NIGERIA: INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001449

SIPDIS


STATE FOR PM/B- M. LINO
FOR AF/W, L, T, IO, S/WCI, D, P
DOD FOR OSD/ISP/NP - BILLINGSLEA


E.O.12958: DECL: 5/6/12
TAGS: PREL PHUM KTIA MARR NI KICC
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
DEMARCHE


REF: STATE 84875


CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER. REASON 1.5
(B) AND (D).



1. (C) With Foreign Minister Lamido in Kano because of
the May 4 airplane crash (Lamido is from Kano),
Ambassador delivered referenced talking points to
Presidential Advisor Ad'obe Obe. (Obe was joined by
his Special Assistant who served as his notetaker.)
The Ambassador emphasized the Rome Statute would
infringe national sovereignty, place a chilling effect
on a country's participation in peacekeeping missions
and undermine the authority of the UN Security
Council. Obe took on the points positively, stating
that he would relay our concerns to the President.



2. (C) On May 7, Ambassador met FM Lamido who had
returned from Kano. The Ambassador delivered the same
message to Lamido, stating that Nigeria should be
particularly concerned given its active participation
in peacekeeping operations, both those undertaken by
the sub-region as well as under UN mandate. Lamido
responded that Nigeria understood and would respect
our position. However, he opined that as the universal
beacon "of hope and justice," the United States should
be party to the ICC. He remarked the national
sovereignty argument was powerful but double-edged.
With the USG now asserting this claim, other countries
could more easily invoke the same doctrine to thwart
international consideration of issues, such as human
rights concerns in specific countries. The Ambassador
underscored the USG was not opposed to some
international oversight and investigation of egregious
crimes but simply that the ICC was a flawed
instrument. He stated that national judicial
mechanisms and, when necessary, ad hoc international
tribunals such as those for the former Yugoslavia and
Rwanda were more appropriate.



3. (C) A politician not very conversant with past
allegations against some Nigerian peacekeeping forces,
Lamido did not grasp the argument that the ICC
possibly could seek jurisdiction over Nigerian
peacekeepers. Discounting the potentiality, he stated
Nigeria only participated in internationally approved
PKOs. Thus, he could not foresee the ICC prosecutor
indicting members of a PKO that had been approved by
the UNSC. For him, the ICC was no threat to the UNSC's
authority. The mentioning of the UNSC spurred a
protracted monologue by Lamido, in which he managed to
string together almost every major African leitmotifs
in the global North-South dialogue, from Security
Council expansion to debt relief. (That part of the
meeting is reported septel.)



4. (C) If Lamido's position holds sway, we should not
expect much support but also need not worry about
opposition from Nigeria. However, when more
experienced, discerning eyes look at this, they may
see that Nigeria's national interests are better
served by following the track we have chosen.


JETER