Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BEIRUT2763
2006-08-25 12:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Beirut
Cable title:  

ON HARIRI TRIBUNAL, JUSTICE MINISTER WANTS TO COAX

Tags:  KCRM PREL PTER PGOV LE SY 
pdf how-to read a cable
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5248
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 002763 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH/MARCHESE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2026
TAGS: KCRM PREL PTER PGOV LE SY
SUBJECT: ON HARIRI TRIBUNAL, JUSTICE MINISTER WANTS TO COAX
BERRI

REF: BEIRUT 2609

Classified By: Jeffrey Feltman, Ambassador, per 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 002763

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH/MARCHESE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2026
TAGS: KCRM PREL PTER PGOV LE SY
SUBJECT: ON HARIRI TRIBUNAL, JUSTICE MINISTER WANTS TO COAX
BERRI

REF: BEIRUT 2609

Classified By: Jeffrey Feltman, Ambassador, per 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C/NF) Over lunch with the Ambassador on 8/25, Justice
Minister Charles Rizk reviewed the draft UN-GOL "Statute of
the Special Tribunal for Lebanon." While only a few
bracketed items remain, he said, one is important: whether
the tribunal will try only suspects in Rafiq Hariri's
assassination or, in addition, in other crimes deemed to be
related. Worried that Hizballah will try to block the more
expansive mandate, Rizk said that he was trying to figure out
how to win the blessing of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to
help ensure the statute's passage by the Lebanese cabinet and
parliament. He expected UN/OLA chief Nicolas Michel would
travel to Lebanon after about ten days, but the Minister
wondered if that timing was auspicious or not. Rizk admitted
that he considered his role in establishing the tribunal as
increasing his chances to assume the Lebanese presidency in
place of his discredited childhood friend Emile Lahoud. On
specific clauses in the draft statute, Rizk (after checking
with his staff) said that the article on "crimes against
humanity" (which he acknowledged made him uncomfortable) was
inserted at the UN's request. It was designed, he said, to
justify the tribunal's competency and overrule immunity
clauses in the Lebanese and Syrian legal codes. Noting that
Berri would likely focus objections to the tribunal on this
clause, Rizk said that he would welcome another method to
meet the needs the UN cited in including the "crimes against
humanity" language. End summary.

STILL UNDER (LEBANESE) DISCUSSION:
JUST HARIRI CRIME, OR OTHERS, TOO
--------------


2. (C/NF) Providing a copy (dated 7/14 but which Rizk said
contained more recent updates) of the draft "State of the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon" to the Ambassador (and which we
have sent by secure fax to NEA),Rizk reported that the

negotiations between UN/OLA and the GOL (with judges Chukri
Sadr and Ralf Riachi the Lebanese contacts) had been
proceeding well. Although there were only a few bracketed
items left to work out, one was very important: whether the
tribunal will have jurisdictions just "over persons
responsible for the terrorist attack of 14 February 2005
resulting in the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri and in the death or injury of other persons," or
if the tribunal will have jurisdiction for the Hariri case
"as well as for other related acts of a similar nature and
gravity which occurred in Lebanon between 1 October 2004 and
31 December 2005."


3. (C/NF) The language regarding the other crimes remains
bracketed text, at the Lebanese request, Rizk reported.
While Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and all of the cabinet
ministers (including those from Hizballah) are already on
record supporting a tribunal for the Hariri assassination,
Rizk expects opposition to the broader mandate, especially
from Hizballah. So the brackets will remain until he sees if
he can sell the concept to Berri, who will want time to think
about it "and check with Hizballah and probably the Syrians."
Rizk said that he would see Berri soon to start a delicate
negotiating process, in hopes of winning Berri's approval --
which he saw as key to the cabinet and parliament approval
that the statute requires to come into force.

RIZK WANTED OPEN-ENDED MANDATE
TO PROVIDE DETERRENCE; UN BALKS
--------------


4. (C/NF) For his part, Rizk said that, regarding the
tribunal's jurisdiction, he occupied a position 180 degrees
different from what he believes Berri's position to be. Rizk
said that he preferred not having an end date at all, in
hopes that the existence of the tribunal will be a deterrent
against future crimes. UN/OLA, however, balked at an
open-ended arrangement that could extend the life of the
tribunal for decades and, they argued, stymie judicial
development in Lebanon. Moreover, he said, UN/OLA argued
that the UNSC had not authorized such an open-ended mandate.
The Ambassador questioned the wording related to "similar
nature and gravity," asking whether that was specific enough.

