US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI3043

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003043 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI AND NEA/PI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2015 
TAGS: KDEM, PGOV, ECON, KPAO, PREL, XF, KMPI, TC, Reform, MEPI 
SUBJECT: UAE DEMOCRATIC REFORM STRATEGY:  QUARTERLY 
PROGRESS REPORT 
 
REF: A) ABU DHABI 2173 B) ABU DHABI 2945 C) ABU DHABI 
     2946 D) ABU DHABI 2947 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison, reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d). 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  Since the May 16 submission of the UAE 
democratic reform strategy (ref A), visiting DOS and embassy 
officials have highlighted the need for greater public 
participation with President Khalifa, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince 
Mohammed bin Zayed, MinState Foreign Affairs Hamdan bin 
Zayed, Al Ain's Sheikh Tahnoon as well as with civil society 
interlocutors.  In addition, we are working through MEPI to 
support drafting of a new media law.  We have also raised 
transparency issues with senior UAEG officials and noted 
greater UAEG emphasis on information outreach with regard to 
the census and FTA.  We have made inroads in discussing 
training opportunities for public prosecutors and other legal 
professionals.  Nonetheless, the pace of political reform in 
UAE remains modest.  End summary. 
 
2.  (C)  Representative Government: 
 
The visit of NEA PDAS Liz Cheney to the UAE June 25-27 
presented an opportunity for the embassy to engage the senior 
UAE leadership in discussions of political reform.  Cheney 
discussed reform with the President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa 
bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of State for 
Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Minister of 
Education Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, and Minister 
of Labor Dr. Al Kaabi.  Cheney also met Abu Dhabi Crown 
Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Minister of Information Sheikh 
Abdullah bin Zayed during a July 1 meeting in Paris and 
raised reform themes.  During the meetings, Cheney emphasized 
that to fully empower its citizens, the UAE Government needed 
to guarantee political freedom and democracy, and also boost 
economic development.  She encouraged the Emiratis to pursue 
political, educational and social reform.  Sheikh Hamdan told 
Cheney that the UAE leadership was committed to political 
reform, but would need time to increase public awareness 
about the coming changes.  Cheney said the U.S. understood 
that each country would move at its own pace, but stressed 
the importance of moving.  Ambassador also met July 9 with 
the Ruler's Representative to the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi 
Emirate, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, to discuss 
political reform in the UAE, among other topics.  Sheikh 
Tahnoon assured Ambassador that representative government and 
elections "were coming" to the UAE, but declined to set a 
timeline. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Civil Society Development:  During the visit of 
PDAS Cheney, Ambassador hosted a dinner for 12 prominent 
Emirati civil society leaders, including NGO activists, 
women's group activists, academics, business reps, and media. 
 Discussion ranged from benefits of the FTA to women's 
development.  Some interlocutors said Emiratis needed to be 
educated about their civic responsibilities before trying to 
push for a democratically elected government.  Addressing USG 
efforts to encourage political reform in the UAE, President 
of the UAE Businesswomen's Association Raja Al Gurg and 
others expressed concerns about "trying to run before they 
could walk."  They said citizens need to understand the 
responsibilities that go with democracy before participating 
in elections, or else a corrupt or pandering government would 
be elected.  Cheney responded that the USG considered 
elections a necessary but not sufficient condition for 
democracy, and she fully supported efforts at building civil 
society and institutions associated with public participation 
in government.  Noting that the President had admitted the 
USG's error in supporting "stability over democracy" in its 
relations with the Arab world for the past 60 years, Cheney 
told the guests that this was no longer the case. 
 
4.  (U)  In addition, human rights activists Dr. Khalifa 
Bakhit Al Falasi and Dr. Ebtisam Al Kitbi have recently 
informed us of their hopes that the UAEG will authorize the 
country's first-ever human rights association before the end 
of the year.  Al Falasi and Al Kitbi are part of a group of 
about 30 activists who would form the backbone of the new 
association.  Both said the UAE needs a domestic human rights 
monitoring organization that can complement the work of the 
State Department.  The UAEG is also studying whether to 
authorize a second human rights association that has a 
moderate Islamic leadership.  Al Falasi and Al Kitbi note 
that the UAE's Associations Law stipulates that the Ministry 
of Labor and Social Affairs has a month from the date of 
application to recognize and clear an application, but a 
decision is months overdue.  We will continue to raise this 
issue with UAEG interlocutors. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Media Reform: 
 
At embassy's request, MEPI has offered to fund a U.S. 
media-related legal expert to provide the UAE Journalists 
Association with assistance in drafting recommendations to 
the UAEG for the draft of a new media law.  PA staff met with 
the head of the Journalists Association to explain how this 
proposal can help the Association to compare media-related 
laws from other countries and to draft or review language for 
submission to Ministry of Information.  The Journalists 
Association will accept offer and MEPI is moving forward to 
identify appropriate media-related law expert.  In addition, 
the May workshop for Arab Female Journalists brought together 
22 journalists and educators for a three-day training 
program.  The workshop introduced participants to strategies 
for effective use of the internet and how to use technology 
such as blogging to break the social and cultural barriers 
which have impeded the progress of women. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Transparency: 
 
Ambassador raised the issue of government transparency with 
Hafsa Al Ulama, the UAE's lead on its national census and 
Assistant U/S at the Ministry of Economy on July 5.  Al Ulama 
noted that the Ministry has created an independent website 
that will post information about the census and results, once 
the data are available.  She also said that the Ministry has 
established a hotline for people to call to find out 
information about the census.  Recognizing that many 
expatriate workers do not speak English or Arabic, the 
hotline messages are in Hindi, Malayalam, Arabic, and 
English.  Ambassador noted the value of such transparency and 
public outreach in the UAEG decision-making and policymaking 
process. 
 
7.  (SBU)  The UAEG has also been actively engaging in 
high-level outreach to the press and UAE business community 
on the benefits of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the 
United States in an effort to ensure that the public is more 
informed about both the benefits of an FTA and progress on 
the negotiations.  Minister of Economy and Planning Sheikha 
Lubna Al Qasimi and Minister of State for Finance and 
Industry Dr. Mohammed Khalfan bin Khirbash (the co-chairs of 
the UAE FTA negotiating team) have both issued prominent 
press releases in May and June lauding the expected economic 
benefits the UAE would experience from an U.S./UAE FTA, and 
they have held meetings with key private-sector stakeholders 
to garner their support for an FTA with the United States. 
Sheikha Lubna and Dr. Khirbash also held a Digital Video 
Conference on June 27 with USTR to review progress of the 
negotiating subgroups since the conclusion of the second 
round of negotiations in early May.  The teams discussed the 
Market Access, IPR, Telecom, Services, Financial Services, 
and Investment chapters, and both sides agreed that the DVC 
served as a catalyst to further move the negotiations closer 
to closure.  It concluded with the commitment to hold a third 
in-person round either end of September or early October. 
 
8.  (SBU)  Long Term Effort -- Justice Reform: 
 
Resident Legal Advisor has met with the Abu Dhabi Attorney 
General, representatives from the Dubai Public Prosecutor's 
Office, officials in the Ministry of Interior, and Central 
Bank to discuss training opportunities. 
SISON