US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI4113

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 004113 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI, AND NEA/PI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2015 
TAGS: KDEM, PREL, PGOV, KPAO, KMPI, TC 
SUBJECT: UAE REFORM STRATEGY: SECOND QUARTERLY UPDATE 
 
REF: A. ABU DHABI 3043 
     B. ABU DHABI 2173 
     C. STATE 152459 
     D. ABU DHABI 3700 
     E. ABU DHABI 3241 
     F. ABU DHABI 3546 
     G. ABU DHABI 3877 
     H. STATE 80607 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1.(C) Summary: Since the July 5 submission of the first 
quarterly UAE Democratic Reform Strategy update (ref A), 
there has been movement in several areas of our reform 
strategy (ref B), and several positive developments in the 
reform arena broadly speaking.  During the period July 
1-September 30, UAEG leaders have noted in private 
conversations with the Secretary and the Ambassador to 
announce election plans for either municipal councils or the 
Federal National Council before the end of this calendar 
year, although there are some within the UAEG who have cast 
doubt on this timetable.  Encouraging developments are taking 
place in the area of labor rights, including changes in 
sponsorship regulations, elimination of a six-month mandatory 
immigration ban, and permission for workers who are owed back 
salaries to change sponsors.  We are still not seeing 
tangible progress on the adoption of either an NGO or labor 
law, although UAEG officials tell us that the process is 
steadily moving forward.  Similarly, the UAEG has yet to take 
a decision on whether to allow the establishment of one or 
more human rights NGOs. 
 
2.(C) Summary (continued): On the media reform front, the 
Public Affairs Section and MEPI Regional Office launched a 
proposal in September to assist the UAE Journalists 
Association's (JA) drafting of a model media law for the 
UAEG's consideration.  If successful, the project will result 
in the UAEG's adoption of legislation that will closely 
reflect U.S. standards of press freedom laws and could serve 
as a model in the region.  With regard to progress on 
government transparency, there are still no formal, 
transparent mechanisms for the public to comment on draft 
legislation or proposed regulations.  However, there are 
public discussions about the impact of proposed new 
legislation, where stakeholders make their opinions known to 
the UAEG.  The UAEG is preparing for the electronic archiving 
of public records dating back to 1971.  Improving regulatory 
transparency is one of the issues for discussion in the FTA 
negotiations between the U.S. and the UAE. Finally, in the 
area of justice reform, the Dubai Attorney General has warmly 
welcomed an offer of DOJ training; the Attorney General of 
Abu Dhabi Emirate, however, has stated that there is no 
interest in USG training at this time.  End Summary. 
 
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Representative Government 
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3. (U) From September 25-28, the National Conference of State 
Legislatures (NCSL) offered training on bill drafting and 
committee operations to the staff of UAE's National 
Consultative Council, part of a program to enhance personnel 
functions and legislative procedures.  (Note: While NCSL has 
been a MEPI grantee, this particular UAE project is not 
through MEPI. End note) 
 
4. (C) Deputy Prime Minister/MinState for Foreign Affairs 
Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed (HbZ) told the Secretary August 15 
the UAE would soon implement plans for elections to local 
municipal councils and the Federal National Council (FNC) 
(ref C).  HbZ said that the UAE would announce plans for 
Emirati nationals, both men and women, to vote in municipal 
elections.  Subsequently, HbZ together with his brother, 
Information Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, told the 
Ambassador that plans for elections would be announced by 
year's end, but that the elections would be for either 
municipal councils or/or for the FNC, not both (ref D). 
However, a senior advisor to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed 
bin Zayed has voiced doubt privately that this announcement 
would take place that quickly. 
 
5. (C) In July, President Khalifa visited the Western Region 
of Abu Dhabi Emirate to meet with traditional rulers and to 
inform residents of future economic development plans (ref 
E).  Such public outreach is new in the UAE.  The Abu Dhabi 
Executive Council is working on a plan to improve services 
and infrastructure in the Western Region (ref F).  On 
September 26, the emirate opened a one-stop shop for 
government services in the Western Region that will enable 
the public to complete their transactions in minutes rather 
than weeks. 
 
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Civil Society Development 
------------------------- 
 
6. (C) No progress has been made on either the NGO or labor 
laws in the last three months, as the FNC is not in session. 
The Embassy has not seen draft language for either law.  The 
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs still must finalize a 
draft labor law, and the Cabinet and the Ministry of Justice, 
Islamic Affairs and Endowments have to approve it before it 
can go to the FNC.  The Ministry of Labor is consulting with 
the ILO on tactics for formulating a union law and practice 
that takes into account the demographics of the UAE (over 98 
percent of the private sector workforce is expatriate).  The 
labor law will now include a specific provision giving the 
Minister of Labor the discretion to issue a decree allowing 
labor unions (ref G). 
 
7. (C) In addition, the Ministry of Labor has moved to ease 
many of the most restrictive laws and regulations governing 
the expatriate labor market over the last few months to open 
the labor market and permit greater labor rights and mobility 
to expatriate workers in the UAE.  HbZ told the Secretary 
August 15 of the UAE's plans to allow the formation of labor 
unions.  Emirati citizens would enjoy full membership; 
expatriate workers would be allowed to participate but would 
not have full voting rights.  Besides bringing UAE labor laws 
closer to an international norm, the UAE is also offering 
expatriate workers more freedom to change employers without 
fear of labor or immigration consequences.  Major changes 
announced over the summer include: 
 
-- Allowing sponsorship transfer for all workers; 
-- Eliminating the six-month immigration ban for workers who 
change sponsors; 
-- Eliminating the corresponding no-objection letter that was 
previously required for a worker to change employment; 
-- Allowing workers who are owed three months of unpaid 
salaries or more to change sponsors; 
-- Increasing company fees for failing to cancel, change, or 
renew a worker's labor permit. 
 
