US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT2174

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 002174 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, PHUM, PINR, KJUS, KISL, KU, TERRORISM, ISLAMISTS 
SUBJECT: LAWYER FOR ACCUSED TERRORIST MAKES HIS CASE 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 1908 
     B. KUWAIT 1308 
     C. KUWAIT 1192 
     D. KUWAIT 405 
     E. 04 KUWAIT 1600 
     F. 04 KUWAIT 1042 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  PolOffs met with prominent defense attorney 
Osama Al-Munawer on May 15, 2005, at the law offices of his 
father, Ahmed H. Al-Munawer, to discuss the status of pending 
criminal cases against many of his clients.  Al-Munawer is 
the defense attorney for most of the Kuwaiti nationals 
charged with terror-related crimes, including 46 persons held 
in connection with Kuwait's January and February shoot-outs, 
14 persons accused of crossing into Iraq via Syria to wage 
jihad against coalition forces, and well known Islamists and 
terror suspects Khaled Al-Dosari and Shaykh Hamad Abdullah 
Al-Ali, among others.  Al-Munawer accused the GOK of engaging 
in the systematic illegal detention and torture of those who 
criticize it, and claimed he only represents clients who are 
innocent.  He said that 14 of his clients recently convicted 
for traveling to Iraq to commit violent jihad were innocent 
and were victims of a political ruling. Al-Munawer said that 
contrary to accusations of judicial leniency, several 
convicted militants have received lengthy sentences.  He 
accused the Public Prosecutor's officer of conducting a witch 
hunt against him, blamed the office for current problems in 
the legal system, and saw nothing inconsistent with a 
judicial system that doles out harsher sentences for 
insulting Islam than for trafficking in illegal weapons.  End 
Summary. 
 
State Security Turns Innocent Men Violent 
----------------------------------------- 
 
2. (C) During a recent meeting with PolOffs, Osama 
Al-Munawer, defense attorney for many Kuwaiti extremists and 
suspected violent jihadists,  discussed some details of his 
clients' cases, reviewed his own legal troubles, and shared 
his views on Kuwait and its judicial system.  Although 
appreciative of the U.S.-led liberation of Kuwait, he does 
not support the continued presence of the U.S. in Iraq and 
said he was shocked at the abuses at Abu Ghraib and 
Guantanamo Bay and expressed "outrage" at the reported 
desecration of the Qur'an at the Guantanamo detention center. 
 He said that after the events of September 11, when Kuwaiti 
authorities began rounding up and holding Islamists 
indefinitely, he tried to warn the GOK that this policy would 
create "grudges" amongst former detainees, who would seek 
revenge. 
 
2. (C) Al-Munawer accused Kuwait State Security (KSS) of 
detaining innocent Islamists on weak charges and routinely 
torturing and sexually abusing them.  He said that most of 
those held are eventually acquitted, but only after immense 
personal suffering.  Aside from the emotional scars brought 
on by the abuse and torture, many also lose their jobs and 
families, leaving them angry and vengeful. 
 
4. (C) Addressing the issue of rhetorical support for jihad, 
Al-Munawer rejected the notion that Kuwaiti Islamists support 
jihad against Americans in Kuwait.  Carefully avoiding 
mention of support for jihad outside Kuwaiti territory, he 
noted that there are no Kuwaiti fatwas calling the faithful 
to fight Americans on Kuwaiti soil, as this would be 
"terrorism against the peace-loving people of Kuwait," whose 
representatives in the National Assembly had invited the 
foreigners to maintain a military presence here. 
 
Clients Are A "Who's Who" Of Kuwaiti Jihadists 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Al-Munawer commented on the case of Ali Nasser 
Al-Ajmi, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 
December 2003 U.S. convoy shooting on 7th Ring Road.  He said 
Al-Ajmi was "100 percent" innocent of the crime, citing 
eyewitness reports from the soldiers that the shooter had 
been driving a white car.  Al-Munawer said a KSS investigator 
involved in the case, however, had concluded that the shooter 
drove a black car, the color of Al-Ajmi's car.  Calling 
Ajmi's guilty verdict "completely political," Al-Munawer 
claimed that he was not allowed to attend the interrogations 
of his client and said the case should have led to a mistrial 
on procedural grounds.  Al-Munawer added that he does not 
represent those he feels are guilty. An appeals court verdict 
is scheduled to be announced on May 25. 
 
