US embassy cable - 05MANAMA1742

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 001742 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD (RSMITH), S/WCI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, PREL, PGOV, BA, BILAT 
SUBJECT: Six Bahraini Guantanamo Detainees Made Media 
Darlings 
 
Ref (A): Manama 1553  Ref (B): Manama 1547 
 
1. Summary: The plight of six Bahraini detainees at 
Guantanamo Bay detention facilities has consumed the 
Bahraini media for months, building tensions with a series 
of published reports alleging sexual humiliation and other 
abuses catalogued in the journal writings of one of the 
detainees, Juma Al-Dossari.  On November 8, the Embassy 
issued a statement based on DoD guidance addressing some of 
the multitude of claims regarding Al-Dossari.  The November 
5 transfer to Bahrain of three of the detainees (Al-Dossari 
was not one of them) appears to have been well-received by 
the Bahraini public and opinion-leaders in the press, but 
accusations of abuse by Al-Dossari's lawyer and family 
continue to figure prominently, and a press conference by 
the three former detainees on November 17 highlighted 
allegations of torture and a possible lawsuit against the 
USG.  Columnists continue to pose the question of "When will 
the other's come back?" and will do so for the foreseeable 
future.  End Summary. 
 
2. The issue of six Bahrainis in detention at Guantanamo Bay 
has been a rallying point for local critics of the U.S.-led 
Global War on Terror, and the attention has transformed the 
six detainees into folk heroes of a sort.  The Government of 
Bahrain, under intense pressure from human rights groups, 
parliamentarians, and the Bahraini public, has faced sharp 
criticism for the continued incarceration of the "Bay 6". 
Negative commentary, like the following quote by Jaffar Al- 
Jamri, writing in the Arabic independent daily Al-Wasat, has 
been the norm. Al-Jamri criticized the government of Bahrain 
for "neglecting its detained sons in Guantanamo," adding, 
"Since the government forgot that it had sons there, who are 
being tortured day and night, it is the obligation of civil 
society institutions to push hard and put pressure locally 
and internationally to release all Bahraini detainees in 
Guantanamo." 
 
3. Following the transfer of three detainees to Bahrain 
November 5, the Government of Bahrain competed with human 
rights groups and parliamentarians to take credit for 
convincing the USG to release them.  The return occurred 
just weeks after a meeting between the Ambassador and the 
Bahrain Human Rights Watch regarding the detainees (Ref B). 
Both events were reflected positively in the press, but the 
honeymoon was short. 
 
4. Headlines November 6 transformed the three ex-detainees 
into hometown heroes.  The English government daily Bahrain 
Tribune ran a large photo of returned detainee Adel Kamel 
Haji surrounded by smiling young family members, with the 
headline "Home Sweet Home" and lead "The moment that all 
Bahrainis dreamed of, and which made it a truly joyous Eid 
for three families."  In other reports, Haji reported that 
the Pakistani Army sold the six Bahraini detainees to the 
Americans for $5,000 each.  He pointed out that they were 
all arrested at the Pakistani borders and he was not accused 
of any crime during detention in Guantanamo.   Other 
articles dwelled on the need for psychological 
rehabilitation following their "nightmare" at Guantanamo. 
Other articles following the release stressed that the three 
were released "as free men" after just a few hours of 
questioning by Bahraini prosecutors and were not charged 
with any crime. 
 
5. In other reports, President of Al-Menbar Islamic Society 
Dr. Salah Ali welcomed the release of three Bahraini 
detainees from Guantanamo prison but said that the joy would 
be meaningless until the other three detainees were 
released. 
 
6. Commentator Ahmed Kamal, in the pro-government Arabic 
daily Al-Ayam, writes: "The tragedy of the hundreds of 
detainees in Guantanamo, among them three Bahrainis, did not 
end with the release of the three Bahraini detainees. 
Guantanamo prison stands as a symbol of injustice and symbol 
of the American Administration arrogance.  America claims 
that it is fighting terrorism, but practices it every day on 
our brothers in Guantanamo.  This U.S. Administration is 
obsessed with control and hegemony." 
 
7. After the release of the three former detainees, a series 
of articles chronicling alleged abuses of one detainee still 
in detention continued unabated.  In the two months prior to 
the release, Arabic daily Akhbar Al-Khalij and its English 
sister paper Gulf Daily News printed a series of stories 
based on the journal writings of Juma Al-Dossari, in which 
it was alleged among many other things that Al-Dossari was 
offered sex for cooperation with interrogators, smeared with 
menstrual blood, forced to walk on broken glass, and fed 
bugs (Ref A).  Soon afterwards, the Washington Post 
chronicled an eye-witness account by Al-Dossari's lawyer of 
a suicide attempt by his client.  Court filings recently 
released (and published in the press) reported that Al- 
Dossari has made nine attempts on his own life, most 
recently on Nov. 15. 
 
8. On November 7, Al-Dossari's family speculated in the 
press that Al-Dossari's alleged suicide attempt was staged 
by U.S. authorities who had actually intended to murder him. 
Khalid Al-Dossari, brother of Al-Dossari, told Al-Ayam, "My 
brother was subjected to a murder attempt and I hold the 
American Administration responsible for this."  He alleged 
that Americans tried to kill Al-Dosari by slashing his arm 
and hanging him while his attorney was there to prove that 
it was a suicide attempt and that it happened in front of a 
witness. 
 
