US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI3220

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI AND L/LEI - DENISE MANNING 
 
JUSTICE FOR DAAG - BRUCE SWARTZ 
OIA - MOLLY WARLOW AND DAVID WARNER 
OPDAT - CARL ALEXANDER AND JAMES SILVERWOOD 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS:  KJAN, KJUS, PGOV, KTFN, SOCI, TC 
SUBJECT:  UAE JUDICIAL COOPERATION WITH THE EUROPEANS 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary.  The UAE does not have a robust judicial 
cooperation relationship with the U.S. or European 
countries.  The Ministry of Justice would like to sign bi- 
lateral judicial cooperation treaties with the U.S. and is 
holding the judicial cooperation relationship hostage in 
order to make progress on negotiations. In an effort to 
gain perspective on the currently stagnant U.S./UAE 
judicial relationship, Embassy's Resident Legal Advisor 
(RLA) met with French, Canadian, and Australian officials 
to discuss the nature of UAE judicial cooperation with 
their respective countries. The French have been 
negotiating three judicial cooperation treaties with the 
UAE since 2001; the second formal round of negotiations 
was held on July 4th-6th in Abu Dhabi though little 
progress was made. The UAE responds well to French 
requests for fugitive returns but France has not received 
a response to a request for evidence in several years. The 
French provide substantial training to the UAE in the 
areas of law enforcement and justice. There are very few 
judicial requests between Canada and the UAE. Canada 
intends to provide money laundering training in the 
September. While there are few requests between Australia 
and the UAE, the UAEG is generally unresponsive to the few 
official requests made and has insisted on bi-lateral 
judicial cooperation treaties before future assistance 
will be given. Both Canada and Australia are considering 
the negotiation of bi-lateral judicial cooperation 
treaties with the UAE.  On July 20, a Ministry of Justice 
representative told RLA that the UAE just signed three 
draft bi-lateral treaties with Azerbaijan. End summary. 
 
French/UAE Treaty Negotiations Moving Forward Slowly 
--------------------------------------------- -------/ 
 
2. (SBU) RLA met with Colonel Bernard Vingtdeux at the 
French Embassy on July 9 to discuss the French-UAE bi- 
lateral judicial cooperation relationship. Colonel 
Vingtdeux said that the UAE and France have been 
negotiating three treaties since 2001: extradition, mutual 
legal assistance and prisoner transfer. The first round of 
negotiations was in 2001 and, since that time, the two 
countries have been negotiating via diplomatic note -- to 
which the UAE has been slow to respond. He added that 
there have been difficulties with translations. 
 
3. (SBU) According to Vingtdeux, the second round of 
negotiations went smoothly but the talks did not progress 
beyond discussion of the mutual legal assistance treaty. 
UAE Ministry of Justice (MOJ) representatives raised 
concerns (without providing specifics) about engaging in 
an agreement to provide bank documents and said that this 
provision would have to be discussed at the next round of 
negotiations. No time has been set for the next round. The 
issue of the death penalty was briefly touched upon, but 
according to Vingtdeux, the UAE delegation did not appear 
to understand the need for death penalty assurances in the 
extradition context.  Vingtdeux assessed that the UAE is 
not anxious to conclude these treaties quickly, and he 
said it has not expressed an interest in concluding all 
three simultaneously. UAE officials have not told France 
that treaties are necessary for the execution of future 
requests. 
 
French/UAE Judicial Cooperation, Training 
-----------------------------------------/ 
 
4. (SBU) France has experienced positive cooperation from 
the UAE on extradition requests, but not on other judicial 
matters.  The UAE has returned three French citizens to 
France in the last four years. (Note: the French have not 
requested the return of a non-French national.) On the 
other hand, the UAE has not responded to French letters of 
request in three or four years. The French currently have 
twelve requests pending in the UAE. Vingtdeux reports that 
they have had particular difficulty when the request 
involves bank records, even when the Embassy pursues the 
request vigorously. 
 
