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