IRELAND: UPDATE ON EX-GUANTANAMO DETAINEES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 000477 SIPDIS STATE FOR S/GC E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MARR EI SUBJECT: IRELAND: UPDATE ON EX-GUANTANAMO DETAINEES REF: LISBON 540 DUBLIN 00000477 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political-Economic Section Chief Dwight Nystrom. Reason s 1.4(b/d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The ex-Guantanamo detainees in Ireland are performing most daily tasks on their own, but will require "long-term" assistance before being able to integrate into Irish society. The Irish have requested the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in arranging for the immediate family of one ex-detainee to reunite with him in Ireland. The other ex-detainee is living on his own as an adult for the first time, and the Irish are concerned about his adjustment. Our interlocutors describe both ex-detainees as psychologically "damaged," and say they are part of "world-wide network of ex-detainees" in regular contact with one another. END SUMMARY. -------------- TO RECEIVE PERMANENT HOUSING SOON -------------- ¶2. (C) On November 10 Poloff spoke with Diarmuid Cole, Director General of the Office of the Minister for Integration, and his deputy, Anne O'Gorman, about the two Uzbek ex-Guantanamo detainees who arrived in Ireland on September 26, Oybek Jabbarov and Shakhrukh Hamiduva. They are currently living in the quarters provided to them immediately after their arrival, a government-owned apartment building for asylum seekers in Ballyhaunis, a small town in County Mayo in the west of Ireland. They will move out of their current quarters in three to four weeks. They will then be settled in Galway, a city of 72,000 on the west coast. Jabbarov will receive a house and Hamiduva an apartment within walking distance of Jabbarov's residence. -------------- DAILY TASKS PERFORMED INDEPENDENTLY -------------- ¶3. (C) Our interlocutors told us Jabbarov and Hamiduva were performing most daily tasks on their own ) shopping, cooking, etc. They have not visited the local mosque, as far as our interlocutors know, but they shop in the town's halal store and perform daily prayers. They have a two-hour English class five days per week, but Jabbarov only takes one hour because of trouble concentrating. They are also taking a two-hour computer class twice a week. They are receiving a stipend for daily expenses and have each been given a television set, a laptop and a cell phone. -------------- IRISH HELPING, NOT SUPERVISING -------------- ¶4. (C) The Irish are helping, but not supervising, the ex-detainees. Their apartment building is guarded by a private security firm, but the guards are there to protect all the residents of the building (approximately 70 Congolese refugees live in the building as well). An official from the Office of the Minister of Integration is in the building during working hours to assist any of the residents who need it. Ministry officials have taken the ex-detainees on trips to the west coast and to Dublin, to "get them out and familiarize them with the country," and they have a general practitioner who supervises their medical needs (such as, so far, back pain and provision of eyeglasses to one of them). -------------- CONTACT WITH FAMILY -------------- ¶5. (C) They call their families frequently, although Hamiduva has had trouble reaching some of his family members, as they are under government surveillance in Uzbekistan. With the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Jabbarov's wife and two children have moved to a UNHCR camp near Islamabad, and the IOM has applied for exit visas for them so they can join Jabbarov in Ireland. The ex-detainees have not indicated any interest in meeting other members of the Uzbek exile community in Ireland and did not want to meet with the International Committee of the Red Cross official, now based in London, who had followed their cases in DUBLIN 00000477 002.4 OF 002 Guantanamo. -------------- EX-DETAINEES "DAMAGED" PSYCHOLOGICALLY -------------- ¶6. (C) Our interlocutors repeatedly described the ex-detainees as "pretty damaged" psychologically. They handle stress poorly, often calling to complain, sometimes vociferously, whenever anything major or minor goes wrong. Our contacts said Hamiduva is adjusting poorly to being out of detention for the first time in his life as an adult. He does not really know how to function as an adult, the Irish said, and they are concerned that he might not adapt well to moving to an apartment in Galway without immediate access to Jabbarov. The Irish said Hamiduva might have particular difficulty after Jabbarov's family joins him. When asked whether the ex-detainees would be given job training, the Irish said, "not for a long time." They said the ex-detainees would be neither psychologically nor linguistically prepared for job training for the foreseeable future. -------------- "WORLD-WIDE NETWORK" OF EX-DETAINEES? -------------- ¶7. (C) Our interlocutors reported that Jabbarov and Hamiduva had become part of a "world-wide network" of ex-Guantanamo detainees, talking by phone frequently with other ex-detainees, particularly those in the Bahamas and Albania. Our contacts said this had led to many allegations from Jabbarov and Hamiduva that they were not being treated as well in Ireland as ex-detainees in other countries. FAUCHER