5. (SBU) The UAE Ministry of Interior frequently requests 
training and the French provide at least thirty law 
enforcement training conferences a year with approximately 
50 French officers traveling to the UAE annually to 
participate. In addition, the UAE sends officers to France 
for training. In 2002, the French government provided 
money-laundering training to representatives from the 
Central Bank and the Ministries of Interior and Justice. 
The French government will be providing similar money 
laundering training in September. The Abu Dhabi Judicial 
Institute receives training from the French National 
School for Judges in Bordeaux. The French Embassy does not 
have frequent contact with the Central Bank. 
 
Canadian/UAE Judicial Cooperation, Training 
-------------------------------------------/ 
 
6. (SBU) On July 10, RLA met with Dennis O'Byrne Liaison, 
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Liaison Office, Consulate of 
Canada.  Mr. O'Byrne said that there are few bi-lateral 
judicial requests between Canada and the UAE. He noted 
that the last fugitive return from the UAE to Canada was 
in January 2004 and took a long time to execute. The UAEG 
did not require an extradition treaty in order to execute 
the request but they did request the return of a UAE 
fugitive from Canada. However, the Canadian Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Department of Justice were not able to 
return the fugitive. The Canadian Department of Justice is 
in the process of considering the negotiation of bi- 
lateral judicial cooperation treaties with the UAE. 
 
7. (SBU) In early June, at the request of the Ministry of 
Interior, the Canadians submitted a law enforcement money 
laundering training/counter terrorist financing course 
proposal to be held in Abu Dhabi from September 11-21. The 
UAE Ministry of Interior has not yet responded to the 
offer. The course is entitled "Proceeds of Crime and 
Terrorist Financing Investigative Techniques." If it is 
held, three investigators and one coordinator will travel 
from Canada to present the course. According to O'Byrne, 
while Canada enjoys excellent relations with the Ministry 
of Interior in terms of training development, working with 
the Abu Dhabi Police has been frustrating because of their 
inability to articulate their training needs. A nine 
person delegation from the Central Bank, as well as law 
enforcement representatives, traveled to Canada last month 
to learn more about Canadian counter money laundering 
procedures. The Central Bank has asked Canada to provide 
additional training on this topic as well. The Canadian 
Department of Justice has no training programs planned at 
this time. 
 
Australian/UAE Judicial Cooperation, Training 
--------------------------------------------- / 
 
8. (SBU) On July 10, RLA met with David Hall, Senior 
Police Liaison, Australian Consulate General. Hall said 
that Australian letters of requests are rarely, if ever, 
executed--even in terrorism matters. The UAE has deported 
several Australians in the past but not in response to a 
fugitive return request.  Hall said that law enforcement 
cooperation is somewhat better but not consistent.  The 
UAEG has stated that judicial cooperation treaties must be 
in place before it will provide future cooperation. 
Australia is currently considering the negotiation of 
judicial cooperation treaties. The UAE has requested 
training in a number of areas and, while no training is 
currently planned, Australia does intend to provide it. 
 
9. (SBU) On July 20, RLA spoke with a Ministry of Justice 
representative who said that the UAE just concluded three 
days of treaty negotiations with Azerbaijan. The countries 
signed draft agreements on extradition, mutual legal 
assistant in criminal, civil and commercial matters. 
10. (SBU) Comment: It is useful to note the state of play 
between the UAEG and other governments on judicial 
cooperation in comparison with our own USG experience. 
From October 2004 to January 2005, the UAEG returned five 
U.S. requests for assistance in returning fugitives to the 
United States to face criminal charges. The UAEG indicated 
that it was not taking the requested action because of the 
lack of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) or other 
understanding with respect to the principles of 
reciprocity. Embassy continues to underscore to the UAEG 
that the U.S. and the UAE have a shared history of 
providing assistance in criminal matters and that our 
desire is to ensure that this relationship continues--with 
or without an MLAT. End Comment. 
SISON