EMIRATES HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION IN DISARRAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000111

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL/NESCA, NEA/ARP, G/TIP, AND NEA/PI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2019
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, KTIP, KMPI, AE
SUBJ: EMIRATES HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION IN DISARRAY

REFS: A) 07 ABU DHABI 2002, B) 08 ABU DHABI 1037, C) 08 ABU DHABI
1022, D) 08 ABU DHABI 1440

Classified by Ambassador Richard Olson, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

1. (C) Summary: Long-time Mission contact and former Secretary
General of the Emirates Human Rights Association (EHRA),Dr. Mohammed
Ghubash (please protect),recounted for Emboff January 5 an NGO
factionalized and in disarray after he and his previous board were
pressed to resign, presumably by UAEG state security. According to
Ghubash, the Association's critical reports on the labor situation in
UAE and past cooperation with MEPI led to accusations of "treason"
and being "tools of a foreign government." Ghubash now leads a
private EHRA faction which hopes to regain control of the
Association, through elections, later this year. Ghubash cited EHRA
priority areas of focus as calling attention to poor prison
conditions in the UAE, press freedom, and trafficking-in-persons
(TIP). The group hopes to cooperate with MEPI but in a confidential
manner for the time-being. End Summary.

EHRA FACTIONALIZED, INFILTRATED BY STATE SECURITY
-------------- --------------

2. (C) In a January 5 meeting with Emboff, Dr. Mohammed Ghubash,
former long-time Secretary General of the Emirates Human Rights
Association (EHRA),a Dubai-based human rights NGO, depicted an
Association in disarray, outlining UAEG harassment, and his eviction
from the Association. Ghubash told Emboff that in late 2007 and
early 2008, the EHRA, of which he was a senior board member at the
time, had been critical of the UAEG on certain labor issues,
publishing reports that received prominent media attention. At
around the same time, an EHRA Board member planned to travel to the
U.S. on a MEPI-sponsored exchange program. According to Ghubash, the
Board member was harassed and stopped at the airport (ref A); Ghubash
said that officials of the UAEG then accused him and the Board of
EHRA of "treason" and being a "tool of foreign governments."

3. (C) According to Ghubash, he was blackballed and forced to resign
his Association position. Since then, the EHRA has factionalized.
Ghubash said the existing official Board had been clearly infiltrated
by state security agents (ref B); while another faction, that he
headed, met privately and was planning for new board elections in
late 2009. He said the EHRA had not issued an annual report in 2008
because of the turmoil and the Association was essentially "in
conflict and in limbo," as he described it.

MEPI GRANTS: "DANGEROUS"
--------------

4. (SBU) Ghubash explained to Emboff that the EHRA was mostly
self-funded; however, the Association receives an annual grant from
the UAEG Ministry of Social Affairs of 50,000 AED (approximately
13,500 USD) and per UAE law, must submit an annual report to the
Ministry. EHRA is allowed, however, to raise funds through
publications and conferences. EHRA currently has 120 members.
Ghubash noted the EHRA was working with the University of
California-Berkeley Law School, Human Rights Studies Program; he said
the UAEG had given a $200,000 USD grant to the law school in 2008.

5. (C) In terms of cooperation with the USG, Ghubash lauded the DOS
annual Human Rights Report and cooperation with Embassy Abu Dhabi
which had led to some resolution on the issue of stateless persons in
the UAE. (However, in other conversations with PolOff, he has
decried the inadequacy of the solutions in comparison to the scale of
the problem. It remains his contention that efforts to assimilate
the stateless into Emirati society present a veneer of inclusivity to
the outside world but in fact have more sinister implications due to
a tribal component to the registration process; those with tribal
affiliations not associated with indigenous Emirati clans, non-Arabs,
and illegal immigrants, are excluded [ref C].) Ghubash also told
Emboff that he had high respect for the work that MEPI does in the
region but that taking a grant from a USG entity would currently be
"dangerous." (Comment: we interpret "dangerous" to mean potentially
drawing unwanted attention from security services rather than
physical danger. End comment.) He said cooperation with MEPI was
welcome but would have to be very confidential.

ALLEGATIONS OF MENTALLY RETARDED,
STATELESS IN UAE PRISONS
--------------

6. (C) Ghubash said he would like the USG and other foreign
governments to look at the issue of prison conditions in the UAE,
which he claimed were "atrocious." According to Ghubash, there are
many mentally-retarded individuals being held in UAE prisons, as well
as stateless Palestinians who had served their respective prison
terms but had no state to which they could be deported. He asked if
the USG could fund an international group to do a study on the
prisons in light of what he called terrible indifference to the
plight of prisoners. If it were difficult to do this bilaterally he
asked if the USG could consider a regional (Gulf-wide) study, as he

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said there were similar conditions in other Gulf states. He said
that DOS-sponsored regional programs on press freedom, for example,
had been extremely helpful, citing liberalization of the Press in
Jordan as a result.

TIP: AN ONGOING PROBLEM
--------------

7. (SBU) Ghubash noted that TIP was a significant ongoing problem in
the UAE, due largely to the large foreign worker population, but that
the UAEG was taking some positive steps to address it. He referenced
a recent United States PBS television special on TIP in Dubai which
had received attention in government circles.

BLOGS HELP RECRUITMENT
--------------

8. (C) Ghubash told Emboff that blogging and citizen journalism were
indeed growing in the UAE, and that he was using blogs to help
recruit members to his EHRA faction. He hoped that his faction would
"re-take control" of the Association later this year; if not, he
said, he may consider forming another association, although he could
be hindered by UAEG entities. Ghubash wrapped up the discussion by
stating that in the UAE, "the people in power are scared." When
subsequently pressed for an explanation by PolOff, he claimed that
the regime feared that "Islamist fundamentalists" were actively
infiltrating local society and sowing seeds of discontent.

9. (C) Comment: Ghubash is a dedicated humanitarian and supporter of
the stateless and the less fortunate. EHRA's focus on these groups,
including prisoners, has been moderately productive in drawing
attention to their very real plights. The group has not advocated
strongly for individual political freedoms, nor agitated for broad
societal reforms, however, and represents a rather benign activism.
Although the EHRA presents itself as independent, its membership
historically involves "volunteers" either overtly or loosely
affiliated with the UAEG (ref D). If indeed the UAEG is intimidated
enough by the Association's efforts to impede its work, such
interference (by a UAEG which largely determines the Association's
operational parameters) represents a rather low threshold of
tolerance for social activism. End comment.

OLSON