SPAIN ANALYZES GTMO FILES TO FIND "BEST FIT" FOR RESETTLEMENT

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000742



NOFORN

SIPDIS



FOR EUR/WE, NEA, S/GC, INR

PASS TO NSC FOR RASMUSSEN, BRADLEY



E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2024

TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, PHUM, MOPS, KAWK, KISL, KPAO, SP

SUBJECT: SPAIN ANALYZES GTMO FILES TO FIND "BEST FIT" FOR

RESETTLEMENT



REF: A. MADRID 614

B. TUNIS 415

C. MADRID 604

D. MADRID 551

E. MADRID 351



MADRID 00000742 001.2 OF 002





Classified By: CDA Arnold A. Chacon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)



1. (S//NF) SUMMARY. Following a July 2 meeting in

Washington, the Spanish MFA asked to "reserve" four

Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) detainees, pending the completion of

due diligence on their files by the Spanish security

services. Post subsequently has informed its MFA contacts on

several occasions that S/GC agreed to hold the four "for a

while" but would not reserve them indefinitely. Post has

emphasized that this indeterminate period may be only a short

period of time and has stressed that the stated USG priority

is to relocate GTMO detainees to countries that commit to

accepting them, notwithstanding expressions of interest from

other friends and allies. The MFA on July 17 upgraded its

commitment for one of the four "reserved" detainees, but - in

the face of a firm commitment by a third-country - waived its

right to first refusal on another one. Spain continues to

reiterate its decision to work with the USG in resettling a

number of GTMO detainees and Post is working with the MFA to

find the "best fit" for the GOS's criteria. As reported in

Ref A, Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba publicly

stated on June 23 during his recent visit to Washington that

Spain may accept up to five GTMO detainees. END SUMMARY.



//Spain "Reserves" Four Detainee Files...//



2. (S//NF) On July 7, Luis Felipe Fernandez de la Pena, MFA

DG for North America and non-EU Europe, phoned Special Envoy

Dan Fried of the Office of the Special Envoy for the Closure

of the Guantanamo Detention facility (S/GC). The Spaniard

requested - and was granted - that Madrid be allowed to

"reserve" a Syrian (SY-489),two Palestinians (SA-049 and

WE-684),and a Yemeni (YM-252). A series of follow-up phone

calls took place between on July 16, 17, and 20, in which the

two diplomats confirmed each party's interpretation of what

had been agreed in the original July 7 phone call. They also

discussed third-country interest in some of the four cases,

based on information sharing and discussions with

third-countries prior to Madrid's request to "reserve" them

for Spain. The USG has agreed to give Madrid a right of

first refusal if - while Spain's due diligence is still

underway - another country is ready to commit to accepting

any of them. Faced with the prospect of a firm commitment by

a third-country to accept YM-252, Fernandez de la Pena in the

July 17 phone call upgraded the GOS claim from "reserved" to

"blocked," thus preventing another government from accepting

that detainee. The GOS on June 30 had submitted a non-paper

with a series of additional questions for the USG on YM-252,

the answers of which were provided to the MFA on July 16. Of

the original four detainees that Madrid spoke up for, two

Palestinians also remain "reserved" for Spain and are not

currently under consideration by other foreign governments.



//... But Lets One Slip Through Its Fingers//



3. (S//NF) However, Spain was not ready to commit to a second

detainee (SY-489) whom the same third-country had offered to

accept. When given the chance on July 17 to exercise its

right of first refusal on SY-489, Spain did not do so. As of

July 20, S/GC is in discussions with a third-country

regarding this Syrian detainee.



//Readout and Follow-up on July 2 Meeting in Washington//



4. (S//NF) On July 2 Amb. Fernandez de la Pena and Arturo

Avello, the Ministry of Interior's DG for International

Relations, held meetings in Washington with S/E Fried and

S/GC Deputy Director Tony Ricci. The Spaniards appeared

eager to express that they want to be helpful, though their

mission now is to find the "best fit" detainees for Spain.



MADRID 00000742 002.2 OF 002





They are intent on balancing the security implications with

the diplomatic implications, so ideally they would want

detainees that are a lower threat, but would result in little

friction with foreign governments (they raised Yemen,

Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan as examples). The Spaniards were

told that the USG can look into whether detainees from these

countries are possibilities for Spain and that, given the

balance the GOS is trying to achieve, Palestinians may be a

good option.



5. (S//NF) POLOFF on July 10 followed up to the July 2

meetings in Washington by providing to Fernando Prieto, MFA

DG for North America, the case file for another Syrian

detainee (SY-317) for GOS consideration. POLOFF also asked

if - in light of Spain's request to reserve the four

detainees - the GOS were interested in reviewing any

additional files. POLOFF explained that we had one more file

- that of an Uzbeki, (UZ-675) - that might interest the GOS.

Prieto contacted POLOFF on July 13 and said that the GOS had

agreed to receive the UZ-675 file, which POLOFF then passed

to the MFA that same day. In response to a question by

POLOFF, Prieto also confirmed July 7 Spanish press reports

that detainees from "neighboring countries," - ie., Tunisia,

Algeria or Morocco - would not be suitable for Spain. In our

next meeting on July 13, however, Prieto changed his story

somewhat, saying that he had spoken with Fernandez de la Pena

and the latter wanted to make sure that Washington understood

that case-by-case security considerations related to the four

Tunisian detainees originally proposed by S/GC on June 17 had

been the deciding factor in the GOS's decision, while their

nationality had been a "complementary" or secondary factor.

COMMENT: Despite the MFA's claims that case-by-case security

concerns were the priority factor, Post does not believe that

the GOS is seriously considering files on detainees from

"neighboring countries." This claim, however, allows the GOS

to portray itself as not having been influenced by pressure

from those detainees' home governments. (See Ref B).



//The Tally on GTMO Detainee Files Passed to Spain Thus Far//



6. (S//NF) To date, the GOS has received 15 GTMO detainee

case files. S/E Fried hand-delivered the files of four

Tunisians (TS-046, TS-502, TS-892, TS-894) during a visit to

the MFA on June 17; the file on the first Yemeni (YM-252) was

hand-delivered to the MFA by POLOFF the next day. During the

July 2 meeting in Washington, the GOS delegation received an

additional seven files: two Palestinians (SA-049, WE-684),

two Libyans (LY-654 and LY-709),and three Syrians (SY-307,

SY-312, and SY-489). POLOFF delivered to the MFA the file on

an additional Syrian (SY-317) on July 10, and the Uzbeki file

(UZ-675) on July 13. On July 20, POLOFF provided a file on a

second Yemeni (YM-692) who may be eligible for transfer to

Spain. S/GC has informed Post that more Yemeni files may be

provided to Spain for review.



7. (U) Special Envoy Fried has cleared this cable.

CHACON