VZCZCXRO8113
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHDE #1729/01 0811452
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 221452Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9394
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 1384
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 2324

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 001729 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL, G/TIP, INL, NEA/RA AND NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/22/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AE
SUBJECT: CHAIRMAN, SECGEN OF NEW UAE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO COMMENT ON 
THEIR ORGANIZATION'S DEALINGS WITH THE UAEG 
 
REF: A. A) Abu Dhabi 780; B) Abu Dhabi 953; C) Dubai 467; 
     ¶B. D) 05 Dubai 3944 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jason Davis, Consul General, Dubai, UAE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Chairman and Secretary General of the new 
Emirates Human Rights Association said their secular-oriented 
group had formed in order to offer itself as a secular 
alternative to an earlier group dominated by "fundamentalists." 
In a worrisome development, the UAEG had attempted to put six 
representatives of the "security forces" (NFI) on EHRA's board, 
but the attempt had failed due to a technicality. EHRA was 
hearing reports that the government was afraid of the group, and 
was determined to move slowly in order to avoid aggravating the 
situation.  A discriminatory interpretation of "emiratization" 
rules by the Labor Ministry was one possible issue the group 
might tackle early on.  End Summary 
 
¶2. (C) Over lunch at the house of Dubai banker Abdallah Saleh, 
the Chairman (Abdel Ghaffair Hussein) and Secretary General 
(Mohammed Obaid Ghobash) of the new Emirates Human Rights 
Association (EHRA) recently approved in the UAE (reftel) 
commented on their organization and its genesis, agenda, and 
dealings with the UAE government. 
 
Formed with Government's Blessing... 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (C) Hussein said he had been thinking of forming a human 
rights organization in the UAE for "at least four years," and 
that the time had seemed right after newspapers reported that 
another group headed by an Islamist (Dubai jurist Mohammed al 
Roken -- see Ref A), had applied for recognition.  Asked whether 
anyone in the UAEG had suggested that forming an alternate group 
would be a good idea, Hussein said slowly "it wasn't that 
simple....it was more a case of several of us seeing the 
application by the fundamentalists, and deciding we should offer 
up a secular alternative."  The UAEG did encourage the group 
once it started down that road, he indicated. 
 
EHRA Wins First Showdown With Gov't 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Hussein and SecGen Ghobash were gleeful at having "beat" 
the government soundly in their first confrontation with it. 
"The government tried to make us accept five current and former 
members of the security apparatus into our board, and the 
sheikhs in Abu Dhabi hinted that they wanted us to choose 
Mohammed Fahd Al-Dehim, another person affiliated with the 
security agencies, as our chairman.  We had already agreed 
amongst ourselves that we wouldn't elect Dehim chairman, when 
the Ministry [of Social Affairs] removed him from the Board 
based on a technicality.  The other five representatives from 
the security agencies then resigned in protest, so our problem 
was solved," Ghobash related. 
 
Taking Things Slowly 
-------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Asked about EHRA's agenda, Ghobash said "believe it or 
not, we are hearing through various sources that the government 
is afraid of us. One of the sheikhs was quoted as saying that we 
are more of a threat to the system than even an elected and 
empowered FNC would be." As a result, he continued, "we want to 
take it slowly, and choose our battles carefully, so we don't 
alienate them -- though that doesn't mean we might not still 
find ourselves in jail one day," he concluded with a smile. 
Hussein said he had for several days been carefully working on 
the wording of a letter he wanted to send to Minister of Labor 
Al-Kaabi regarding a "discriminatory" policy on emiratisation. 
Asked to elaborate, the EHRA chairman said "Al-Kaabi has started 
telling companies with over 400 employees, who are required to 
have 2 percent of their workforce be UAE nationals, that only 
native-born UAE nationals 'count' -- that they aren't allowed to 
claim Arabs of other nationalities who have been granted UAE 
citizenship as part of their quota." 
 
¶6. (C) CG asked the EHRA Chairman and SecGen whether they had 
any contacts among the Shihuh in the northern emirates, who seem 
to be the UAE nationals most likely to express dissatisfaction 
with the current system, particularly their inability to form 
any kind of local council (Refs C,D). Both men immediately 
dismissed the question, one noting that "they are not a UAE 
problem, they are Omani mountain men who just happen to live on 
the fringes of our society," and the other adding "their only 
problem is that the British in the 1960's promised them their 
own state, and then reneged on the promise in 1971, so they feel 
betrayed." 
 
¶7. (C) Hussein said the human rights group was planning to open 
a small office in Dubai (currently it is headquartered at his 
"Green Coast Enterprises" office building on the airport road), 
 
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and that eventually it would want to open one in Abu Dhabi as 
well. "The offices will have to be small, because we have 
decided not to accept UAE government funding, and would never 
consider accepting foreign funding," he noted. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) The allegation that the UAEG attempted to pack the board 
of this NGO with representatives from the security establishment 
is worrisome.  The remaining board members seemed to assume that 
the government's failure in its first bid to monitor/control the 
group from within was not the end of the game, though it was not 
clear to them what the next step might be.  The government's 
maneuvering to keep known Islamists from forming or 
participating in such an organization is perhaps understandable, 
given fears about extremist ideology seeping into the fabric of 
UAE society, but has the effect of severely limiting how 
"representative" the institution can be.  Interestingly, the 
Chairman and SecGen of EHRA, while avowedly secular themselves 
(with the Chairman apparently being that rarest of all Emiratis, 
an "atheist," according to a comment whispered approvingly to CG 
by the host), made it clear that they support in principle the 
right of UAE Islamists to participate in academia and express 
themselves in articles in the media (two activities currently 
denied to many of them.) 
DAVIS