6. (C) Discussing the recent conviction of 14 of his clients 
who were arrested during July and August 2004 for traveling, 
or attempting to travel, to Iraq via Syria to commit violent 
jihad, he said the verdict was a political decision and not 
one based on the material evidence (ref. a).  He claimed his 
clients were innocent of all charges and offered as proof 
that all involved received only a three-year sentence despite 
committing different crimes, some of which are subject to 
sentences of up to 25 years.  He said if his clients had 
truly committed these crimes, the GOK would have punished 
them with much harsher sentences in accordance with the law. 
PolOff asked Al-Munawer if he thought his clients had a good 
chance of being acquitted on appeal.  He expressed hope for 
an acquittal but remarked that a three-year sentence compared 
with a 25-year sentence essentially was an acquittal. 
 
7. (C) Al-Munawer confirmed that another client, firebrand 
Islamist cleric Shaykh Hamad Abdullah Al-Ali, was still being 
detained and had been charged with "instigation," based on 
the confessions by other detainees under torture, alleging 
that Al-Ali organized and financed their efforts. (ref. b) 
Al-Munawer said no lawyer has seen Al-Ali's "file," which the 
Public Prosecutor's Office said was secret.  Criticizing the 
withholding of information as illegal, Al-Munawer said the 
Prosecutor's office was likely using the time to alter 
Al-Ali's statements in order to use them against his client 
during the trial.  Al-Munawer said Al-Ali and 46 others 
accused of being involved in the January shoot-outs would be 
tried May 24.  He said they were being held in the new 
building of the central prison, presided over by "Shi'a" 
police who treated them harshly.  He remarked that only the 
defendants' families have been allowed to meet with them. 
 
The Legal Case Against Al-Munawer 
--------------------------------- 
 
8. (C) Al-Munawer said the Public Prosecutor's office "always 
violates laws" by refusing to allow the presence of attorneys 
and letting cases languish to prolong the time suspects are 
detained.  Al-Munawer claimed the office "fabricated" a 
charge against him that prevented him from practicing law for 
more than a year.  In a more recent incident, Al-Munawer was 
detained in February on accusations that he gave money to 
Kuwaiti fugitive Khaled Al-Dosari, who is wanted by KSS for 
involvement in some of the January shoot-outs.  Al-Munawer 
insisted that Al-Dosari is innocent of all allegations and 
told PolOffs that he fled because he believed that if 
detained, he would be tortured and possibly killed by law 
enforcement officers. 
 
9. (C) Al-Munawer claimed that his recent detention was set 
up by KSS and the Public Prosecutor.  He recounted that while 
departing Kuwait on his way to a conference in Egypt, he was 
identified by a KSS officer who then contacted the Government 
of Egypt and requested that Egypt refuse Al-Munawer entry. 
Upon arrival in Egypt, he was sent immediately back to 
Kuwait, where he was met by several KSS officers, who 
interrogated him about Al-Dosari.  Al-Munawer told them that 
he did not know the whereabouts of Al-Dosari, chose not 
discuss any details of the case out of concern of being 
disbarred in Kuwait, and threatened to sue the officers 
interrogating him.  Because of this threat, Al-Munawer said 
he was referred to the Public Prosecution, where a "baseless" 
charge was leveled at him accusing him of giving Al-Dosari KD 
250.  He said that the information against him was provided 
to KSS by an arrested terror suspect named "Maqbool" during 
interrogation.  Al-Munawer was then ordered detained for 19 
days in a "comfortable cell" where he had access to 
newspapers, had a telephone and television.  He said the 
Attorney General admitted to his father, who is also a 
prominent lawyer, that the charges against him were 
unfounded, but justified them because he said "Osama 
(Al-Munawer) abuses us in the newspapers."  Al-Munawer, whose 
trial is still pending, was released on KD 2000 (approx USD 
6,800) in February and a travel ban remains in place against 
him. 
 
