Excerpt from document summary
(S/NF) Over the last two years, GOT officials have said
Guantanamo detainees transferred to Tunisia will not be
tortured or mistreated. President Ben Ali reiterated this
"promise" to the Secretary in September.

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DE RUEHTU #1137/01 3091107
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FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5713
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
Content
S E C R E T TUNIS 001137

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA A/S WELCH AND L A/S BELLINGER
NEA ALSO FOR CRETZ, NEA/MAG:WILLIAMS, NARDI, PATTERSON,
HAYES
DRL:MCGEENEY, S/WCI:RICCI
DEFENSE FOR DOD/OSD:LIOTTA
JUSTICE FOR DOJ/ODAG:STRANSKY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2028
TAGS: PREL, PTER, PHUM, KDRG, TS
SUBJECT: (S) TUNISIAN GUANTANAMO DETAINEES: WHAT NEXT?

REF: A. TUNIS 1110
B. STATE 103775
C. STATE 91304 AND PREVIOUS
D. SECTO 8
E. TUNIS 1052
F. TUNIS 1007
G. TUNIS 992
H. TUNIS 973
I. TUNIS 193
J. TUNIS 042
K. 07 TUNIS 1483
L. 07 TUNIS 1060
M. 07 TUNIS 967
N. 07 TUNIS 964

Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

-------
Summary
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1. (S/NF) Over the last two years, GOT officials have said
Guantanamo detainees transferred to Tunisia will not be
tortured or mistreated. President Ben Ali reiterated this
"promise" to the Secretary in September. They have denied
reports that one of the detainees transferred in 2007 was
mistreated. The Embassy believes, however, the reports are
credible. While GOT assurances offer some protection to
future transferees, they are likely to face similar
treatment. We do not believe further assurances from GOT
officials will change this. While obtaining access to the
first two transferees may remind some GOT officials of their
obligations regarding treatment, we are unlikely to get
information we do not already have. If Washington agencies
wish to pursue access, we believe a telephone call from the
Secretary to President Ben Ali will be necessary. Our
conclusion: we are at the end of the road regarding
assurances from the GOT. Now we must decide whether to
transfer more detainees or seek another course. End Summary.

------------------------
2006-2007: GOT Assurances
------------------------

2. (S/NF) From late 2006 to mid-2007, the US Government
received a variety of assurances from the GOT regarding the
transfer of Tunisian detainees at Guantanamo. In November
2006, the Ministers of Justice and Interior offered oral
assurances about Tunisia's obligations under the Convention
Against Torture and noted to an interagency delegation led by
S/WCI Ambassador Williamson that many of the detainees faced
in absentia charges. The Minister of Justice also provided
oral assurances about third party access (i.e., the ICRC) to
detainees in the Tunisian prison system. In 2007, Minister
of State and Presidential Advisor Ben Dhia confirmed these
assurances to the Ambassador and subsequently reiterated them
in a letter to Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte. The
exchanges paved the way for the June 2007 transfer of the
first two detainees to GOT custody.

-----------------------
Reports of Mistreatment
-----------------------

3. (S/NF) Following the transfer, NGOs alleged that the two
detainees, Abdallah Ben Omar (al-Hajji) and Lotfi Ben Swei
Lagha, had been tortured and mistreated by GOT security
forces. As a result of the allegations, the Ambassador
demarched Foreign Minister Abdallah, Minister of Interior
Belhaj Kacem and Presidential Advisor Ben Dhia regarding GOT
assurances. (Note: The GOT declined to facilitate a meeting
for the Ambassador with Minister of Justice Tekkari. End
note.) All reiterated that Tunisia is a signatory of the
Convention Against Torture (CAT) and would respect it.
Abdallah and Kacem dismissed the allegations of torture. To
our knowledge, there was no GOT investigation into reports of
the detainees' mistreatment. Further, the ministers did not
indicate that any future transfers will be handled
differently to avoid such accusations.

