RAWLINGS AT NRC: BIG BUILD-UP, BIGGER LET-DOWN

UNCLAS ACCRA 000301 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KDEM GH SUBJECT: RAWLINGS AT NRC: BIG BUILD-UP, BIGGER LET-DOWN REF: 2003 ACCRA 0598 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Former President Jerry Rawlings appeared before the National Reconciliation Commission on February 12. Intense media speculation preceded his appearance, which had been the occasion of considerable jockeying between the Commission and Rawlings' legal team. He answered a short series of questions on video and audio tapes of interrogations and executions in the 1980s, and was then abruptly, if politely, dismissed. While the Commission successfully secured his attendance, and conducted its proceedings in an orderly and fair manner, it largely disappointed the Ghanaian public, which had expected a thorough-going exchange with Rawlings on human rights abuses during his early years in power. End summary. ¶2. (U) In answer to a subpoena served upon him earlier in the week, Rawlings appeared at the Commission chambers in downtown Accra accompanied by his attorneys and senior officials of his National Democratic Congress. Large crowds of boisterous supporters made entry difficult as policemen sought to keep order. Once in the hall, Rawlings took an oath and then calmly answered questions put to him by a Commission staff attorney, his responses carried live on Ghanaian television. Embassy employees circulating in the city noticed that entire sections of Accra seemingly came to a halt as office workers, pedestrians and market ladies clustered around radios and TVs. ¶3. (U) The questioning began on his knowledge or possession of video and audio tapes allegedly made of interrogations and executions in two separate incidents in the 1980s. Rawlings acknowledged making an audio tape of the execution ground confession of a condemned officer who participated in the 1983 murder of three judges. He also acknowledged having briefly viewed portions of a video tape of a suspect in an attempted coup d'etat in 1984. He denied any knowledge of the tapes present whereabouts. ¶4. (U) To the astonishment of Rawlings, the crowded galleries, and the assembled Ghanaian media, the Chairman of the Commission then dismissed Rawlings, subject to his recall for further questioning. Rawlings made his way back through the large crowds of supporters outside the chambers, many of whom then marched peacefully to his central Accra residence. Said one incredulous journalist, "It took longer for him to come and go than to answer their questions." Upon leaving the chamber, Rawlings pronounced the just-completed proceedings "polite and decent." ¶5. (U) Commission officials expressed satisfaction with the proceedings, saying the session had gone as they had "hoped and expected." Commission Executive Director Ken Attafuah said that Rawlings appearance had been a "victory for the rule of law." The former president had been called, he said, to answer two specific evidentiary questions, and was not expected to testify generally on his knowledge of the incidents concerned. ¶6. (U) Rawlings' appearance before the Commission was the subject of mounting speculation in recent weeks, as he and his legal team received repeated requests for information, and, finally, subpoenas commanding his presence. The Commission has been wrestling with exactly how and when to take Rawlings' testimony since March of last year (reftel). His former National Security Advisor, Kojo Tsikata, had been called on February 10, and had testified at length on the subject of the murdered judges. Tsikata had offered a spirited defense of his actions, denying any involvement. Observers had expected Rawlings testimony two days later, on the identical petition, to be equally vigorous and assertive. ¶7. (SBU) Comment. Ghanaians expected dramatic exchanges on one of the most notorious incidents from the early years of Rawlings' PNDC government. Instead, they received a brief, rather dry discussion on the whereabouts of audio and video tapes. Rawlings is subject to recall, but he travels regularly outside the country, and further testimony may be weeks away. The Commission appears content to have secured Rawlings' attendance, and to have conducted his examination, however briefly, in a dignified and orderly manner. However, the Commission's focus on carefully structured proceedings may, this day, have missed the mark. Rawlings has been accused by Commission witnesses of participation in these and other murders. He has yet to account for or defend his actions, an opportunity he, and the Ghanaian public, must still await. End comment. Lanier