ICC GEARING UP TO START ITURI INVESTIGATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001476

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM CG
SUBJECT: ICC GEARING UP TO START ITURI INVESTIGATION

REF: KINSHASA 707

Classified By: Poloff Meghan Moore for Reasons 1.5 B and D


1. (C) Summary: During the International Criminal Court's
(ICC) first official visit to the DRC, Deputy Prosecutor
Serge Brammertz met with interested parties to open lines of
communication, work on technical judicial issues, and learn
more about the situation on the ground. Post welcomed
Brammertz's open admission that his team is still getting up
to speed, will work in a difficult political and logistical
environment, and will have a profound impact on politics in
the DRC. Most importantly, he seems to understand that
initial ICC investigations need to be conducted in a manner
that will not derail the transition. End Summary.


2. (C) The International Criminal Court (ICC) made its first
official visit to the DRC from July 26-July 30. The
delegation, led by Deputy Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, met
with Kinshasa-based Congolese officials, MONUC and other UN
agencies, local and international human rights groups, civil
society, and diplomatic missions. During a July 30 courtesy
call on the Charge, Brammertz said their mission was focused
on meeting the relevant actors, coordinating technical legal
issues with Congolese justice officials, and learning more
about the situation on the ground. They were happy that their
visit was warmly received by the Congolese people, but were
surprised by the Congolese media's extreme interest and poor
journalism. Brammertz confirmed that initial investigations
would focus on the Ituri region, but said that the
President's request was more general, and the ICC will look
into other areas as necessary.


3. (C) The delegation stressed that they understood the DRC
is a difficult and complex environment in which to work, both
for logistical and political reasons. Brammertz said the ICC
plans to conduct its work within the wider context of the
peace process and will need to strike the right balance of
ending criminal impunity while not jeopardizing the
transition. In particular, he hopes that ICC's initial
investigations, which will focus on abuses committed by
actors outside the transition, such as the Ituri armed
groups, will help bring the transitional government closer
together. (Note: The ICC may only prosecute crimes committed
since July 1, 2002 when the Rome Statute establishing the
court entered into force. End note.).


4. (C) Operationally, the ICC is in the process of getting
its DRC operations up and running and hammering out technical
judicial issues, most notably how the ICC and the Congolese
courts will work together (complementarity). The ICC plans to
establish their local office as early as September, when they
will start initial investigations. Going forward, Brammertz
said their main challenges will be managing Congolese
expectations, and developing objective criteria for
establishing investigations.


5. (C) On August 3, a MONUC Poloff who works on Ituri
commented to poloff that the delegation appeared to have
relatively limited knowledge of Ituri. For example, she said
they had not seen the widely available documentary, Congo's
Killing Fields, did not know that a number of local and
international groups have extensive photographic evidence of
the atrocities, and were surprised by the wide-scale,
de-centralized nature of the violence.

Comment
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6. (C) Post welcomed Brammertz's open admission that his team
of 10-12 is still getting up to speed, will work in a
difficult political and logistical environment, and will have
a profound impact on politics in the DRC. Most importantly,
he seems to understand that initial ICC investigations need
to be conducted in a manner that will not derail the
transition.
MEECE