Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08DUBAI92
2008-03-13 16:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Consulate Dubai
Cable title:  

POSSIBLE SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST AMCIT TIP ACTIVIST AND HER

Tags:  PREL PHUM PREF KCRM KWMN ASEC ELAB AE 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4147
OO RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDE #0092/01 0731619
ZNY CCCCC
O P 131619Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI PRIORITY
RUEHZM/GCC C COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 000092 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

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

G/TIP FOR GPATEL; CA/OCS/ACS FOR GLYNN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/13/2018
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF KCRM KWMN ASEC ELAB AE
SUBJECT: POSSIBLE SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST AMCIT TIP ACTIVIST AND HER
UNOFFICIAL WOMEN'S SHELTER, CITY OF HOPE

REF: 07 DUBAI 629

DUBAI 00000092 001.2 OF 002


Classified by CG Paul Sutphin, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 000092

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

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

G/TIP FOR GPATEL; CA/OCS/ACS FOR GLYNN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/13/2018
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF KCRM KWMN ASEC ELAB AE
SUBJECT: POSSIBLE SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST AMCIT TIP ACTIVIST AND HER
UNOFFICIAL WOMEN'S SHELTER, CITY OF HOPE

REF: 07 DUBAI 629

DUBAI 00000092 001.2 OF 002


Classified by CG Paul Sutphin, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary and comment: A simmering conflict between an
outspoken human rights activist (dual national AmCit/Emirati)
and management of the newly established Dubai Foundation for
Women and Children (DFWC, reported reftel) boiled over into
public view with a front page article and two inside stories in
the March 9th issue of "Gulf News" (a widely-read local English
language daily published in Dubai) accusing her of "profiting
from women's misery". Articles both defaming and defending the
activist have appeared throughout the week in Arabic and English
language papers. The articles included allegations made by
abused women formerly housed at City of Hope, a shelter she
personally leads. More disturbingly, specific accusations by
DFWC Chairman Ahmad Obaid Al Mansouri, unnamed Dubai police
officials, Bakhtiyor Madaev, Consul General of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, and Ebrahim Mahari, a "representative of the
Consulate General of Ethiopia" are also on the wires. (Note:
While CoH has been operating unofficially for years in Dubai, it
just finalized this month its legal status as an NGO based in
Ethiopia. End note.)


2. (C/NF) Post is deeply concerned about the impact these
allegations may have on the shelter and its founder, Sharla
Musabih. Musabih is well known to Post management and has
successfully sheltered AmCits in need for years. Numerous Post
and USG officials have visited CoH, never noting any
improprieties. If CoH closed, Post would be without a suitable
shelter, as the newly founded DFWC requires referrals to be
directed first through Dubai police, a policy unpalatable with
Post ACS procedures (see reftel for additional concerns

regarding DFWC). Of more concern, the attacks on CoH and Musabih
appear at some level to have either Dubai Government involvement
or, at least, acquiescence. End summary and comment.


3. (C) Since October 2007, a conflict between 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) and management of the newly
established Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWC,
initially reported reftel)has been quietly escalating. On March
9, the issue erupted into public view with a front page article
and two stories on page 6 in the March 9th issue of "Gulf News"
accusing Musabih of "profiting from women's misery". Given the
fact that trafficking and abuse are topics often self-censored
by UAE reputation-conscious editors, the press coverage has been
extensive by UAE standards. Over the past week, pejorative news
stories about CoH and Musabih have also appeared the Arabic
language "Emarat Al Youm" and "Al Bayan" newspapers. CoH and
Musabih has been accused in blogs, including the "Emirates
Economy Forum" and email chains, and according to Musabih, CoH
has even been discussed on local Arabic radio talk shows.


4. (C) While Musabih has received limited rebuttal coverage in
Gulf News (a side bar article on March 9) and two articles in
the daily English language tabloid "7 Days", she states she has
also spoken with reporters from "The New Yorker" and "New York
Times" and anticipates breaking US coverage over the upcoming
week.

