US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1516

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001516 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
NSC FOR DORMANDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, MV, Maldives 
SUBJECT: MALDIVES:  EU DELEGATION DENIED ACCESS TO 
PRESIDENT, PRISONERS 
 
REF: A. STATE 191997 
     B. COLOMBO 1470 
     C. COLOMBO 1427 
 
Classified By: DCM JAMES F. ENTWISTLE.  REASON:  1.4 (B,D). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) After the Government of the Republic of Maldives 
(GORM) turned down requests by an EU delegation for meetings 
with President Gayoom and prisoners detained after the 
demonstrations of August 12-13 (Ref B), EU Heads of Mission 
issued a stinging press release on September 8, decrying the 
prolonged detentions and continued State of Emergency as a 
"disproportionate reaction."  Not to be outdone, the GORM 
issued a retaliatory press release on September 9, charging 
that the EU statement was "not factual" and questioning the 
basis of EU concern in Maldives' "difficulties."  EU Missions 
in Colombo, especially the Dutch Embassy, intend to keep 
pressing the issue.  Although one Maldivian contact reported 
that conditions had improved recently for the more prominent 
detainees, the protracted detentions of so many key champions 
of reform continue to raise questions about GORM commitment 
to democratic change.  End summary. 
 
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NO PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT; 
JUST FEISTY FOREIGN MINISTER FOR EU DELEGATES 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
2.  (SBU)  An EU Chiefs of Mission delegation that traveled 
to the Maldivian capital of Male' on September 6 to discuss 
the State of Emergency and the continued detention of at 
least 11 MPs was not granted a request to meet with President 
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.  The delegation's request to meet with 
detained Members of the Special and Regular Majlis was 
similarly spurned.  The delegation, composed of the Dutch 
Ambassador (representing the EU presidency), British Charge 
and a representative from the EU Mission in New Delhi, was 
following up on findings from an earlier, lower-level EU 
delegation that traveled to the atoll August 23 (Ref C). 
 
3.  (C)  Instead of the President, the EU delegation met with 
Foreign Minister Fathulla Jameel, whom UK Charge Peter Hughes 
described as "spectacularly belligerent."  According to 
Hughes, the irate FM subjected the delegation to an 
eighty-minute tirade in which he questioned, among other 
things, the diplomats' right to request a meeting with the 
President and the EU's right to question Maldivian internal 
affairs.  Attempts by the delegation to defuse the outburst, 
read out a prepared demarche and lead the discussion back to 
the purpose of the visit proved fruitless, Hughes said. 
Unable to meet either the President or the detainees, the 
delegation returned to Colombo the same evening. 
 
4.  (C)  Gayoom contacted the Dutch Ambassador by telephone 
in Colombo later the same evening, Hughes reported.  The 
President (somewhat disingenuously) expressed surprise at the 
delegation's early return to Colombo, claiming that their 
inability to meet him was the result of a miscommunication, 
rather than a calculated stiff. (Note:  Hughes agreed that 
this scenario seemed unlikely.  The small size of the 
Government of the Republic of Maldives (GORM) and the 
President's firm grip on its operations generally minimize 
possibilities for "miscommunication."  That said, the Foreign 
Minister is known to be a hard liner, and it can't be ruled 
out that he kept the EU visit from Gayoom since, according to 
many, Gayoom remains committed to some sort of reform 
process.  End note.)  According to Hughes, Gayoom told the 
Ambassador that he would have been glad to meet the 
delegation and reiterated his continued commitment--the 
prolonged detention of pro-reform activists 
notwithstanding--to democratic reform.  On September 9 the 
state-owned website ran a cheery banner headline proclaiming 
"Gayoom briefs EU presidency on recent political 
developments."  Further down the text of the article notes, 
in more modest print, that the briefing took place by 
telephone. 
 
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DUELLING PRESS STATEMENTS 
-------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  EU Chiefs of Mission, apparently unpersuaded by 
Gayoom's blandishments, on September 8 issued an 
uncharacteristically sharp press statement, criticizing the 
State of Emergency and "subsequent mass arrests" as "a 
disproportionate reaction by the Maldivian authorities to 
what was a largely peaceful demonstration."  The statement 
called on the GORM to continue the still-incipient process of 
democratic reform and urged the early conclusion of the 
proposed agreement with the International Committee of the 
Red Cross (Ref C).  The final sentence of the release listed 
the names of the detained MPs to whom the delegation was not 
granted access. 
 