The Problems With The Judicial System 
------------------------------------- 
 
10. (C) Al-Munawer said Kuwait's legal system was relatively 
good, and judges were, to a great extent, independent, but 
policies and procedures were not applied well.  He recounted 
how Justice Minister Ahmed Baqer made a statement following 
the January 10 shoot-out in Maidan Hawalli promising that the 
investigators would work closely with the Public Prosecutor's 
office.  "I was horrified because they should not work 
together," he said, expressing concern that the Prosecutor's 
office might improperly influence the investigation.  In 
addition, Al-Munawer said the Higher Judiciary Council (HJC) 
has been known to reward members of the Public Prosecution 
for bringing certain cases to trial.  In one case, he 
explained, the HJC awarded KD 200,000 to public prosecutors 
who brought to trial the case of two Kuwaiti youths suspected 
of attempting to bomb an Israeli trade office in Qatar. 
 
11. (C) Commenting further on the judicial system, he said 
that while he could not rule out the presence of a bias among 
judges, he has never seen an example of such corruption.  He 
said that there were more Kuwaiti judges than non-Kuwaitis 
and that the Kuwaitis were harsher in their verdicts.  He 
insisted that contrary to accusations of judicial leniency, 
there have been several convicted militants who received long 
sentences.  Among these militants, he named Sami Al-Mutairi, 
the January 2003 Camp Doha shooter who received 15 years for 
killing an American contractor and wounding another; Abdulla 
Al-Shimmari, who was sentenced on May 8 to eight years 
(although Al-Munawer said Al-Shimmari received 15 years); and 
another Kuwaiti he claimed received capital punishment. 
 
12. (C) When asked whether he thought the judicial system 
responds more harshly to anti-Islamic statements than to 
weapons trafficking or terror-related activities, Al-Munawer 
said he wasn't sure but that he does know that in the Kuwaiti 
system there is a three-year sentence for an illegal weapons 
offense and a five-year sentence for "encroaching upon the 
honor of Prophet Mohammed."  He said that Dr. Ahmed 
Al-Baghdadi's recent one-year sentence (under appeal now) for 
insulting Islam (ref. c) was "light" and stated that Yasser 
Al-Habib, the Shi'ite convicted in absentia of insulting the 
Companions of the Prophet (refs. e and f), had "encroached 
upon the honor of Prophet Mohammed." 
 
Criticism For The GOK 
--------------------- 
 
13. (C) Indirectly criticizing Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah 
Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Al-Munawer said democracy "is practiced 
everywhere in Kuwait -- superficially."  He said that one 
need only look at the actions of "the ones in power for the 
last two years" to see that the GOK does not believe in 
democracy.  He accused the GOK of detaining "innocent" 
people, harassing them, and then releasing them because there 
is not enough evidence to prosecute them. 
 
14. (C) Al-Munawer said the GOK charges that the 
recently-declared Hezb Al-Ummah party is working to topple 
the regime "are a farce" and the GOK is "pushing towards a 
dark tunnel."  Remarking on the newly-formed party's agenda 
(ref. d) he said "they ask for the rotation of power and are 
charged with trying to topple the regime? Unbelievable!" 
 
Bio Note 
--------- 
 
15. (SBU) Osama Al-Munawer holds a B.A. in Law from Kuwait 
University and works at the law firm of his father, Ahmed H. 
Al-Munawer.  He is a member of the Al-Rushaida tribe, speaks 
very little English, and looks to be in his mid-30s.  During 
the occupation of Kuwait, he spent time in Egypt preparing 
for the eventual liberation of Kuwait, where he trained with 
U.S. forces.  He entered Kuwait with Egyptian forces in 1991. 
Two of his maternal uncles are former Islamist MP Mubarak 
Al-Duwaila and current defense attorney for controversial 
conservative political 'party' Hezb Al-Ummah, Nasser 
Al-Duwaila. 
 
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