9. In response, based on guidance provided by the Department 
of Defense, the Embassy issued the following press release: 
 
Begin Nov 8 statement: 
--Some media outlets in Bahrain have recently published 
several false allegations about the treatment of detainees 
at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, including 
allegations regarding Juma Al-Dossari.  The United States 
Government takes all allegations of abuse seriously.  When a 
credible allegation of improper conduct surfaces, it is 
reviewed, and when factually warranted, investigated. As a 
result of the investigation, administrative, disciplinary, 
or judicial action is taken as appropriate. We have no 
evidence that substantiates that Mr. Al Dossari was the 
subject of any sexual humiliation at Guantanamo Bay. 
--The U.S. Government does not generally comment on the 
specific medical circumstances of any particular detainee. 
However, detainees at Guantanamo are treated humanely and 
receive excellent medical care. Many detainees arrived at 
Guantanamo with pre-existing physical and mental health 
problems. Detention facilities at Guantanamo provide 
detainees access to mental health experts and take any 
threat of injury or suicide seriously. 
--Allegations have been made that Al Dossari is being held 
in solitary confinement or isolation at Guantanamo. This is 
incorrect. Al Dossari interacts with other detainees during 
daily recreation and religious periods, and with U.S. 
personnel.  Furthermore, he can send and receive mail and be 
visited by his attorney. 
--There are no solitary confinement facilities at 
Guantanamo. While the conditions of detention at designated 
camps vary from communal to individual confinement, every 
detention facility at Guantanamo allows detainees the 
ability to communicate and pray with other detainees in 
their respective areas. 
 
Media Reaction to Embassy Statement 
----------------------------------- 
 
10. In response to the U.S. Embassy statement on Guantanamo 
detainees published prominently in Bahraini print media, 
Council of Representatives Deputy Mohamed Khalid (Muslim 
Brotherhood) told the Arabic daily Akhbar Al-Khalij on 
November 10 that "Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons are full 
of sexual humiliations and lack humanitarian treatment."  He 
condemned the Embassy statement and called on the Embassy to 
advise its Administration to improve its image in the world 
by shutting down Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons, which 
are similar to Nazi prisons.  "Only then the image of the 
American leadership would improve." 
 
11. Writing in the Arabic pro-government daily Al-Ayam, 
commentator Mohamed Al-Uthman characterized the embassy 
statement on the alleged abuses as a "hallucination."  He 
writes: "The U.S. Embassy thinks that we are stupid to 
believe its statement in which it claimed that the detainees 
received excellent medical care and were treated humanely. 
It seems that the Embassy forgot Amnesty International 
Reports and Human Rights Watch reports about torture in X- 
Ray camp."  He adds: "Your Excellency Ambassador Monroe, I 
intended to send you a letter of appreciation and gratitude 
on your efforts to release the three detainees but you 
spoiled our appreciation letter by sending a statement like 
this.  We hope that you reconsider the situation of the 
other three detainees and release them.  Only this will give 
some credibility to the human rights reports that are issued 
in Washington DC every year. We will not forget your 
cooperation to release three of the six Bahraini detainees 
but another three remain: they are Juma Al-Dosari, Salah Al- 
Belooshi and Essa Al-Merbati." 
 
The Continuing Saga 
------------------- 
12. On November 17, the three former detainees described in 
a press conference a number of alleged incidents at 
Guantanamo, including being made fun of by soldiers during 
their prayer activities, and one said he still had "the 
shoeprint of a soldier" on a page in his Quran.  Media also 
reported the three planned to sue the USG for torture and 
humiliation suffered at Guantanamo, but the next day a 
family member of one detainee called this report inaccurate. 
 
13. In press reports November 17, remaining detainees' 
lawyers described their clients' deteriorating physical 
condition from hunger strikes, and Al-Dossari's apparent 
self-inflicted condition.  According to these reports, at 
the last attorney-client meeting Al-Dossari appeared "in a 
wheel chair wearing a neck brace", that he was unable to 
stand, and appeared to be in agony with injuries on his face 
and hand.  Al-Wasat reported that a Bahraini delegation 
headed by MPs Mohammed Khalid and Nabeel Rajab and families 
of the remaining detainees would participate in a November 
19 London Conference entitled "The Global Struggle Against 
Torture" organized by Amnesty International.  At the 
Conference, Amnesty called on the U.S. to allow the UN 
officials unfettered access to detainees at Guantanamo, also 
covered widely in the press. 
 
14. COMMENT: The guidance received on the Al-Dossari case 
was most useful in helping to counter the steady drumbeat of 
allegations on the Bahrain detainees. This drumbeat will 
continue as the three returned detainees speak out at home 
and the three remaining detainees talk to their lawyers. 
The allegations inevitably are regarded as fact by many. 
The Ambassador, and the Embassy more generally, will 
continue to seek opportunities to counter these negative 
allegations, and we welcome further points to buttress our 
arguments in the coming weeks and months. 
 
MONROE