Cablegate: Six Bahraini Guantanamo Detainees Made Media

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 001742

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD (RSMITH), S/WCI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO PREL PGOV BA BILAT
SUBJECT: Six Bahraini Guantanamo Detainees Made Media
Darlings

Ref (A): Manama 1553 Ref (B): Manama 1547

1. Summary: The plight of six Bahraini detainees at
Guantanamo Bay detention facilities has consumed the
Bahraini media for months, building tensions with a series
of published reports alleging sexual humiliation and other
abuses catalogued in the journal writings of one of the
detainees, Juma Al-Dossari. On November 8, the Embassy
issued a statement based on DoD guidance addressing some of
the multitude of claims regarding Al-Dossari. The November
5 transfer to Bahrain of three of the detainees (Al-Dossari
was not one of them) appears to have been well-received by
the Bahraini public and opinion-leaders in the press, but
accusations of abuse by Al-Dossari's lawyer and family
continue to figure prominently, and a press conference by
the three former detainees on November 17 highlighted
allegations of torture and a possible lawsuit against the
USG. Columnists continue to pose the question of "When will
the other's come back?" and will do so for the foreseeable
future. End Summary.

2. The issue of six Bahrainis in detention at Guantanamo Bay
has been a rallying point for local critics of the U.S.-led
Global War on Terror, and the attention has transformed the
six detainees into folk heroes of a sort. The Government of
Bahrain, under intense pressure from human rights groups,
parliamentarians, and the Bahraini public, has faced sharp
criticism for the continued incarceration of the "Bay 6".
Negative commentary, like the following quote by Jaffar Al-
Jamri, writing in the Arabic independent daily Al-Wasat, has
been the norm. Al-Jamri criticized the government of Bahrain
for "neglecting its detained sons in Guantanamo," adding,
"Since the government forgot that it had sons there, who are
being tortured day and night, it is the obligation of civil
society institutions to push hard and put pressure locally
and internationally to release all Bahraini detainees in
Guantanamo."

3. Following the transfer of three detainees to Bahrain
November 5, the Government of Bahrain competed with human
rights groups and parliamentarians to take credit for
convincing the USG to release them. The return occurred
just weeks after a meeting between the Ambassador and the
Bahrain Human Rights Watch regarding the detainees (Ref B).
Both events were reflected positively in the press, but the
honeymoon was short.

4. Headlines November 6 transformed the three ex-detainees
into hometown heroes. The English government daily Bahrain
Tribune ran a large photo of returned detainee Adel Kamel
Haji surrounded by smiling young family members, with the
headline "Home Sweet Home" and lead "The moment that all
Bahrainis dreamed of, and which made it a truly joyous Eid
for three families." In other reports, Haji reported that
the Pakistani Army sold the six Bahraini detainees to the
Americans for $5,000 each. He pointed out that they were
all arrested at the Pakistani borders and he was not accused
of any crime during detention in Guantanamo. Other
articles dwelled on the need for psychological
rehabilitation following their "nightmare" at Guantanamo.
Other articles following the release stressed that the three
were released "as free men" after just a few hours of
questioning by Bahraini prosecutors and were not charged
with any crime.

5. In other reports, President of Al-Menbar Islamic Society
Dr. Salah Ali welcomed the release of three Bahraini
detainees from Guantanamo prison but said that the joy would
be meaningless until the other three detainees were
released.

6. Commentator Ahmed Kamal, in the pro-government Arabic
daily Al-Ayam, writes: "The tragedy of the hundreds of
detainees in Guantanamo, among them three Bahrainis, did not
end with the release of the three Bahraini detainees.
Guantanamo prison stands as a symbol of injustice and symbol
of the American Administration arrogance. America claims
that it is fighting terrorism, but practices it every day on
our brothers in Guantanamo. This U.S. Administration is
obsessed with control and hegemony."

7. After the release of the three former detainees, a series
of articles chronicling alleged abuses of one detainee still
in detention continued unabated. In the two months prior to
the release, Arabic daily Akhbar Al-Khalij and its English
sister paper Gulf Daily News printed a series of stories
based on the journal writings of Juma Al-Dossari, in which
it was alleged among many other things that Al-Dossari was
offered sex for cooperation with interrogators, smeared with
menstrual blood, forced to walk on broken glass, and fed
bugs (Ref A). Soon afterwards, the Washington Post
chronicled an eye-witness account by Al-Dossari's lawyer of
a suicide attempt by his client. Court filings recently
released (and published in the press) reported that Al-
Dossari has made nine attempts on his own life, most
recently on Nov. 15.

8. On November 7, Al-Dossari's family speculated in the
press that Al-Dossari's alleged suicide attempt was staged
by U.S. authorities who had actually intended to murder him.
Khalid Al-Dossari, brother of Al-Dossari, told Al-Ayam, "My
brother was subjected to a murder attempt and I hold the
American Administration responsible for this." He alleged
that Americans tried to kill Al-Dosari by slashing his arm
and hanging him while his attorney was there to prove that
it was a suicide attempt and that it happened in front of a
witness.

