VZCZCXRO3517
OO RUEHDE
DE RUEHMK #1101/01 1701440
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 191440Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5046
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT  PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001101 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND S/WCI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER BA BILAT CTR POL
SUBJECT: GOB FEELS PRESSURE ON REMAINING GUANTANAMO 
DETAINEES 
 
REF: A. MANAMA 1000 
     ¶B. MANAMA 963 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) Activity in support of the remaining three Bahrainis 
detained at Guantanamo Bay increased following the recent 
suicides.  Anti-U.S. MP Mohamed Khalid said he holds the U.S. 
Administration responsible for the deaths and called 
Guantanamo a "U.S. Nazi prison."  Former detainee Abdulla 
Majid Al Nuaimi predicted additional suicide attempts and 
speculated that the reason behind the three suicides was to 
draw even more international focus onto Guantanamo.  Amnesty 
International Bahrain started a letter-writing campaign and a 
petition drive in support of detainees.  Arabic daily Al Ayam 
columnist Lamees Dhaif called on the MFA to augment its 
diplomatic efforts and MFA Assistant Undersecretary Shaikh 
Abdul Aziz Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa spoke of GOB frustration 
with the raised level of pressure on the government to act 
and the unresolved status of the remaining detainees.  End 
summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
MP and Former Detainee Speak Out 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The recent suicides at Guantanamo Bay have set off 
another round of press stories in Bahrain and renewed efforts 
to increase pressure on both the USG to release the remaining 
three Bahraini detainees and on the GOB to redouble its 
efforts to negotiate for their release.  Al Minbar Islamic 
Society MP Mohamed Khalid, who is strongly anti-U.S., 
predictably responded to news of the suicides by stating 
publicly June 13 that he held the U.S. Administration 
responsible for the three deaths, and that he was deeply 
concerned about the condition of the Bahraini detainees.  He 
expressed doubts about the official story on the suicides and 
characterized Guantanamo as a "U.S. Nazi prison." 
 
¶3.  (U) English daily Gulf Daily News carried an interview 
June 13 with released Bahraini detainee Abdulla Majid Al 
Nuaimi in which he said that he was well acquainted with the 
three men who committed suicide and predicted that there 
would be more suicide attempts in the future.  Al Nuaimi 
stated he thought that they had sacrificed themselves for the 
other detainees in order to draw international attention to 
Guantanamo.  He surmised that in order for three to have 
succeeded, there must have been at least 15 detainees who 
attempted suicide at that same time.  "The camp in Guantanamo 
has high security and there is no chance for detainees to 
commit suicide.  I've seen 10 people attempting to hang 
themselves at one time."  Al Nuaimi also said that it was 
possible that the deaths were not suicides at all but the 
result of an attack by guards. 
 
----------------------- 
Public Calls for Action 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) According to press reports June 18, Amnesty 
International (AI) Bahrain sent an initial batch of nearly 
400 letters, signed by members of the public, to the U.S. 
Embassy and to the MFA.  The letter writing campaign is 
reported to be part of activities planned to recognize the 
June 26 UN International Day in Support of Victims of 
Torture.  Those involved in the effort include AI Bahrain 
coordinator Nasser Burdestani and AI Bahrain member Nabeel 
Rajab, former vice president of Bahrain Center for Human 
Rights (BCHR, dissolved).  In addition, AI Bahrain began a 
petition drive June 6 called "10,000 Voices for Justice."  AI 
Bahrain intends to send the petition to the U.S. Congress as 
soon as it has collected 10,000 signatures. 
 
¶5.  (U) Arabic daily Al Ayam carried an editorial June 19 in 
which Lamees Dhaif wrote that each Bahraini feels the pain of 
the Bahraini detainees at Guantanamo.  (Note:  Dhaif has 
previously written in support of the activities of MP Mohamed 
Khalid and Nabeel Rajab in calling for the release of the 
Bahraini detainees.  End note.)  "We thought that the 
American dream was the ultimate savior from oppression in the 
Arab World, but the reality of the dream of democracy and 
human rights has been revealed to us at Guantanamo."  Dhaif 
urged the MFA to increase diplomatic efforts to bring the 
 
MANAMA 00001101  002 OF 002 
 
 
remaining Bahrainis home.  She also called on the public to 
send email messages to the U.S. Embassy demanding their 
release. 
 
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MFA Frustration 
--------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) In a June 14 meeting with U.S. DOJ Associate Director 
David Warner, MFA Assistant Undersecretary for Coordination 
and Follow Up Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa 
expressed his and the GOB,s frustration with the pressure 
and criticism the GOB is receiving from the Parliament, the 
media, and the public, who complain the GOB is not doing 
enough on behalf of the three remaining Bahraini detainees. 
He acknowledged that the Ambassador and the FM discuss 
Guantanamo matters nearly every time they meet, but hoped for 
more information from a DOJ official.  Shaikh Abdul Aziz 
related that he had received a call at midnight on the day 
the suicides were announced, and until the identification of 
the three, was horrified to think that one of them might be 
Bahraini detainee Juma Al Dosary, who has been documented to 
have attempted suicide at least 11 times.  The hardest part 
of the whole Guantanamo situation is the uncertain status of 
the detainees.  He said it would not bother him to see the 
detainees jailed for 50 years if that were the result of a 
legal process. Pressure is building on the GOB to do 
something to resolve their uncertain status. 
 
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Comment 
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¶7.  (C) If it had been the intent of those who committed 
suicide to raise the profile of Guantanamo, they achieved a 
measure of success in Bahrain.  The GOB has borne the brunt 
of this increase in local pressure and has reached out to the 
Embassy to provide some evidence of progress toward the 
resolution of the Bahraini detainees' legal limbo.  In light 
of these developments, the MFA is hoping for a positive 
response to a recent request to send a Bahraini team to visit 
Guantanamo (reftels), as proof that it is taking action on 
behalf of the Bahraini detainees. 
 
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Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ 
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MONROE