DETAINED HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST FATHI EL-JAHMI "RELEASED"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TRIPOLI 000220



SIPDIS



SIPDIS



DEPT FOR NEA/MAG AND DRL



E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/13/2018

TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, PINR, LY

SUBJECT: DETAINED HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST FATHI EL-JAHMI "RELEASED"



REF: A) TRIPOLI 183, B) TRIPOLI 142



CLASSIFIED BY: Chris Stevens, CDA, Embassy Tripoli, Dept of

State.

REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: Reports by the Qadhafi Development Foundation

(QDF) that detained human rights activist Fathi el-Jahmi was

"released" to the custody of his family appear to be premature.

Security officials continue to effectively control access to

el-Jahmi at the Tripoli Medical Center. His family's access has

improved but is not unconditional, and his ability to regularly

leave his room for exercise and home visits remains the subject

of negotiations with the QDF. According to his doctor,

el-Jahmi's medical condition has improved and he could be

released to his home for continuing treatment on an outpatient

basis. El-Jahmi and his family are concerned that access to

medical treatment might be curtailed if he were released from

the hospital. Representatives of Human Rights Watch and

Physicians for Human Rights have arrived in Tripoli and are

scheduled to visit el-Jahmi today for independent assessments of

his status and medical condition. End summary.



FATHI EL-JAHMI "RELEASED"



2. (C) Citing statements by Qadhafi Development Foundation (QDF)

human rights director Saleh Abdulsalam, international media

reported on March 11 that detained human rights activist Fathi

el-Jahmi (FAJ) was "released", but remained at the Tripoli

Medical Center for treatment. (Note: El-Jahmi has been in the

GOL's custody since his re-arrest in early 2004. End note.)

P/E Chief spoke with QDF Executive Director Dr. Yusuf Sawani on

March 12. Sawani carefully stressed that el-Jahmi had been

"transferred" from the custody of the GOL to the custody of his

family, noting that since he had not been in detention (from the

GOL's perspective),he could not have been "released".

Referencing the el-Jahmi family's delay in responding to the

QDF's earlier offers to allow el-Jahmi to return home (ref A),

Sawani said the family had "finally" agreed to take custody of

him. A March 12 Reuters report quoted el-Jahmi's son, Muhammad,

as saying: "We ~ are very happy with the improvement in his

health, particularly now that he can see us continuously. I am

now responsible for his needs -- food, drink and everything."



BUT REMAINS AT TRIPOLI MEDICAL CENTER



3. (C) Sawani said the QDF had proposed transferring el-Jahmi to

his family home in Tripoli or to a private clinic. The family

told the QDF they could not accommodate el-Jahmi at home and

raised concerns about the cost of private clinic care,

suggesting the QDF underwrite those expenses. After consulting

with FAJ's treating physicians at the Tripoli Medical Center

(TMC) and, according to Sawani, with the family, it was decided

that the best course of action was to keep el-Jahmi at the

government-run TMC, where the state pays for his treatment "as

it would with any Libyan citizen".



4. (C) Asked whether Emboffs could visit el-Jahmi, Sawani

stressed that the GOL no longer has custody of FAJ. As such,

neither the GOL nor the QDF had any mandate to facilitate access

to el-Jahmi, who was ostensibly free to come and go as he

pleased. Sawani cautioned that "as with any patient in

hospital", Emboffs would have to coordinate a visit with

el-Jahmi's family, who were now responsible for him. "It is for

the family alone to decide whether a visit would be

appropriate", he said.



FAMILY VISITS



5. (C) P/E Chief spoke by telephone March 12 with el-Jahmi's

eldest son, Muhammad, and daughter, Lamia, who said access to

el-Jahmi for the family had recently improved. A number of

el-Jahmi's immediate family were able to visit about one week

ago. In the last three days, Muhammad el-Jahmi and his mother

visited daily for long periods (his wife stayed seven hours on

March 11),and were able to bring him food and sundry items.

Muhammad el-Jahmi said that on March 10 he had to coordinate

their visit with the QDF; however, on March 11 and March 12 he

and his mother only had to telephone the hospital before

visiting. Muhammad asked the QDF on March 12 whether el-Jahmi

could exit his room regularly for exercise to alleviate edema in

his legs, and whether he might be able to make a visit home.

The QDF "agreed in principle", but details of those arrangements

are still being sorted out.



6. (C) Asked whether Emboffs could visit el-Jahmi, Muhammad and

Lamia stressed that the family was not in a position to sanction

or coordinate visits, and suggested that Post contact the QDF.

