P 300722Z MAR 09
FM USMISSION GENEVA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8218
INFO EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L GENEVA 000263 
 
 
EUR, IO, PRM, S/WCI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2019 
TAGS: PHUM PREF PREL KDRG PGOV PTER MOPS KAWK KISL
KPAO 
SUBJECT: UNHCR OFFERS SEVERAL WAYS FORWARD ON THE 
GUANTANAMO DETAINEE ISSUE 
 
Classified By: Mark C. Storella, Charge d'Affairs, a.i., for reasons 1. 
4 (b & d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  In a very productive March 26 meeting with 
S/WCI Ambassador Clint Williamson, the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Assistant High Commissioner 
for Protection Erika Feller offered the USG several options 
to assist in finding durable solutions for remaining 
Guantanamo detainees.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On March 26, 2009, Ambassador-at-Large for War 
Crimes Issues Clint Williamson, S/WCI staff Shaun Coughlin, 
and Mission staff participated in a meeting on Guantanamo 
detainees with UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for 
Refugees Erika Feller, UNHCR Americas Bureau Director Merida 
Morales-O'Donnell, UNHCR Status Determination and Protection 
Information Chief Richard Stainsby, and UNHCR legal officer 
Maria Bances Del Rey.  The Ambassador provided a detailed 
briefing on the USG's progress made to date in securing the 
transfer of 520 Guantanamo detainees; the very minimal rates 
of mistreatment reported by transferred detainees thus far; 
the satisfactory efforts in place to mitigate threats 
potentially posed by released detainees; the current process 
underway to review individual case files and make 
recommendations regarding prosecution, transfer or release; 
and the goal to fulfill the President's commitment of closing 
Guantanamo by January 22, 2010.  He noted the varying degrees 
of comfort European governments had with the idea of 
admitting the 50 to 60 detainees who cannot return to their 
countries of origin for fear of mistreatment, and asked UNHCR 
how it could assist the USG in finding durable solutions for 
this population. 
 
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UNHCR PRESENTS OPTIONS 
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¶3. (SBU) AHC Feller expressed her gratitude for the 
Ambassador's presentation, saying it provided UNHCR with 
unprecedented clarity on the situation.  She stated UNHCR's 
willingness and readiness to assist the U.S. initiative, and 
described three possible options for support ranging from 
what she described as a "minimalist" approach to a 
"maximalist" one.  First, UNHCR could send a letter to 
potential resettlement countries endorsing the USG's efforts 
to resettle Guantanamo detainees.  Second, UNHCR could 
undertake a more active "good offices role," advocating with 
these potential resettlement countries and participating in 
larger briefings of potential resettlement countries.  Third, 
UNHCR could individually interview (and/or conduct detailed 
paper reviews) of each case for possible refugee referral. 
This third "maximalist" option would require that the 
detainees meet the refugee definition and not be excludable. 
It is by far the most resource and time intensive, and could 
require U.S. assistance (i.e. money) to carryout depending on 
scale.  Even if all 50-60 detainees were reviewed, Stainsby 
estimated that sufficient manpower could be gathered through 
use of consultants to finish all referrals in two months. 
AHC Feller noted that, in light of Sweden's upcoming 
presidency of the European Union, the Swedish government has 
already reached out to her to see whether UNHCR would be 
willing to provide such a resettlement referral service. 
 
¶4. (C) Feller also recognized that these options provided 
cover to countries accepting detainees, and said that UNHCR 
had willingly provided such "fig leaves" in the past. 
Ambassador Williamson explained in fact many countries that 
were considering accepting detainees were looking for "fig 
leaves" that would make resettlement more palatable to their 
publics and skeptical political figures in their governments. 
 He said that, in this vein, the USG was working with the EU 
to develop a framework for transfers so that states would be 
acting under an EU umbrella.  Likewise, the USG was seeking 
engagement by prominent human rights figures (i.e. High 
Commissioner Pillay and Special Rapporteur Novak) and by 
human rights NGOs that would be supportive of governments' 
decisions to accept detainees.  He added that governments 
would welcome UNHCR involvement as well, and thanked AHC 
Feller for her suggestions on the role that the organization 
could play.  He noted that while actual referrals of 
detainees as refugees (option 3) might be the most helpful, 
there was a potential downside.  If undertaken, UNHCR 
assessments of individuals could result in findings of 
"excludability" for some, which might make it impossible for 
countries otherwise willing to accept detainees to then do 
so.  Keller acknowledged that this was a problem and said 
that while UNHCR engagement in the form of the first two 
options (written letter and use of good offices) might not be 
as active, those were less risky approaches. 
 
