VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAD #1187 2941218
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201218Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1608
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 0855

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001187 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KMPI JO
SUBJECT: Assistant Secretary Kramer, Minister of Justice Review NGO 
Law 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A/S Kramer met on the margins of the BMENA Forum 
for the Future in Abu Dhabi with Jordanian Minister of Justice Ayman 
Odeh and Jordanian Ambassador to UAE. The Minister solicited and 
responded to DRL's concerns about the new Jordanian NGO law, and 
suggested possible ways to alleviate those concerns to ensure that 
the law would not block NGO funding from the United States, EU, and 
other friendly sources, while satisfying Jordanian concerns about 
being able to monitor funds from less welcome donors. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) A/S Kramer advised the Minister that DRL, NEA, and S/P are 
consulting with the GOJ to set dates for a possible November visit 
to Amman to start dialogue on human rights and democracy assistance 
under the U.S.-Jordan Memorandum of Understanding, and he noted the 
USG has some concerns about three aspects of the law in its current 
version: Restrictions on foreign funding; excessive government 
discretion over the regulation, oversight, and possible dissolution 
of civil society organizations; and the requirement to disclose 
organization members' names and board members' names. He urged that 
civil society in Jordan have a significant role in putting forth 
proposed amendments to the law. (Note: The Minister said he hopes 
any amendments to the law will be in place by the first half of 
2009, and said he intends to discuss the timing with the Prime 
Minister. End note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Minister defended the new law as better by far than the 
old one, but admitted the new version may not be up to some people's 
expectations. He said that with the large refugee presence in Jordan 
and unwelcome overtures from some other countries in the region, 
Jordan cannot open the way for foreign funding without any 
restrictions. He clarified that domestic funding will have to be 
reported to the government but would not be subject to prior 
government approval. According to the Minister, the current law 
requires foreign funding proposals to be submitted for advance 
approval to the Council of Ministers; if the CoM does not reply 
within 30 days, the request is considered approved, whereas under 
the previous law, there was no such time limit. The Minister said he 
would prefer for the amended law to establish general CoM guidelines 
for such requests and place the decision with the relevant ministry, 
to streamline the approval process; or as a second choice, for the 
CoM to make the decision subject to established guidelines. He 
suggested it might be possible to write the guidelines such that 
funding from the USG, EU, and a few other friendly donors would be 
subject to automatic acceptance upon submission to the relevant 
ministry or CoM. He added that the financial reporting requirement 
for donors thus identified could be set up as an annual report 
declaring funds received but not detailing every transaction. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A/S Kramer commented that such provisions could be helpful 
in softening the impact of the law. He agreed that annual financial 
reports would be less of a burden for donors than providing initial 
notification to the GOJ. When he asked about the government's 
discretion to dissolve civil society organizations, the Minister 
countered that the new law actually makes dissolution more difficult 
than did the previous law. He said there is no possibility the 
dissolution authority could be excised from the new law, but that 
the power would be invoked only in very specific cases, such as an 
organization's failure to elect a board of directors.  He also 
stated that dissolution of an NGO would be a CoM rather than a 
ministerial decision, and that it could be challenged in court. He 
and the Jordanian Ambassador asserted that a civil society group 
would only be dissolved for "organizational reasons" and only to 
protect the assets under that group's control. 
 
¶5. (SBU) A/S Kramer pointed out that the requirement to provide the 
government with the names of organization members and board members 
would have a chilling effect if people were concerned about how the 
government might use the information, so it would be preferable for 
groups to keep their own membership records without submitting them 
to the government.  The Minister responded, "We will see what we can 
do on that."  A/S Kramer reiterated that the recently signed 
U.S.-Jordan MOU is a meaningful step forward and a symbol of strong 
U.S.-Jordan relations, and that the USG was expressing concern about 
the NGO law in the context of that relationship. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: The Minister made it clear that the law has some 
redlines that cannot be omitted, but seemed willing to think 
creatively about how to keep funding channels open, especially in 
the context of new support coming to Jordan under the MOU.  DRL and 
NEA have closely followed Embassy Amman's reporting on advocacy for 
revising the NGO law. We remain concerned that the GOJ, as the 
Minister stated, intends to allow the unamended law to come into 
effect, and will seek to issue only modified regulations that will 
temper but not fully address the concerns we have repeatedly pointed 
out.  The GOJ should expect that this will figure into a large part 
of our interaction under the new Human Rights dialogue, if the law 
has not been amended in advance.  The Department will consult with 
civil society organizations to get further reactions and input. End 
comment. 
 
Olson