ROYAL OMAN POLICE, MAJLIS AL-SHURA SUSPEND AREAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MUSCAT 000474

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PI, G/TIP
WHITE HOUSE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2018
TAGS: PHUM PREL KCRM KWMN SMIG ELAB MU
SUBJECT: ROYAL OMAN POLICE, MAJLIS AL-SHURA SUSPEND AREAS
OF COOPERATION DUE TO TIP

REF: A. MUSCAT 444

B. MUSCAT 464

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Alfred Fonteneau, reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) Summary: The dispute over Oman's Tier 3 ranking in the
2008 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is beginning to
affect Post's relations with some government and
non-governmental entities in Oman. The Royal Oman Police's
(ROP) Criminal Investigation Division informed Post that due
to Oman's Tier 3 ranking, the ROP would no longer provide
Post with "special access" to criminal statistics or other
law enforcement information. The Majlis al-Shura
"indefinitely postponed" a Middle East Partnership Initiative
(MEPI)-funded parliamentary exchange program, a decision,
contacts say, that was directly tied to TIP. The Oman
Journalist Association (OJA) also informed Post that it was
withdrawing its application for a MEPI local grant due to
TIP. While these developments appear to be uncoordinated,
they are symptomatic of a politically-charged environment in
which some Omanis and government bodies are unwilling to be
associated with the USG at this time. End summary.

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ROP Limits Access to Information
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2. (C) During a June 22 meeting with Post's Regional Security
Officer (RSO),high-ranking officials in the ROP's Criminal
Investigation Division (CID) stated that Post will no longer
enjoy "special access" to criminal statistics or other law
enforcement data due to Oman's Tier 3 ranking in the 2008 TIP
Report. Brigadier General Suheil Fadel, speaking "in the
name of the Inspector General (IG) of the ROP," stated that
the ROP felt "stabbed in the back" by the US report, and that
while the ROP always has shared statistics and information on
criminal trends with the Embassy, including letting emboffs
tour the ROP's central prision (ref) and detention
facilities, Fadel saw the report as evidence that the US had
abused the "privileges of its relationship" by
mischaracterizing the ROP's record on human rights. After a
long tirade against the report and the U.S.' own record on
human rights, which he characterized as "worse that Oman's,"
Fadel stated that Post should make all future requests for
information through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, implying
that responses could face considerable administrative delay.
(Note: Post is concerned that the ROP's decision to limit our
easy access to information may negatively affect our ability
to assess the security situation in Oman. End note.)

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MEPI Activities Affected
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3. (C) Post also has learned that the Majlis al-Shura - the
lower house of Oman's proto-legislature - has "indefinitely
postponed" its participation in a MEPI-funded parliamentary
exchange program, which would have sent mid-level staffers to
Lithuania June 30-July 4, as a direct result of the ongoing
dispute over Oman's Tier 3 ranking. The International
Republican Institute's (IRI) resident representative in Oman,
who has been organizing the exchange program as part of MEPI
and the IRI's long-standing initiative to build legislative
capacity in the Sultanate, told poloff that the decision came
as a complete surprise. The Secretary General personally had
agreed to the program dates on June 1, he said, and Shura
officials subsequently confirmed staffers' participation as
recently as June 11 - three days before the Shura's public
denouncement of the TIP Report (ref A). Said al-Margibi,
Director of Protocol and Public Affairs at the Majlis
al-Shura, candidly told poloff on June 22 that the Shura's
Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Muhamed al-'Issai, and Secretary
General, Mohammed Abdal-Quadir al-Dhahab, postponed the
program to "send a political message" over the TIP Report.


4. (C) Post has not discovered any other instances in which
current MEPI programs have been affected by the TIP dispute.
However, a board member of the Oman Journalist Association
(OJA),a non-governmental organization that issued its own
statement denouncing the TIP Report just three days after the
Shura (ref B),informed Post's MEPI Coordinator that the
board had decided to cancel its application for a MEPI local
grant to run a junior journalist program. He said that the
organization made its decision because many board members
felt that they had to "pick a side" in the TIP dispute with
the U.S. While the board left open the possibility that it
might be willing to participate in the initiative in a less
conspicuous role as a program partner, the board member

frankly stated that it is "politically difficult" to be
associated too closely with the USG right now.

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Comment
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5. (C) Comment: Post has no evidence that the Majlis
al-Shura, ROP or OJA were directed to take these actions as
part of a centrally-orchestrated campaign of disengagement
with the U.S. over TIP. In the case of the Majlis al-Shura,
for instance, Margibi emphasized that the decision to
postpone the program was purely "an internal one" and not
directed "from the top" or any outside ministry. The
Director General of ROP Customs, with whom Post has shared a
very open relationship, assured poloff that he has not
received any direction from the ROP's Inspector General to
cut off or limit communication. However, Fadel's comments
reflect a deep sense of betrayal over the TIP Report, and we
cannot rule out the possibility that more ministries or
government institutions that share this feeling may make
similar decisions to limit cooperation with us. In addition,
the daily barrage of negative articles on TIP in the local
press most likely will make it increasingly difficult for us
to continue business as usual. End comment.
FONTENEAU