US embassy cable - 05SINGAPORE3146

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 003146 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, SN 
SUBJECT: MUSLIM RELIGIOUS TEACHERS TRYING TO REEDUCATE JI 
DETAINEES 
 
REF: SINGAPORE 3077 
 
Classified By: EP Counselor Laurent Charbonnet, Reasons 1.4(b)(d) 
 
1. (C/NF) Summary: Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs 
Minister Wong Kan Seng has for the first time publicly 
thanked Muslim religious leaders trying to reeducate 
suspected Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorists detained under 
Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA).  The head of the 
Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) later told us the 
process is slowly "succeeding," but is a long-term effort 
that may not work with all the detainees.  Minister in Charge 
of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim said the rehabilitation 
effort is vital in combating Islamic terrorism, so that 
Muslims who have gone astray know they can return to the 
"right path."  Having independent religious leaders 
corroborate that the detainees are indeed terrorists linked 
to Al-Qaeda was key to winning Muslim community support for 
their detentions, according to Ibrahim. End Summary. 
 
Religious Rehabilitation Group Volunteers 
----------------------------------------- 
 
2. (C/NF) At a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner on October 17, 
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng 
publicly honored the Muslim religious teachers (ustaz) 
working to reeducate the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) detainees and 
their families.  Media reports revealed to the general public 
for the first time the work of the Religious Rehabilitation 
Group (RRG), whose activities have gradually been shared with 
expanding numbers of Muslim leaders over the past two years. 
These initial press accounts named only the directors of the 
RRG, Ustaz Ali of Khadijah Mosque and Ustaz Mohamed Hasbi, 
the head of the Islamic Religious Teachers' Association of 
Singapore (PERGAS).  The approximately 30 other religious 
counselors were not identified to protect them and their 
families, according to Muslim reporters covering the story 
and Minister in Charge of Muslim Affairs Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim. 
A subsequent story and photo in the Malay-language newspaper 
Berita Harian on October 21 revealed the identities of 
several other volunteers, to the dismay of at least one of 
the clerics pictured. 
 
3. (C/NF) Note: The GOS has protected the identities of these 
clerics extraordinarily carefully, until now.  Permanent 
Secretary of Home Affairs Benny Lim claimed to S/CT 
 
SIPDIS 
Ambassador Crumpton on October 19 that the clerics had become 
more comfortable with public acknowledgment of their role 
(reftel).  Ustaz Ali told us he believes that the detainees 
were unquestionably linked to Al-Qaeda and they still have 
some sympathizers within the community, a statement with 
which Minister Yaacob did not disagree. This could explain 
the lingering hesitancy to identify any but the leaders of 
the RRG.  End note. 
 
4. (C/NF) Ustaz Ali, Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Haji Alami Musa, 
President of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore 
(MUIS), and Feisal, another volunteer counselor (please 
protect all), later privately outlined the work of the RRG to 
us.  Dr. Yaacob explained that after the JI arrests in 
December 2001, Ustaz Ali and several other religious leaders 
offered to reeducate the detainees with "proper" Islamic 
knowledge.  Ustaz Ali recruited other volunteers, most of 
whom had received their post-secondary religious education 
throughout the Muslim world (including Saudi Arabia); they 
ranged from older, senior clerics like Ustaz Ali (who sits on 
the MUIS council and is a past president of PERGAS) to young 
men in their 30s like Feisal.  (Comment: Previously, the 
Internal Security Department (ISD) told us that these 
religious leaders demanded access to the detainees after 
their arrests to ensure they were not being falsely accused 
or ill-treated.  After meeting with the detainees, according 
to ISD, the clerics said "they're crazy" and volunteered to 
correct their misunderstandings of Islam. End comment.) 
 
RRG's Program 
------------- 
 
5. (C/NF) For the past couple of years, the volunteers have 
been working with the detainees about two hours each day in 
their cells to understand their terrorist ideology and 
replace it with proper Islamic knowledge, according to Ustaz 
Ali.  The volunteers have compiled an English-language manual 
that outlines the detainees' ideology and provides Islamic 
arguments against terrorism.  Ustaz Ali said the detainees 
had memorized all the Koranic passages advocating violent 
jihad, but had been ignorant of other passages commanding 
inter-faith harmony, which the volunteers teach them. 
 
6. (C/NF)  The GOS and Malay/Muslim community members are 
working hard to ensure the detainees do not come to be viewed 
as martyrs.  Malay/Muslim community groups are providing 
financial assistance, job training, and educational support 
to the detainees' families, which helps keep the JI 
detentions from alienating the Malay/Muslim population, 
according to Haji Alami.  RRG counselors are teaching the 
detainees' families about Islam, to keep them from becoming a 
new generation of terrorists.  In the hope that terrorists' 
misinterpretations of Islam don't take root in the larger 
Muslim community, RRG members are giving public talks on 
issues such as the meaning of jihad in Islam, and MUIS is 
revamping Singapore's Islamic education system. 
 
7. (C/NF) To stop terrorism, it is important to give Muslims 
who go down the wrong path hope that they can be reeducated 
and return to society, Dr. Yaacob said.  Singaporean Muslims, 
especially religious leaders, need to hear from these clerics 
that the detainees are indeed terrorists and the GOS acted 
correctly in arresting them, he added. 
 
Results 
------- 
 
8. (C/NF) Ustaz Ali and Feisal claimed that the reeducation 
is going well.  Feisal commented that his detainee, who 
originally denounced him as a "government lapdog," now "looks 
forward" to his visits.  The detainees who have been released 
are attending mosques (where they hear RRG-style Islamic 
teaching), rather than studying and worshipping apart from 
the community as before, said Dr. Yaacob.  This will be a 
slow process taking years, and some detainees (like the 
"Emir", the ringleader, with whom Ustaz Ali has worked) "will 
never be rehabilitated," Ustaz Ali and Dr. Yaacob 
acknowledged. 
 
9. (C/NF) Comment: The GOS seeks to convince its Muslim 
minority that its counterterrorism actions are not directed 
against Singapore's Muslim community or Islam, per se, and to 
reassure non-Muslim Singaporeans of the Malay community's 
loyalty.  Recent bombings in London and Bali and continued 
violence in southern Thailand have rattled nerves here and 
may have motivated the GOS to show both Muslim and non-Muslim 
citizens that Singapore's Muslim religious leaders support 
the GOS' approach to counterterrorism and that the Muslim 
community is helping police itself.  End comment. 
FERGIN