INTERAGENCY GTMO TEAM HAS SUCCESSFUL VISIT TO

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000755 NOFORN SIPDIS NEA/ARP, NEA/RA E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2019 TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV PINR KDRG PHUM KU SUBJECT: INTERAGENCY GTMO TEAM HAS SUCCESSFUL VISIT TO KUWAIT REF: KUWAIT 613 Classified By: DCM Tom Williams for reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (S/NF) An interagency team representing DoD, State, DoJ, and GRPO visited Kuwait July 26-27 to discuss GOK preparations in the event that any or all of Kuwait's remaining four GTMO detainees should be transferred, and to tour the purpose-built "Al-Salam Center" rehabilitation facility and review its comprehensive program to deradicalize extremists. Key Points: -- (S) The interagency group found the Salam center 99 percent complete -- hewing to the schedule previewed with the Ambassador during her June visit (reftel) -- and staffed with two psychiatrists, a psychologist, a medical doctor and a non-radical Salafist imam. The physical facilities and planning for the deradicalization program are impressive and were characterized by one USG team member as "far and above" what has been done in Saudi Arabia. -- (S) GOK officials clearly stated that they recognize that the remaining four GTMO detainees are likely more radicalized and consequently will represent a greater threat and require greater oversight than earlier returnees. Individual programs tailored to the specific requirements of each returnee would be implemented, to include work with families to promote social reintegration as feasible. -- (S) New discretionary authorities will enable greater oversight of detainees even in the absence of new laws -- for example, the Minister of Interior may withhold or revoke passports and invasive surveillance may be authorized through application to the Attorney-General (without reference to the courts). -- (S) USG team members helped manage GOK expectations by making clear that a deliberative process is underway and that near-term releases are not anticipated. First, the cases of the four Kuwaiti detainees have not yet been fully reviewed by the U.S. Attorney General's team as now required by Executive Order, and second, the observations of the team will need to be factored into the decision-making process. -- (S) GOK officials warmly welcomed an invitation by the interagency group to have an imam and psychiatric officials visit Guantanamo Bay to review the medical and psychological/psychiatric records of the four Kuwaitis -- such information would be invaluable in structuring individual deradicalization/rehabilitation programs, Kuwaiti officials observed. (Note: The Minister of Interior had earlier suggested to the Ambassador that such an exchange would be useful. End Note.) Al-Salam Rehabilitation Center -------------- ¶2. (S/NF) An interagency team comprising Alan Liotta (DOD), Karen Sasahara (DOS),Kimberley Raleigh (DOJ),Terry Carrilio (GRPO),Gail Ospedale (GRPO),and Seth Hagaman (GRPO) visited Kuwait July 26-27 for discussions with GOK officials on GTMO detainees. During a July 27 tour, the team found the Al-Salam (Arabic: peace) Center, housed in Kuwait's Central Prison, to be 99 percent complete -- in keeping with the schedule previewed with the Ambassador during her June 18 visit (reftel). What remains is the installation of cameras (including audio) in each of the rooms; a contract for these services has been signed and is due for completion in mid-August. The residents of the center -- currently laid out to accommodate four beds in one room -- will have access to a library of Islamic texts, computers, exercise equipment and other amenities, as well as soccer and basketball during their free time. Isolation rooms are available should circumstances require. The center was characterized by one USG team member as "far and above" the Saudi model upon which it was based. GOK officials indicated that that the concept for the center was developed in coordination with relevant Kuwaiti ministries, and by a board which includes two trained psychiatrists, a psychologist, a medical doctor, an imam and COL Khalid al-Awda, the father of one of the remaining detainees. ¶3. (S) Al-Salam staff expect that tending to the four remaining detainees, when and if they are transferred, will present new challenges; they recognize fully that these four are more hardened and may present a greater threat than the previous eight. (Note: In March 2008, the four refused to meet with GOK officials who traveled to the Guantanamo KUWAIT 00000755 002 OF 003 Detention Center. End note.) In reforming the detainees, the Al-Salam staff said their approach would be focused on gaining trust and correcting "misguided thinking." Tactics will include reorienting detainees through working with families and friends as well as regular counseling, although individual programs will be developed based upon specific needs. Also available, according to Al-Salam board members, are the seven other former detainees who currently conduct interventions and "straight talk" discussions with youth vulnerable to recruitment by jihadists (much of this apparently done online). Consequently, the Al-Salam board responded positively to suggestions by the USG delegation that the center also be expanded to house and rebilitate non-GTMO extremists. Checking all the boxes -------------- ¶4. (S) GOK officials indicated that they had developed administrative procedures operating within the bounds of existing law to facilitate oversight and control of any future GTMO returnees. MFA's Follow-Up and Coordination Director Ambassador Khaled al-Mugames told the US delegation that the Minister of Interior now has additional discretionary authority over the issuance of passports and can even revoke passports once issued if he deems that necessary for public security. ¶5. (S) Once released from the center, according to Ambassador Mugames, the individuals would be subjected to ongoing monitoring and travel prohibition. Such monitoring would include physical surveillance by Kuwait State Security (KSS) teams and also invasive technical surveillance of phone calls and emails. (Note: Securing call logs is routine; for invasive monitoring of the content of calls, Kuwait's Attorney-General would approve -- but the matter no longer needs to be referred to the courts. End Note.) Should the individuals engage in suspicious activities or associations, Muqames assured the delegation, they would be remanded to the judicial system for prosecution and "double the sentence" -- according to MG Abdullah Rashed, KSS's Director of Information. The Way Forward -------------- ¶6. (S) In an effort to manage GOK expectations regarding the possible timeframe for repatriations, the USG delegation explained that a deliberative process is underway and that near-term releases are not anticipated: the files of the four have not yet been fully reviewed by the US Attorney General's office as is now required by Executive Order and the observations of the team would need to be added into the policy assessment with regard to how best to move forward. ¶7. (S) To help the GOK and the Salam Center prepare an appropriate program for the detainees, the interagency team extended an invitation for Kuwaiti psychiatrists, psychologists and an Imam to visit Guantanamo Bay to review the considerable medical and psychiatric records of the four Kuwaitis. The Kuwaiti interlocutors warmly received this invitation, saying that such information would be invaluable in structuring individual deradicalization/rehabilitation programs. Comment: -------------- ¶8. (S) The GOK has invested considerable and we believe good-faith effort into establishing the center and building "work-arounds" in Kuwaiti law to accommodate our concerns about ensuring oversight and accountability for former detainees. The trust-gaining approach to reforming the four individuals, working with families, other deradicalized extremists, and religious authorities, is comprehensive. By acknowledging the steps the GOK has taken while clearly indicating that a deliberative process is underway on the U.S. side that will take some time yet, the USG team contributed positively to the effective management of this sensitive bilateral issue, while also helping manage GOK expectations in the run-up to the Amir's August 3 meeting with POTUS, where the Kuwaitis will likely raise their desire to see Kuwait's GTMO returnees returned as soon as is practicable. Those expectations, however, have now likely been raised again, following local press reporting July 30 that a U.S. judge has ordered the release of one of the four Kuwaitis at GTMO. End comment. KUWAIT 00000755 003 OF 003 ¶9. (SBU) The interagency team did not clear this message prior to departing Kuwait. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* JONES