6.  (U) The GORM responded with its own press release (sent 
under cover of diplomatic note to Colombo-based Missions) on 
September 9.  The GORM statement justified the declaration of 
the State of Emergency as having been "taken in the interest 
of public safety and national security in the face of threats 
of bombs and arson made by anonymous entities."  The GORM 
statement disputed the EU's charge that "mass arrests" had 
taken place, noting that only 78 individuals remain in 
custody.  The demonstrations on August 12 and 13 "were aimed 
at disrupting and derailing the (reform) process," the 
statement asserted.  Among those hoping to derail the 
process, according to the statement, are "Islamic extremists" 
and "dissident groups" who hope to "blame the Government for 
failure to realize the reforms envisaged by the President and 
the people. . . . Among the people who were arrested by the 
Government, none of them is a 'reform leader.'"  While not 
responding directly to the EU charge that the September 6 
delegation was refused access to detained MPs, the GORM 
statement notes that the earlier delegation did meet the 
detainees and that thus "the statements made in the (EU) 
declaration are not factual" and do not take into account the 
GORM's genuine efforts to address the "difficulties" arising 
from the demonstrations.  The final line of the GORM 
statement asserts, "Clearly, these difficulties are of 
greater concern to the Government of Maldives than to the 
EU." 
 
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NEXT STEPS? 
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7.  (C)  UK Charge Hughes said that while the EU intends to 
maintain pressure on the GORM, no follow-up delegations, 
high-level phone calls, press statements or revised travel 
announcements are being contemplated in the near term. 
(Note:  A possible phone call from British Deputy Prime 
Minister Prescott to Gayoom, which was once under active 
consideration, seems to have been placed on the back burner 
for now.  Prescott may see Gayoom if the Maldivian leader 
visits London in September.  End note.)  The EU's most 
effective source of leverage, Hughes believes, may be its 
disproportionate share of the tourism market.  (Note:  EU 
countries account for nearly 70 percent of international 
tourists to Maldives.  Tourism is the single greatest 
contributor to GDP in Maldives.  End note.)  Even though the 
EU is not considering officially discouraging travel to 
Maldives, Hughes said, unfavorable publicity, especially from 
human rights groups, might affect demand.  Dutch DCM Harry 
van Dijk opined that the GORM is digging in its heels in the 
hope that international attention will eventually wane, 
leaving the GORM free to ignore pressure to reform.  His 
Embassy, however, plans to continue to follow events closely. 
 
8.  (C)  Hughes related to DCM several theories from 
pro-reform sources on why the GORM persists in holding the 
MPs.   Some believe that the GORM's investigations into the 
MPs' purported connection to the demonstrations will turn up 
"evidence" of some criminal act that will render them 
ineligible to remain as MPs--and thus unable to continue to 
push for reforms.  Others have suggested that the GORM may 
call snap elections while the MPs are in detention, making it 
impossible for them to contest, and leaving the GORM in full 
control of "guiding" the reform process.  While noting the 
difficulty of determining the credibility of such theories, 
Hughes expressed general concern regarding the fate of the 
MPs in detention, speculating that the longer they remain in 
jail the more compelling the need for the GORM to find--or 
manufacture--some justification for holding them. 
 
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FAMILY VISITS FOR MPS; 
OTHERS INCOMMUNICADO 
------------------------ 
 
9.  (C) On September 10 the personal secretary to one of the 
detained MPs told poloff that conditions had improved for the 
better-known detainees, including the MPs, who are now being 
allowed contact with family members.  He noted, however, that 
approximately 50 detainees (believed to held at a separate 
facility on another island) have not been visited or heard 
from by anyone.  He urged other diplomatic visitors, 
including any from the U.S. Embassy, to request a meeting 
with at least some of these detainees. 
 
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COMMENT 
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10.  (C) The GORM is not used to international scrutiny and 
criticism and, as evidenced by the Foreign Minister's tirade 
and the shrilly indignant press statement, does not react 
well to it.  With 11 of the most vocal proponents of reform 
in government custody, the claim in the GORM press release 
that none of the detainees is a reform leader is, in the 
words that the GORM used to deride the EU statement, "not 
factual."  Whatever the GORM's reasons for holding the MPs, 
the prolonged detentions of more than 10 percent of the 
Members of the Special Majlis--which was set up for the sole 
purpose of recommending constitutional reforms--does not 
suggest progress toward greater democratization is imminent. 
Impending visits by the DCM (September 19-20) and the 
Ambassador (end of September/beginning of October) will 
provide opportunities for us to remind Male' of USG interest 
in continued reform and concern at recent developments. 
 
 
 
 
LUNSTEAD