BEIRUT 00002763 002 OF 002


If the tribunal looks at other crimes besides the Hariri
assassination, the Ambassador said, there should be the
presumption of a strong connection to the primary crime, not
simply a "similar nature." Reading Article 1 again, Rizk
said that he found the existing language in the draft statute
satisfactory in that respect.

'CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY' -- UN-SPEAK?
--------------


5. (C/NF) The Ambassador expressed concern about Article 3,
"Crimes against humanity." Rizk said that the clause
bothered him, too. "Berri will hate it," he said, "and
imagine the Syrians!" The Ambassador suggested that perhaps
Rizk should try to get Article 3 removed as a gift to Berri,
to win Berri's acquiescence for the tribunal by giving him
something he can take credit for. Rizk at first agreed, then
he called Riachi to ask why that article remained. Riachi
said that UN/OLA had insisted on the article, claiming that
it (more than the Lebanese Criminal Code cited in Article 2)
justified the competency of an international tribunal. The
Ambassador asked whether a Security Council resolution was
sufficient justification. Shaking his head, Rizk, quoting
Riachi, said that the "crimes against humanity" language also
enabled the tribunal to overrule any claims of immunity
provided by Lebanese and Syrian law. The Ambassador asked
whether Rizk would accept any other formula to accomplish the
same goals (of providing justification for the competency of
the tribunal and overruling immunity laws),and Rizk
answered, "absolutely!"

MUSING ABOUT THE TIME FOR MICHEL'S VISIT
--------------


6. (C/NF) Rizk said that expected UN/OLA chief Nicolas
Michel to arrive in Beirut in about ten days. While stating
that he was eager to wrap-up the draft statute, Rizk fretted
about whether Michel's trip right now might be "more than we
can bear" -- UNSCR 1701 implementation, the ongoing blockade
of the airport and seaports, the expansion of UNIFIL, etc.
Rizk said that he was not trying to block Michel's visit and
was merely thinking outloud. But, he said, the timing is
very important, in order to avoid as much political
opposition as possible. The Ambassador asked what others
thought about Michel's trip. Both Saad Hariri and PM Siniora
want Michel's trip to occur as soon as possible, Rizk said,
emphasizing that he had not made up his mind himself.

USING THE TRIBUNAL TO ADVANCE
RIZK'S PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS
--------------


7. (C/NF) Rizk said that he saw the establishment of the
tribunal as the greatest legacy he could leave Lebanon as
Justice Minister. Rattling the ice cubes in his second
Scotch, he waxed eloquently about the international precedent
being set. As often with Maronite politicians of a certain
stature, he discussed how his work on the tribunal should
improve his chances for replacing Emile Lahoud as Lebanon's
president. After all, Rizk said, he was appointed to the
Siniora cabinet in July 2005 at the request of Lahoud, an
association that made him suspect in the eyes of the March 14
ministers. Now, as he has distanced himself politically from
Lahoud over the past year, he has overseen the process by
which one of the March 14 political goals -- the
establishment of the tribunal -- is being achieved. "They
all expected me to block this," he said, "but I pushed it
harder than they did!" So Rizk judges himself as now
acceptable as a presidential candidate to Saad Hariri, Fouad
Siniora, Walid Jumblatt, etc. "Only the other Maronites
still hate me," he laughed, "and that has to do with
competition, not my policies." At the same time, he claimed
that Berri, too, still trusts him. While Berri wants the
pro-Syrian Jean Obeid to be Lebanon's next president, "he
knows that the (March 14) majority will never permit that."
So Rizk, in Rizk's mind, becomes the perfect compromise
candidate: not too antagonistic to the Syrians, a fall-back
candidate for Berri, and now acceptable to the non-Christian
members of March 14. "The Patriarch likes me, too," Rizk
said, hopefully. And as for General Aoun? "Forget about
Aoun -- he's crazy!"
FELTMAN