Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DAMASCUS369
2009-05-25 09:18:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

MAY 7 FELTMAN-SHAPIRO MEETING IN DAMASCUS: HUMAN

Tags:  PREL PHUM CASC SY 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2066
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHDM #0369/01 1450918
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 250918Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6402
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0636
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 000369 

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, DRL, CA/OCS
NSC FOR SHAPIRO/MCDERMOTT
PARIS FOR WALLER
LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2029
TAGS: PREL PHUM CASC SY
SUBJECT: MAY 7 FELTMAN-SHAPIRO MEETING IN DAMASCUS: HUMAN
RIGHTS AND MURAD CASE

Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 b, d.

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 000369

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, DRL, CA/OCS
NSC FOR SHAPIRO/MCDERMOTT
PARIS FOR WALLER
LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2029
TAGS: PREL PHUM CASC SY
SUBJECT: MAY 7 FELTMAN-SHAPIRO MEETING IN DAMASCUS: HUMAN
RIGHTS AND MURAD CASE

Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 b, d.


1. (S/NF) Summary: In a wide-ranging May 7 meeting with a
Syrian delegation led by FM Muallim, NEA Acting Assistant
Secretary Feltman and NSC/NENA Senior Director Shapiro argued
that showing more leniency to Syrian prisoners of conscience
would be the right thing to do and could help Syria's image
in the U.S. and Europe. Muallim asked whether the same U.S.
human rights concerns applied to the some 1300
al-Qaeda-linked Salafists in Syrian jails ("Should we release
them, too?" he asked.) Muallim defended the Syrian judicial
process, and rejected interference in Syria's sovereign
affairs. In response to Feltman's question on whether any
progress had been made on the Murad child abduction case,
Muallim said the Syrian police had been notified. End
Summary.


2. (S/NF) Returning to Damascus two months after their
March 7 visit, NEA Acting Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Feltman
and NSC Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa
Dan Shapiro met May 7 for four-and-a-half hours with Syrian
Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim, Vice Foreign Minister
Faisal Miqdad, and President Asad's Political and Media
Advisor Bouthaina Shaaban. Charge and Pol-Econ Chief
(notetaker) accompanied Feltman and Shapiro. Muallim's Chief
of Staff Bassam Sabagh joined the Syrian side. This cable
provides their discussion on human rights issues. It should
be read with septel reports the bilateral relationship, Iraq,
sanctions, Palestinian issues, Syrian-Israeli peace talks,
Iran and, Lebanon.


--------------
Feltman Urges Positive Steps on Human Rights
--------------


3. (S/NF) Acting A/S Feltman told Muallim that, just as the
U.S. image had suffered in the Arab world, Syria faced a
public opinion problem in the U.S. He suggested Syria could
improve its image in the U.S. and Europe if it took positive
actions on human rights issues. Steps such as releasing
prisoners of conscience Riad Seif and Michel Kilo were the
right thing to do and might help Damascus overcome its

negative image abroad. Muallim said Riad Seif was currently
in the hospital receiving treatment for prostate cancer.
(Note: According to Seif's daughter the same day, Seif was
not in the hospital. End Note.) NSC Senior Director Shapiro
and Feltman responded Seif and Kilo both remained in custody,
and this fact was hurting Syria's reputation.


4. (S/NF) Muallim replied by asking whether the U.S. was as
equally concerned about the human rights of some 1300
al-Qaeda militants in Syrian jails whom Syrian authorities
had captured trying to enter Iraq. "Should we release them,
too?" he asked. "Will you take them, or should we release
them to Iraq?" Syria should be able to hold terror suspects
legally or render them into the custody of their country of
origin, contended Feltman. The comparison of al-Qaeda
suspects to prisoners of conscience, however, was hardly
appropriate. Muallim said that 1300 cases should be of more
concern to the U.S. than Michel Kilo or Riad Seif.


5. (S/NF) Feltman explained that the Obama administration
had taken difficult decision about past human rights
practices and had admitted the U.S. had failed to live up to
the high principles to which Americans aspired. Syria, too,
could benefit from this experience. Recognizing and
correcting faulty human rights practices was the right thing
to do and would improve Syria's image. Presidential Advisor
Shaaban replied that Kilo, Seif, and others had received
trials and were sentenced according to Syrian law. Muallim
interjected that "Nothing will improve our image in
Washington and the West except positive words from the new
administration." Muallim urged Feltman and Shapiro to
recognize that the previous U.S. administration had
consistently attacked Syria and damaged its reputation.
"It's your duty to change this. Say nice things about us in
Washington," he urged. Doing so would help to change
anti-U.S. views within the Syrian regime, Muallim claimed.

DAMASCUS 00000369 002 OF 002




6. (S/NF) Shapiro answered that Washington had made
positive statements, but it would do so on human rights only
if Syria did something to deserve it. "We deserve it,"
responded Muallim. "Do it and you'll see more positive moves
from our side. We're ready to move," he said. President
Asad had openly praised President Obama, he said. The U.S.
should follow suit. Feltman suggested Syria also had a
responsibility to shape the relationship positively.


--------------
Murad Case Update
--------------


7. (S/NF) Acting A/S Feltman thanked Muallim for meeting
with the Embassy's Consul General to discuss the Murad child
abduction case. Muallim replied that he had referred the
case to the police to check on possible locations for the
children.


8. (SBU) Acting A/S Feltman and Senior Director Shapiro
cleared this message.
CONNELLY