationalities (Russian,
Uzbek and Filipina) accused long-time anti-TIP activist Sharla
Musabih of selling their newborn babies to an Uzbek named
"Samira" and two AmCits identified in the article as "Linda" and
"Layla." The accusatory article was positioned directly next to
an article of equal length focused on the UAE's "tough stance
taken against trafficking."


3. (C/NF) On May 29th, Pol/Econ Officer received a phone call
from distraught AmCit Layla Leicia Medlej (the American
identified in the article). Mrs. Medlej related that the
previous day she had been summoned by Dubai Police to the
Muraqqabat police station for more than four hours of
questioning on the circumstances surrounding her obtaining legal
custody of her foster son three and one half years ago. (Note:
In the UAE, legal adoption is rarely granted by the court
system. Instead, the system typically places orphaned or
abandoned children in the legal custody of foster parents, which
while granting a semblance of parental rights in the UAE, does
not meet USG requirements for conveyance of US citizenship to
children fostered by AmCits. End note.) While in Medlej's
opinion the focus of the inquiry was on possible illegal and
trafficking related actions taken by Musabih, the police also
attempted to intimidate Medlej by calling her a liar and
threatening to take her son "and everything" away. Police
retained Medlej's passport.


4. (C/NF) Medlej elaborated that three and a half years ago she
was asked by a Canadian woman to take in the child of "a
pregnant housekeeper, who had been kicked out of her home by her
sponsor." According to Medlej, the housekeeper had originally
agreed to sell the child to "the camel jockeys" for AED 35,000
(just under USD 10,000) but later experienced a change of heart
and decided her baby should "go to a good Muslim home." The
Canadian woman brought the child to Medlej, urged her to begin
nursing the child immediately and suggested Medlej contact
Musabih for assistance in obtaining legal custody of the child.
(Note: Breast feeding a child establishes a family bond under
local custom. End note.) According to both Musabih and Medlej,
Musabih's only involvement in the case was to reach out to the
police and government agencies to assist in the legal
proceedings associated with potential custody. Both women deny
involvement in trafficking.


5. (C/NF) On June 1, Musabih notified Pol/Econ officer that the
previously mentioned Canadian woman, Susan Phillips, also had
been summoned to the police station for questioning on the same
case. Pol/Econ officer has not spoken with Phillips, but
Musabih states that the police focused their questions on the
potential legal violations of Medlej (not Musabih).


6. (C/NF) During the early morning of June 3, as she was
preparing to board a US-bound flight, Musabih was detained at
Dubai International Airport and taken to police headquarters for
questioning. Initially assuming the detention was due to the
trafficking allegations, Musabih was relieved to discover the
pending case (which was dismissed later that same day) had been
instigated by a disgruntled former husband of a woman Musabih
assisted four years ago. Musabih confided to Pol/Econ Officer
that she believes "the police are circling in on me, turning
everyone against me" and that she is fearful of an unfounded
arrest on trafficking charges. Musabih subsequently cleared UAE
immigration late in the evening of June 3 and departed the
country to visit her ailing father.


7. (C/NF) COMMENT: Despite UAEG assurances (ref B) that Musabih
is not under threat of arrest, it appears that Dubai Police have
taken the allegations of trafficking published by the "Gulf
News" seriously and that Musabih is under investigation. The
English language paper and its sister publication, "Emaarat

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Alyoum", have been at the forefront of a more than six month
barrage of periodic public accusations against Musabih. While
the predicating events may have been a disagreement between
Musabih and the Emirati director of the Dubai Foundation for
Women and Children (DFWC, ref C) over the management and
operating philosophy for the DFWC, the situation has now
escalated to the level where two AmCits (Musabih and Medlej) are
at risk of arrest and one is being threatened with custody
revocation for her "son." While Post cannot know for certain
the truth of the allegations, nothing in our long experience to
date with Musabih/City of Hope gives any indication that Musabih
has or would "sell a baby." The charges against Musabih are more
likely, in our assessment, an attempt by disgruntled former
victims, husbands and other family members of former victims,
and possibly UAE DFWC officials (fed up with Musabih's habit of
pointing out both UAEG failures and successes in fighting TIP)
to discredit Musabih in the eyes of the UAEG and with the USG.
End comment.
SUTPHIN