9. In response, based on guidance provided by the Department
of Defense, the Embassy issued the following press release:

Begin Nov 8 statement:
--Some media outlets in Bahrain have recently published
several false allegations about the treatment of detainees
at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, including
allegations regarding Juma Al-Dossari. The United States
Government takes all allegations of abuse seriously. When a
credible allegation of improper conduct surfaces, it is
reviewed, and when factually warranted, investigated. As a
result of the investigation, administrative, disciplinary,
or judicial action is taken as appropriate. We have no
evidence that substantiates that Mr. Al Dossari was the
subject of any sexual humiliation at Guantanamo Bay.
--The U.S. Government does not generally comment on the
specific medical circumstances of any particular detainee.
However, detainees at Guantanamo are treated humanely and
receive excellent medical care. Many detainees arrived at
Guantanamo with pre-existing physical and mental health
problems. Detention facilities at Guantanamo provide
detainees access to mental health experts and take any
threat of injury or suicide seriously.
--Allegations have been made that Al Dossari is being held
in solitary confinement or isolation at Guantanamo. This is
incorrect. Al Dossari interacts with other detainees during
daily recreation and religious periods, and with U.S.
personnel. Furthermore, he can send and receive mail and be
visited by his attorney.
--There are no solitary confinement facilities at
Guantanamo. While the conditions of detention at designated
camps vary from communal to individual confinement, every
detention facility at Guantanamo allows detainees the
ability to communicate and pray with other detainees in
their respective areas.

Media Reaction to Embassy Statement
-----------------------------------

10. In response to the U.S. Embassy statement on Guantanamo
detainees published prominently in Bahraini print media,
Council of Representatives Deputy Mohamed Khalid (Muslim
Brotherhood) told the Arabic daily Akhbar Al-Khalij on
November 10 that "Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons are full
of sexual humiliations and lack humanitarian treatment." He
condemned the Embassy statement and called on the Embassy to
advise its Administration to improve its image in the world
by shutting down Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons, which
are similar to Nazi prisons. "Only then the image of the
American leadership would improve."

11. Writing in the Arabic pro-government daily Al-Ayam,
commentator Mohamed Al-Uthman characterized the embassy
statement on the alleged abuses as a "hallucination." He
writes: "The U.S. Embassy thinks that we are stupid to
believe its statement in which it claimed that the detainees
received excellent medical care and were treated humanely.
It seems that the Embassy forgot Amnesty International
Reports and Human Rights Watch reports about torture in X-
Ray camp." He adds: "Your Excellency Ambassador Monroe, I
intended to send you a letter of appreciation and gratitude
on your efforts to release the three detainees but you
spoiled our appreciation letter by sending a statement like
this. We hope that you reconsider the situation of the
other three detainees and release them. Only this will give
some credibility to the human rights reports that are issued
in Washington DC every year. We will not forget your
cooperation to release three of the six Bahraini detainees
but another three remain: they are Juma Al-Dosari, Salah Al-
Belooshi and Essa Al-Merbati."

The Continuing Saga
-------------------
12. On November 17, the three former detainees described in
a press conference a number of alleged incidents at
Guantanamo, including being made fun of by soldiers during
their prayer activities, and one said he still had "the
shoeprint of a soldier" on a page in his Quran. Media also
reported the three planned to sue the USG for torture and
humiliation suffered at Guantanamo, but the next day a
family member of one detainee called this report inaccurate.

13. In press reports November 17, remaining detainees'
lawyers described their clients' deteriorating physical
condition from hunger strikes, and Al-Dossari's apparent
self-inflicted condition. According to these reports, at
the last attorney-client meeting Al-Dossari appeared "in a
wheel chair wearing a neck brace", that he was unable to
stand, and appeared to be in agony with injuries on his face
and hand. Al-Wasat reported that a Bahraini delegation
headed by MPs Mohammed Khalid and Nabeel Rajab and families
of the remaining detainees would participate in a November
19 London Conference entitled "The Global Struggle Against
Torture" organized by Amnesty International. At the
Conference, Amnesty called on the U.S. to allow the UN
officials unfettered access to detainees at Guantanamo, also
covered widely in the press.

14. COMMENT: The guidance received on the Al-Dossari case
was most useful in helping to counter the steady drumbeat of
allegations on the Bahrain detainees. This drumbeat will
continue as the three returned detainees speak out at home
and the three remaining detainees talk to their lawyers.
The allegations inevitably are regarded as fact by many.
The Ambassador, and the Embassy more generally, will
continue to seek opportunities to counter these negative
allegations, and we welcome further points to buttress our
arguments in the coming weeks and months.

MONROE

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