US embassy cable - 05MANAMA1132

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001132 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR PDAS CHENEY, DAS CARPENTER, ARPI, PI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KDEM, KMPI, KPAO, BA 
SUBJECT: PARALLEL CONFERENCES SEEK TO COMPLEMENT--AND 
COMPETE WITH--THE NOVEMBER FORUM FOR THE FUTURE 
 
REF: MANAMA 1094 
 
Classified By: CDA Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  The November 7-8 Parallel Conference of the 
Forum for the Future (PCFF) will bring together civil society 
(CS) organizations from the BMENA region and the G8 to 
discuss common issues.  The GOB has said that it will support 
the PCFF only if its agenda does not overlap with the four 
BMENA Civil Society Dialogue thematic meetings sponsored by 
Bahrain, the U.S., the UK, and Qatar, which it strongly 
supports.  PCFF organizers hope that they will be allowed to 
present to ministers at the Noveber 11-12 G8-BMENA Forum for 
the Future.  Other local Bahraini activists are considering a 
"second parallel conference" to discuss local issues, and may 
stage public protests.  End summary. 
 
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PARALLEL CONFERENCE OF THE FORUM FOR THE FUTURE 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
2.  (U) NEA/PI TDYer and Poloff met with Abdulnabi Al Ekry, 
coordinator of the Parallel Conference of the Forum for the 
Future, which will take place November 7-8 (reftel).  Al Ekry 
is a member of the Bahrain Human Rights Society, but is 
organizing the PCFF in his personal capacity.  He reported 
that the PCFF agenda will include six items: 
 
      1.  Sustainable development 
      2.  Reform, democracy, and human rights 
      3.  Toward a stable and peaceful region (regional 
conflicts, nonproliferation) 
      4.  Women,s issues:  empowerment and political 
participation 
      5.  Youth 
      6.  Relationship between G8 and BMENA (including trade, 
culture, technology transfer) 
 
Al Ekry said that GOB officials have questioned the need for 
the PCFF.  He said he explained that while participants in 
the Civil Society Dialogue thematic meetings would be 
selected by the governments, a wider group of NGOs would 
participate in the PCFF (the organizers are planning for 105 
non-Bahraini participants) and a wider range of topics 
discussed.  He said that the committee had applied to the GOB 
for financial support but would not ask for a permit to meet 
because the committee is not registered.  He said he has 
approached European governments for funding and is interested 
in applying for MEPI funds.  He is asking G8 governments to 
persuade the GOB not to put obstacles in the way of the 
meeting, and welcomed U.S. suggestions of NGOs to invite. 
 
3.  (U) At the G8-BMENA Forum, Al Ekry envisions a small 
delegation from the PCFF presenting to ministers, along with 
representatives of the 4 civil society thematic meetings.  He 
said that the GOB has said they may support this approach, 
although he said the GOB and UK Ambassador in Bahrain have 
emphasized that the PCFF should not duplicate the thematic 
meetings.  He agreed with that approach, and said that to 
avoid duplication the PCFF will not discuss women,s economic 
empowerment and that transparency will not be a separate 
agenda item. 
 
4.  (C) In a conversation with Charge, Shaikh Abdulaziz bin 
Mubarak Al Khalifa, MFA Assistant U/S for Coordination and 
Follow-Up, confirmed that the GOB would support the PCFF only 
if the issues it considered are "BMENA themes" and are 
different from those discussed at the CS thematic meetings 
sponsored by Bahrain, Qatar, the U.S., and the UK.  He said 
that he might raise the potential participation by the PCFF 
at the Forum at the planning meeting in London on September 9. 
 
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A SECOND PARALLEL CONFERENCE, AND POTENTIAL PROTESTS 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
5.  (C) Separately, some local political societies are 
considering holding a "second parallel conference" and public 
protests that would focus on Bahrain-specific issues.  Jasim 
Al-Ajmi of the Bahrain Transparency Society told NEA/PI TDYer 
and Poloff that the organizers include the now-closed Bahrain 
Center for Human Rights, the Cairo Center for Human Rights, 
religious groups, and the Bahrain Committee on the 
Unemployed.  Both Al-Ajmi and PCFF organizer Al Ekry said 
that they planned to meet with organizers to discourage them 
from a second parallel conference and protests.  MFA's Shaikh 
Abdulaziz told Charge that the GOB would not support the 
meeting because focusing on one country's issues runs 
contrary to the BMENA initiative, which is region-wide.  The 
GOB sees the Forum as an opportunity for Bahrain to showcase 
its reform efforts, and would not support events that would 
embarrass it. 
 
6.  (C)  In a press conference on July 28, Shaikh Abdulaziz 
was quoted as saying that Bahraini authorities would not 
allow demonstrations during the Forum because "such 
activities are against the spirit of the Forum itself ... 
which is focused on the issues of the greater Middle East, 
and is not a forum for local issues."  Speaking later to 
Charge, he said that the GOB expected demonstrations and that 
he did not believe that any peaceful march would be 
prohibited.  However, he said that the GOB would not support 
protests by the societies organizing the "second parallel 
conference" on Bahrain's or any other country's issues. 
 
7.  (U) Minimize considered. 
ZIADEH