Harsh accusations from Several Sources

--------------


5. (C) According to detractors, including unnamed "former CoH
residents", Ahmad Obaid Al Mansouri, Chairman of the Board of
Trustees at the DFWC, and Uzbek Consul General in Dubai
Bakhtiyor Madaev, accusations against Musabih and CoH include
selling abuse/trafficking victims' stories to foreign media
organizations for "thousands" of dollars (with Musabih allegedly
pocketing the money); selling a victim's newborn baby to a
British family; forcing victims to make negative statements
about their home countries, including Uzbekistan; isolating
victims from their consulates and refusing to return victims to
diplomatic missions; and treating victims as servants; and
smuggling a mentally ill women into the DFWC. Lt. Col. Dr.
Mohammed Abdulla Al Mur, Director of Human Rights Care
Department, Dubai Police, has denied collaboration with Musabih
over recent years, noting her objectives and activities "have
become shadowy and mysterious" and claiming that Dubai Police
has completely stopped working with Musabih. (Note. Musabih
directly denies this, claiming she works frequently with the
Dubai Police. End note.)

Why the Defamation Now??

--------------

DUBAI 00000092 002.2 OF 002




6. (C/NF) Musabih, a strong and outspoken personality in a
culture that does not generally value public dissent, has long
been a very public advocate about abuse of women in the UAE and
against trafficking in persons. Her public profile (including
press comments) has in the past offended conservative Emirati
sensibilities. A more likely proximate cause to the current
negative press stems from her ongoing conflict with DFWC
Executive Director Afra Busti. This feud has been simmering
since prior to the opening of the DFWC (reftel),and has also
resulted in Musabih being removed from the DFWC Board of
Directors. As part of the feud, Musabih has been sending a
barrage of emails and text messages to senior UAEG officials (up
to and including the Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Ruler of Dubai, Prime Minister and Vice President of the UAE)
complaining about how CoH and Musabih have been treated.
Finally, to PolEcon Off (and presumably others) she has accused
the Uzbek Consul General of corruption and aiding trafficking.


7. (C/NF) It is an improbable coincidence that the negative
press started while Musabih is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
celebrating the official opening of the City of Hope, Ethiopia,
as a licensed NGO. For years, Musabih had been unable to legally
license CoH in the UAE and with the escalating tensions she
feared imminent closure of CoH by the Dubai government.
According to Musabih, there is a UAE legal loophole that allows
CoH to operate in the UAE if it is an extension of a NGO
licensed in another country. Musabih believes this will provide
CoH Dubai with much needed legal status and a platform for
donation solicitation.

COMMENT

--------------


8. (C/NF) The Musabih/CoH/DFWC saga has become increasingly ugly
and public. Post has known and worked with Musabih and City of
Hope for years, and has used the CoH shelter regularly for
at-risk AmCit women and children. Most recently, a Post staff
member referred her housemaid to the shelter (to escape an
abusive husband). Nothing Post has seen in years of dealing
with Musabih and CoH corroborates any of the public accusations
that have been leveled at Musabih. Musabih is an outspoken (and
admittedly sometimes prone to hyperbole) advocate for
abused/trafficked women and children. In Post's opinion, it
defies reason and evidence that she, herself, might be an
abuser.


9. (C/NF) Post is deeply concerned about the long-term impact
the current smear campaign will have on the City of Hope
shelter. After having visited DFWC and learning that DFWC
requires all women entering the shelter to have been referred
through the Dubai Police, Post is uncomfortable using the
shelter for our citizens with legal ties to an Emirati (husband,
dual nationals, etc.) as we believe Police and DFWC standard
operating procedures would urge, and possibly require, an
at-risk woman to return to an abusive situation. If CoH were to
close, Post would not have a suitable alternative shelter for
AmCits in need.


10. (C/NF) Most disturbing to Post is the potential governmental
support for, or acquiescence in, what looks to us to be a smear
campaign. Ahmed Al Mansouri, DFWC Chairman of the Board, has
been regularly quoted in the negative articles. The DFWC is
solely funded by the government of Dubai. We are concerned that
the use of Al Mansouri as spokesman conveys implicit Dubai
government support for the campaign to discredit City of Hope
and Sharla Musabih.


11. (C/NF) Musabih's most recent outreach to the US press will
likely cause an official escalation of tensions. Also, Musabih
has repeatedly expressed her fear that she will be arrested upon
her return to Dubai from Ethiopia. While the Dubai government
would typically understand that such an action would only
escalate negative international attention, we are concerned at
this point arrest is a real possibility. The Mission is
approaching Al Mansouri and other Dubai and UAEG officials to
express our concerns and to convey our positive experience with
Musabih and her organization.

END COMMENT
SUTPHIN