SPECIAL ENVOY MEETS GOA ON UIGHUR DETAINEES

S E C R E T CANBERRA 000533 NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2034 TAGS: KDRG PHUM PINR PTER AS SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY MEETS GOA ON UIGHUR DETAINEES REF: STATE 54931 Classified By: CDA Daniel A. Clune for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: In a meeting with Deputy National Security Advisor Angus Campbell, Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure Daniel Fried asked Australia to resettle some of the Uighur detainees in Guantanamo. Campbell listened politely, but because the ultimate decision rests with Prime Minister Rudd, emphasized that the meeting should raise no expectation either way regarding the GOA response. He explained that the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization (ASIO) would examine security issues relating to the resettlement of the Uighurs and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship would consider their character and health. END SUMMARY. REQUEST FOR UIGHUR RESETTLEMENT ¶2. (S/NF) Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure Daniel Fried met with Deputy National Security Adviser Angus Campbell on June 5, 2009 to ask Australia to resettle some of the Uighurs in Guantanamo. Also present on the Australian side were Gillian Bird, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, David Fricker, Acting Director of ASIO, and Judith O'Neill, Acting First Assistant Secretary of the Refugee, Humanitarian and International Branch of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). Accompanying Fried were Charge Daniel Clune, Office of Regional Affairs Director Paula Doyle, and Political Counselor James Cole. GOA OFFICIALS SAY NO "EXPECTATIONS" SHOULD BE RAISED ¶3. (S/NF) Fried said that the files on 10 Uighur detainees and a report on the East Turkistan Independence Movement that had been passed recently to the GOA could be supplemented with as much additional information as available. Campbell responded that the 10 detainees would be subject to a parallel review process by ASIO, for security, and DIAC, for consideration of character and health issues. It would be a bureaucratic process, Campbell pointed out, and until it was completed, the GOA would express no view on the request. In addition, no expectations on whether the GOA would accept any detainees should be raised by the meeting, he continued. FRIED EXPLAINS DETAINEE REVIEW PROCESS ¶4. (S/NF) Fried noted that, in his executive order, the President had created task forces to review detainee policy, interrogation policy, and Guantanamo closure. A review committee, Fried explained, comprised of intelligence officers and federal prosecutors, had reviewed all the files of the Guantanamo detainees and sorted them into different categories. The Uighurs had been cleared for release and transfer. UIGHURS LOW RISK OPTION ¶5. (S/NF) Of the 240 detainees in Guantanamo Fried stated, the Uighurs were among the least dangerous. The USG was looking at the Uighurs with urgency because courts had ordered them released. Fried said the Uighurs were not zero risk, but they were very low risk. Five had been transferred to Albania in 2006 and the recidivist rate was zero. PALAU ¶6. (S/NF) The USG has asked a number of countries to accept detainees, Fried said. Some had expressed a willingness to help, but everybody wanted somebody else to go first. The United States needed help from its friends and allies. Fried reported that he had just come from Palau, which had offered to help. Some Uighurs could go to Palau, he said, but they Qto help. Some Uighurs could go to Palau, he said, but they could never become citizens and they might need to move elsewhere in 3-5 years. Palau was not the answer, Fried added. A larger, internationally respected country, particularly one with a sizable Uighur community such as Australia, needed to step up. OTHER PROSPECTS ¶7. (S/NF) Fried emphasized that the U.S. request was serious, and he hoped the GOA would take it just as seriously. He showed Campbell a copy of a letter from the UN High Commission for Refugees urging countries to accept Guantanamo detainees. He also noted that the EU Council had just offered in effect its blessing to individual EU countries to accept detainees. Some European countries were considering our request to accept detainees and some would likely accept a few. ¶8. (S/NF) Fried said any requests for additional information should be sent through the Embassy in Canberra and the USG would provide whatever additional information the GOA needed. The U.S. would also facilitate GOA interviews at Guantanamo. When Fried asked when the ASIO security review would be completed, Campbell said he would have to "get back to you" with an answer. ¶9. (S/NF) COMMENT: It was evident that the Australian representatives were not the decision makers, though Fried's impassioned appeal for Australia to step up on the Uighur issue appeared to find purchase with this group, which had opposed the previous request by the Bush Administration. It is clear that the ultimate decision on accepting Uighurs for resettlement rests with Prime Minister Rudd. ¶10. Ambassador Fried cleared this cable. CLUNE