IRAQI JUDICIAL TRAINING

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001911 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR S/WCI - PROSPER/RICHARD; BAGHDAD FOR STONE/MCGURK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL IZ ICTY KWIC SUBJECT: IRAQI JUDICIAL TRAINING Entire text sensitive but unclassified; protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) In early May in The Hague, Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy chaired a conference on the rule of law in Iraq, involving some thirty Iraqi judges and twenty other jurists, advisers and staff. We understand that there is consideration in Baghdad of a proposed follow-on conference or conferences outside of Iraq. ¶2. (SBU) Should the Department and Embassy Baghdad plan to hold a follow-on to the May conference, we would recommend including at least one session in The Netherlands, given the international legal institutions located here. Ideally, this should be a focused program, bringing to The Hague a small number of Iraq Special Tribunal officials and advisers (up to fifteen total) early in 2005. Although a program scheduled for this fall would not be practical, scheduling after December -- following the conclusion of the Dutch EU presidency, ICTY investigations and indictments, and Iraqi elections -- would be feasible. Scheduling before the new year could be feasible if Department sees a compelling reason to do so and provides Embassy with sufficient resources. We would also note that the participation of senior American and other jurists would again be crucial to a follow-on seminar's success. ¶3. (U) Minimize considered. SOBEL