8. (C) In a further move to introduce labor reforms, the 
Ministry of Labor is considering changing the civil service 
law to give broader accountability, and require employees to 
perform the services for which they are being paid.  The 
Emirate of Abu Dhabi's government has begun to "outsource" 
functions (such as street cleaning) to private sector 
companies in an effort to reduce its workforce.  According to 
Abu Dhabi Finance Department Under Secretary Hamad Al 
Suwaidi, the government is trying to both streamline and 
improve the quality of its workforce and the services it 
provides.  He said that both Emirati nationals and 
expatriates would be let go.  Nationals would be retrained 
and expatriates would be "appropriately compensated" for 
their services. 
 
9. (C) The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has yet to 
take a decision on the two organizations that have applied to 
become the UAE's first human-rights NGOs.  The mandated 
30-day timeframe for a decision regarding the approval of the 
organizations expired long ago.  This is an issue we intend 
to raise with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and 
ultimately with the UAEG leadership.  (Comment: The two 
organizations interested in becoming human rights NGOs have 
different political tendencies.  Based on what we know of the 
founding members of each organization, we would regard one as 
mainstream and the other as moderate Islamist.  End comment.) 
 
 
10. (U) In July, the federal Cabinet approved a draft 
Personal Status Law.  That law, which is awaiting approval by 
the FNC and the President, addresses the rights and status of 
women, as well as marriage, divorce, legal competence, 
guardianship, wills and inheritance, and endowments.  The law 
would give women the right to end their marriage after 
petitioning the Shari'a Court, paying compensation, or 
returning the dowry to husbands. 
 
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Media Reform 
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11. (C) Information Minister Sheikh Abdullah has indicated 
that he wants a law to better protect freedom of the press, 
and to that end has solicited input from the UAE Journalist 
Association (JA) on what a press freedom law should include. 
Embassy Public Affairs Section has worked closely with the JA 
to follow up.  The MEPI Regional Office has identified a U.S. 
law firm expert in media law, and has concluded an agreement 
for the firm to provide expert input on advice for the JA's 
drafting of a model law by December 2005.  The project will 
begin by September 30.  If fully successful, this program 
will lead to the UAEG adopting a media law that will more 
closely reflect U.S. standards of press freedom and serve as 
a model for media legislation in the region.  The program 
provides technical assistance to be completed by December 19, 
and follow-up consultation through September 2006. 
 
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Transparency 
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12. (C) No transparent mechanism for public comment on 
proposed legislation has been established and the UAE rarely 
makes draft legislation available.  There is, however, 
ongoing public debate about revisions of key laws, including 
the Labor Law and the UAE Companies Law.  In September 2005, 
the UAEG announced the creation of a series of documentation 
and archiving courses to be run by the Higher Colleges of 
Technology.  Dr. Abdullah Mohammed Al Reyes, President of the 
Arab Regional Branch of the International Council on 
Archives, said that these courses are necessary as the 
government needs to archive more than seven million official 
documents dating back to 1971.  Transparency issues are a 
major point of discussion in the U.S.-UAE FTA negotiations. 
 
13. (U) In August the UAE signed the United Nations 
Anti-Corruption Convention, which aims to regulate signatory 
nations' efforts to fight corruption.  According to a Gulf 
News article, the convention binds signatory nations to 
render specific forms of mutual legal assistance in gathering 
and transferring evidence for use in court and to extradite 
offenders.  Also in August, the Abu Dhabi Police Department 
issued a study on corruption in the UAE.  According to the 
study, "Administrative corruption poses a real threat. ... 
Rampant bribery, nepotism, embezzlement and abuse of power 
lead to the failure of development projects and hamper 
socioeconomic development."  The study called for introducing 
strict penalties and encouraged the UAE to adopt an 
integrated strategy for administrative reform to counter 
corruption.  In response to the report, the Abu Dhabi police 
set up a special anti-corruption unit. 
 
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Justice Reform 
-------------- 
 
14. (C) In September, Embassy's DOJ Resident Legal Advisor 
met with Dubai's newly appointed Attorney General to discuss 
training possibilities.  The Attorney General welcomed USG 
training, particularly in the area of cybercrime, pending 
cybercrime legislation coming into force and being made 
public.  In July, Resident Legal Advisor met with Abu Dhabi 
Attorney General who told her that his office was not 
interested in USG judicial training because the UAEG has a 
predominantly religious (Shari'a) legal system with a 
Napoleonic code-based system supplementing it.  As a result 
of meetings Resident Legal Advisor had with Central Bank 
authorities, the Department of Justice will be sponsoring an 
advanced financial crimes conference in November to improve 
investigative and prosecutorial skills in financial crime 
cases. 
 
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Other Reform Developments 
------------------------- 
 
15. (U) Both the Washington-based Heritage Foundation and the 
CATO Institute recently released reports ranking the UAE at 
the top of all Arab countries in economic freedoms, and in 
the top tier of all countries assessed for economic openness. 
 Last May, the UAE topped all Middle East countries on the 
World Bank's governance effectiveness list, which uses six 
determinants to measure governance: voice and accountability; 
political instability and violence; government effectiveness; 
regulatory burden; rule of law; and control of corruption. 
SISON