US embassy cable - 05MANAMA921

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000921 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, S/WCI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2015 
TAGS: KAWC, PREL, PTER, BA 
SUBJECT: DIPLOMATIC NOTE ON GTMO DETAINEES 
 
REF: A. MANAMA 880 
 
     B. STATE 97796 
     C. MANAMA 621 
 
Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
1.  (U) The Embassy received the following diplomatic note 
number 19/1/5-46123 dated June 26, 2005 from the MFA. 
 
Begin Text of Diplomatic Note: 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain 
presents it complements the Embassy of the United States of 
America and has the honor to refer to the continued detention 
by the United States of six Bahraini citizens at Guantanamo 
Bay, Cuba, namely Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Bin Mohammed Al 
Khalifa, Issa Ali Abdullah Al Murbati, Juma Mohammed Abdul 
Latif Al Dosari, Abdullah Majed Al Noaimi, Salah Abdul Rasool 
Al Baloushi, and Adel Kamel Abdualla Hajee. 
 
As the Embassy will doubtless be aware, this issue continues 
to be of great concern to the leadership, government, and 
people of Bahrain. The session of the Council of 
Representatives on 14 June 2005 highlighted once again this 
concern, reflected also in the continued coverage of the 
issue in Bahrain's media. Moreover, the matter is of great 
personal concern to Bahrain's leadership. 
 
The Kingdom of Bahrain therefore maintains its strong desire 
to see the release and repatriation of the above individuals, 
and reiterates its readiness to take all necessary measures 
to ensure the full rehabilitation of these individuals, and 
their full reintegration into society. 
 
In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to 
point out the following: 
 
1. All investigations, both within Bahrain and by the 
delegations sent by the Government to Guantanamo, have found 
no evidence of criminality for any of the above-mentioned 
detainees. Nor has any evidence been found that such 
individuals possessed weapons, were involved in terrorism, or 
took part in any attack against the United States or its 
interests abroad. 
 
2. The Government has found no serious allegations against 
any of the Bahraini detainees, and is unaware of any specific 
allegations having been made by the United States 
authorities. Nevertheless, all six remain in detention, and 
two are believed to be held in solitary confinement. 
 
3. According to the information in the media, Juma Mohammed 
Abdul Latif Al Dosari has been subjected to physical and 
mental mistreatment and abuse, which has caused him both 
physical and psychological harm. Moreover, Mr. Al Dosari's 
well-being has been further affected by the news that his 
father is seriously ill. Requests for information in this 
regard by Bahrain's Embassy in Washington, D.C., have not 
been answered by the United States government. 
 
4. It was revealed in December 2004 that two Bahraini 
detainees were to be released from Guantanamo. To date, 
however, no further action has been taken. 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore has the honor to 
request that the Embassy bring this matter, and the above 
issues, to the urgent attention of the concerned authorities 
in the United States government, reflecting the high priority 
given to the issue by Bahrain and its people. 
 
The Ministry further requests the United States government to 
provide information on the detention of the above-mentioned 
six individuals, their current status, and on the progress 
being made towards their release and repatriation. In light 
of the allegations of mistreatment, the Ministry also seeks 
recent medical reports on all six detainees. 
 
In light of the historic, close and friendly relations 
between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States of 
America, and in particular their close and ongoing 
cooperation to maintain international peace and security and 
to fight against terrorism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
looks forward to receiving an early and positive response to 
the above requests. 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain 
avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Embassy of 
the United States of America the assurances of its highest 
consideration. 
 
End Text. 
 
2.  (C) Comment:  This diplomatic note is the result of the 
government's publicly stated agreement to push harder for the 
detainees' release through diplomatic channels following the 
June 13-15 visit of two American attorneys from law firm 
Dorsey and Whitney, which represents the detainees on a 
pro-bono basis (Ref A).  With regard to point three above, 
the Ambassador briefed Minister of State for Foreign 
Affairs/Information Minister Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar 
informally on the medical condition of detainee Al Dosari in 
November 2004 with information provided by DOD through S/WCI. 
 On point four, the Bahraini media published comments from 
Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa in 
December 2004 that two detainees would be released.  We do 
not know the source of Shaikh Mohammed's information that 
releases were coming; the Embassy never delivered such a 
message. 
 
3.  (C) Comment continued:  The Embassy reiterates Ref A 
action request for points we could use publicly and with the 
GOB to push back on the point that the detainees are innocent 
and wrongly held.  By not commenting directly on the 
detainees, we have in effect ceded the ground to those who 
claim they are innocent. 
 
MONROE