Standing permission for access to him at this point extends only

to Muhammad and his mother. The family had no objection to a



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visit by Emboffs if the QDF agreed.



MINDERS STILL PRESENT



7. (C) P/E Chief visited el-Jahmi on March 12 in his TMC

hospital room, located directly across from a nurse's station.

When the duty nurse was asked which room el-Jahmi was in, two

plainclothes security officers standing in front of el-Jahmi's

room approached and asked who wanted to see him and why. The

hospital's "security director," after determining that the visit

had been coordinated with the QDF and the family, said P/E Chief

could see al-Jahmi after el-Jahmi finished his evening prayers

and supper.



TREATING PHYSICIAN SAYS IMPROVEMENT IN MEDICAL CONDITION

CONTINUES



8. (C) While waiting, P/E Chief spoke by phone with el-Jahmi's

treating physician, Dr. Abdulrahman Mehdy, who said el-Jahmi's

condition had continued to improve since Emboffs last visited

el-Jahmi on February 20. El-Jahmi's EKG readings were close to

normal, his breathing was less labored, he tired less easily and

the edema in his legs had begun to ease. Mehdy said el-Jahmi

could, in his judgment, be released from hospital immediately

and could continue treatment on an outpatient basis with visits

to clinic once every week or two, a significant improvement

since just three weeks ago. El-Jahmi had undergone a complete

battery of tests, to include EKG and CBC, blood sugar and lipids

profile blood tests on March 12, and would undergo a sonogram on

March 13. Doctors had discovered that el-Jahmi's vision had

deteriorated when he was recently allowed reading material

again; el-Jahmi's eyes were tested and new spectacles prescribed

on March 12.



EL-JAHMI IN GOOD SPIRITS



9. (C) After a wait of about an hour, P/E Chief saw el-Jahmi,

who was accompanied by his wife, son Muhammad and a man

described as his nurse, Abdullah Bashir. El-Jahmi was visibly

tired, but was alert and appeared to be in good spirits. He

made his first walk of any distance earlier that day to have his

eyes tested in a clinic located in a different wing of the

hospital. Excited about having left his room for the first time

in long while, he expressed frustration that the edema in his

legs had not subsided more quickly. (Note: His physician said he

had started el-Jahmi on a different analgesic medication about

one week ago to help ease swelling in his legs, and that the

initial signs were good. End note.)



10. (C) El-Jahmi said his condition had improved recently. He

was permitted to raise the blinds in his room about one week

ago, allowing him a view and some sunlight. His Koran had been

returned to him, although reading had been difficult until his

new spectacles had been prescribed. He had been allowed trips

outside his room more regularly, and understood that he would be

allowed to begin regular walks soon to help his heart and edema.

Most importantly, his family had been able to visit regularly.

Asked whether he needed anything, he stressed two things:

continued medical treatment and his freedom. His medical

condition had improved considerably since treatment began in

December 2007; however, further treatment was needed. He and

his family were concerned that access to treatment might be

curtailed - directly or indirectly - if he were released from

the hospital. Unbidden, el-Jahmi stressed that while he wants

to go home, he remains unwilling to enter into a tacit agreement

to refrain from criticizing al-Qadhafi's regime or speaking

publicly about his detention as the price for his release. He

was unaware until told by P/E Chief that representatives of

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)

were, with the QDF's facilitation, scheduled to visit him in the

coming days. He expressed relief that the international

community remains focused on his case, saying he felt he had

been "walking alone in the wilderness" for a long time.



11. (C) Comment: While we lack the expertise to comment

authoritatively on el-Jahmi's medical condition, he appeared to

have improved since our last visit with him in February (ref B).

Unfettered access and, should he choose, the ability to: 1)

leave his room, and: 2) leave the TMC are important measures of

whether he has in fact been "transferred" from GOL custody to

that of his family. Security officials remain outside his room

and effectively control access to him, and his ability to leave

his room regularly for exercise and/or home visits is apparently

being negotiated with the QDF, suggesting he remains for

practical purposes under GOL custody. The distinction between



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el-Jahmi having been at the TMC in the GOL's custody and his

being there now in the custody of his family is at best a subtle

one. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the QDF's

announcement of el-Jahmi's "release" was orchestrated as window

dressing on the eve of the visit by HRW and PHR representatives.

An important component of any agreement for his release will be

specific agreement on the terms of his continued medical

treatment. End comment.

STEVENS