 
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THE POTENTIAL HURDLES: EXCLUDABILITY, CREDIBILITY, CHINA 
---------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) AHC Feller said that UNHCR could be flexible in 
assisting detainees who would not traditionally fall under 
UNHCR's mandate under the 1951 Refugee Convention (a mandate 
focused on refugees and stateless persons).  She suggested 
that UNHCR could write letters and play a "good offices" role 
without conducting individual determinations ) but only if 
UNHCR receives assurances from the USG that none of the 
detainees would be "excluded" from UNHCR,s mandate. 
Exclusion, she explained, would stem from an individual's 
past actions that are barred under the Convention, like 
serious non-political crimes, war crimes, crimes against 
humanity, and acts that were contrary to the purposes and 
principles of the United Nations.  She wondered whether 
detainees classified as "low" or "medium" threat individuals 
would have committed such acts.  Ambassador Williamson 
acknowledged that many detainees have had contact with some 
extremist groups, but their level of involvement was going to 
be clarified during the USG's ongoing review process.  AHC 
Feller said that membership in a terrorist organization like 
al-Qaeda would not automatically exclude people from refugee 
status, but it would trigger further investigation into 
whether the individual was responsible for excludable acts. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In addition to excludability concerns, Stainsby 
explained that some detainee claims he had reviewed did not 
seem credible.  Some case files amount to a "he said, she 
said" argument between the accuser and the accused.  Stainsby 
also wondered whether, as a result of the inter-agency review 
process, refugees would be cleared of accusations that would 
have previously made them excludable. 
 
¶7. (C) AHC Feller also noted that the Chinese have been 
pressuring UNHCR and potential resettlement countries to 
refrain from assisting in resettling detained Uighurs.  Her 
organization, she noted, would not be swayed.  As proof, she 
cited a recent trip to Beijing during which Chinese security 
services presented information on a Uighur given recognition 
by UNHCR and demanded the organization rescind its status 
conferment.  Fuller explained that she could not discuss this 
matter with the country of origin, but that UNHCR would 
review the information provided.  (NOTE: UNHCR did review the 
information but did not pull recognition from the Uighur. END 
NOTE.) 
 
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NEXT STEPS 
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¶8. (SBU) Ambassador Williamson expressed urgency in the need 
to move forward along parallel tracks in order to meet the 
January 22, 2010, deadline to close Guantanamo.  He outlined 
his plan to meet with the European Council and assess the 
various requirements of European governments.  In the 
meantime, the USG's interagency process will continue and 
determine the appropriate outcome for each case.  Williamson 
said he would discuss the engagement options presented by 
UNHCR (letter, good offices, or referrals) with counterparts 
in Washington and would follow up in the near future 
regarding a USG response on how best to proceed. 
 
¶9. (SBU) AHC Feller committed to briefing the Swedish 
government on their conversation.  She said that UNHCR could 
quickly draft letters and perform advocacy, however it would 
need more time (depending upon the number of detainees 
involved) to gather a robust team of refugee status 
determination specialists to review case files and conduct 
interviews for any detainees the USG might wish to pursue 
full-blown referrals for.  She recommended that the USG 
consider providing UNHCR with some sample low-threat and 
high-threat cases for background.  In the end, she hopes the 
USG will present UNHCR with cases it believes would not be 
excludable under the 1951 Refugee Convention. 
 
¶10. (U) Ambassador Williamson has cleared this cable. 
 
 
STORELLA