4. (S/NF) Ben Omar's lawyer (the source of these NGO reports)
later clarified that, while Ben Omar was mistreated (slapped)
and threatened (that he and his family members would be
raped), he was not "tortured." Post received reports that
Ben Omar has been subject to psychological mistreatment,
including most recently on September 8 when Emboffs met with
his family. Our assessment remains that these claims of
mistreatment are credible. According to the same lawyer, who
represents both detainees, and his own brother, Ben Swei
Lagha has not been subject to any mistreatment although he
was reportedly held in solitary confinement for weeks after
his transfer. Emboffs met with Lagha's brother September 8.

------------------------
2008: New GOT Assurances
------------------------

5. (S/NF) In February 2008, NEA A/S David Welch met with
President Ben Qi and asked for his commitment to accept the
Tunisian detainees still in GuantanQo. BQAli responded
that the GOT would accept the detainees and do so on the
basis of the Tunisian constitution. (NB. The Tunisian
constitution offers guarantees on human rights, humane
treatment, and respect for international commitments.) On
August 30, the Ambassador delivered a new letter from the
Deputy Secretary to Ben Dhia. Ben Dhia's written reply
consisted of sending a copy of the letter he wrote in 2007
before the return of the two detainees already transferred.

6. (S/NF) On September 6, Secretary Rice asked Ben Ali for
his personal assurances that the Tunisians transferred from
Guantanamo would be treated humanely. Ben Ali:
-- said the detainees have no reason to fear torture in
Tunisia,
-- affirmed they are not being tortured, and that there would
be no abuse or mistreatment of them,
-- offered to allow US officials to visit the transferees in
prison.

7. (S/NF) Following the Secretary's visit, the Embassy
requested permission to visit the two transferees in Tunisia.
MFA officials told the Ambassador September 24 that Ben Ali
had not offered to allow US officials to visit the
transferees and that it was against Tunisian law for anyone
other than the family and lawyers to meet with Tunisian
prisoners. A/S Welch asked FM Abdallah on September 27 to
raise the question of US access with Ben Ali. Abdallah told
the Ambassador October 18 that access would not be allowed
and that Ben Ali had given the Secretary his "promise" there
would be no mistreatment. Abdallah said that even a
"discreet visit" would be pointless since the purpose of
access would be to assuage NGO and public opinion. He said,
however, he would raise the question "again" with Ben Ali.

----------
Next Steps
----------

8. (S/NF) In our view, there are two questions before
Washington agencies. First, should we continue to press for
access to the detainees already in Tunisia? While access may
remind some GOT officials of their obligations regarding the
detainees, we consider it unlikely that a visit will provide
us with information that we have not already obtained from
their relatives and lawyer. If Washington wishes to pursue
access, we have these options:

-- The Ambassador or NEA A/S Welch could approach FM Abdallah
again and ask if he has talked with Ben Ali to confirm
whether the President would permit US access to the
transferees.

-- If the answer is delayed or access continues to be denied,
then the Secretary would need to telephone Ben Ali. We doubt
that a letter would result in any change in position.

9. (S/NF) Second, should we accept Tunisian assurances and
transfer additional detainees? There are three key points.

-- Over the last two years, the United States has received
many GOT assurances that Guantanamo detainees would not be
tortured or mistreated and would be treated in accordance
with the Tunisian constitution. The most important of these
assurances is also the newest, from Ben Ali to the Secretary.
We believe these assurances offer some protection to
transferred detainees.

-- Despite the early GOT commitments, it is likely that Ben
Omar was mistreated. While GOT officials deny the reports,
this is clear: in no case has a GOT official acknowledged
that if Ben Omar had been threatened or slapped it would have
been wrong. Indeed, the most frequent response has been to
emphasize that the detainees deserve to be in prison. Given
this, and despite Ben Ali's statements, we believe future
transferees are likely to face treatment similar to the first
two.

-- Finally, we have obtained all we can from the GOT by way
of assurances on the treatment of transferees. In recent
exchanges, GOT officials are increasingly testy and
difficult. The risk of a counterproductive response is
growing. We are at the end of the road on Tunisian
assurances. Now we must decide whether to transfer more
detainees or seek another course.

Please visit Embassy Tunis' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/tunis/index.c fm
GODEC