VZCZCXRO8937
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHLO #6196 2351637
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 231637Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8508
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0353
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI PRIORITY 0173

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 006196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR L, S/WCI, EUR/UBI, AND S/C-T 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2016 
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM UK
SUBJECT: (U)  GUANTANAMO:  POLOFFS MEET WITH MP'S AND 
ACTIVISTS 
 
REF: LONDON 1623 
 
Classified By: PolMinCouns Maura Connelly; reason 1.4 (b, d) 
 
¶1.  (U) Action request - please see paragraph 3. 
 
¶2.  (C) At the request of Labour backbench MP Desmond Turner, 
Poloffs met August 22 with Turner and a group of activists to 
discuss Guantanamo.  Most of the activists were campaigners 
on behalf of Guantanamo detainee Omar Deghayes, whose family 
lives in Turner's constituency.  Poloffs met with Turner and 
some of the activists in March (reftel).  Abu Baker Deghayes, 
Omar's brother, joined the meeting in progress.  Two Liberal 
Democrat MPs who also have families in their constituencies 
with relatives at Guantanamo, Edward Davey and Sarah Teather, 
participated in a portion of the meeting.  Apart from a 
lengthy exchange of views on Guantanamo generally, a few 
specific points emerged: 
 
- The MPs involved, along with unnamed others who have a 
similar reason to be interested in Guantanamo, intend to 
submit through the Embassy a request to visit the detention 
facilities and meet with the detainees whose families live in 
their constituencies.  (We understand that there are 
presently eight detainees at Guantanamo who have residency in 
the UK.)  Turner allowed that if his group could not go, it 
would find it acceptable if some other delegation of MPs - 
such as members of the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) - were 
able to visit Guantanamo.  (NOTE:  We did not mention the 
planned FAC visit to Guantanamo next month, of which none of 
our interlocutors seemed aware.  Nor did the LibDem MPs 
appear to know that their party leader Sir Menzies ("Ming") 
Campbell has asked to visit Guantanamo, despite the fact that 
he has announced it publicly.  Campbell's Chief of Staff has 
told us that Campbell would like Teather and Davey to go, but 
would have them stay at home if that is a prerequisite for 
his own visit.  Meanwhile, FCO tells us FAC Chairman Mike 
Gapes does not wish to make the September visit known 
publicly in advance, though he and FCO realize word may leak 
out as the time approaches.  END NOTE.) 
 
- A British physician expressed the intention to submit a 
similar request on behalf of British doctors, with a view to 
looking into the health of UK-resident detainees as well as 
the overall health-care situation at the detention 
facilities.  Poloffs expressed willingness to pass such a 
request to the appropriate authorities, but gave him no 
reason to believe it would receive support. 
 
- The doctor also asked for any public information regarding 
a January 2006 DoD survey in which the health-care situation 
at Guantanamo received a perfect score.  He expressed 
particular concern about force-feeding of detainees in 
contravention to ICRC guidelines. 
 
- Several activists asked for information on how to provide 
the Annual Review Boards with information that might help 
show that particular detainees should not be seen as enemy 
combatants. 
 
- One activist, Jackie Chase of the Save Omar campaign, who 
also participated in the March meeting, asked for answers to 
the questions posed then (and relayed via reftel) regarding 
Omar Deghayes.  (NOTE:  Embassy has received no reply to 
reftel.) 
 
¶3.  (U) Action requested:  We would be grateful for any 
response from the Department to any of the requests mentioned 
above. 
 
Visit London's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm 
Johnson