MGLE01: GOL JUDICIAL TEAM PREPARES FOR UN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000489

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH/WERNER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2026
TAGS: PREL PGOV KCRM PTER LE SY UNAUS
SUBJECT: MGLE01: GOL JUDICIAL TEAM PREPARES FOR UN
DISCUSSSIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL

REF: A. BEIRUT 268


B. STATE 27125

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


1. (C) On Sunday, 2/17, the Ambassador met with Minister of
Justice Charles Rizk and Judge Shukri Sadr to discuss the
modalities for an international tribunal for the Hariri
assassination suspects. Rizk reported that the cabinet, in
its 2/16 session, had approved a two-person team of Sadr and
Judge Ralf Riachi to travel to New York for discussions with
UN officials to follow up the 1/27-28 consulations of UN
Office of Legal Affairs chief Nicolas Michel in Beirut (ref
a). Sadr noted that he and Riachi planned to travel to New
York as early as Tuesday, 2/19, and would stay several days.
To the extent that their time allowed, they welcomed
consulting with P-3 representatives in New York.


2. (C) Providing the non-paper in ref b, the Ambassador
shared with Rizk and Sadr a list of questions and topics the
USG strongly urged the GOL to work through before the team
traveled. Going through the list, Rizk and Sadr offered the
following comments, emphasizing that these were initial
thoughts only:

-- Cost of an international tribunal: Rizk said that the
GOL knew that it must contribute in some way to cost-sharing,
but neither he nor Sadr had any other substantive remarks.
Sadr said that he and Riachi looked forward to learning in
New York more about the experience of costs in other
international tribunals. Rizk and Sadr rejected the
Ambassador's suggestion that costs could be kept more
manageable if significant Lebanese elements were used. "It's
not safe," Rizk said (introducing a theme that came up
repeatedly in the meeting).

-- Legal restrictions on an international tribunal: Rizk
and Sadr said that, after much study, they have reluctantly
concluded that Lebanese parliamentary action will be required
to establish the tribunal. Whatever the bilateral agreement
with the UN, parliamentary endorsement is needed. Existing
Lebanese law will not allow a prosecutor system, which, they
argued, is essential. The prosecutor must be non-Lebanese.
All of this and more must be folded into a bilateral
agreement with the UN that will be presented to parliament.
"We can't avoid this, even if we would like to," Rizk said,
in reference to parliamentary action.

-- Judges: Rizk and Sadr emphasized the need for the
majority of judges to be non-Lebanese. They said that they
were considering approaching legal professors who were
Lebanese but working abroad, as well as other Lebanese
emigrees. But, citing the fear to judges' extended families
still in Lebanon, they did not support having all judges be
Lebanese in origin.

-- Lebanese criminal law: Rizk and Sadr said that any
deficiencies in Lebanese criminal law, or any changes
required (such as elimination of the death penalty),need to
be dealt with in the GOL-UN bilateral agreement that would go
to parliament for endorsement.

-- Competence: According to both Rizk and Sadr, the GOL
does not at this time plan to use the tribunal for other
bombings and assassinations. Noting the high costs of such
an option, they also expressed doubt that the Shia bloc in
parliament would approve of such an expansion. By trying to
link the other cases into this tribunal, the Shia support for
the tribunal for the Hariri suspects could dry up. As for
the Hariri assassination suspects, Lebanese courts cannot be
used for appeals. The international tribunal must have an
appeals chamber.

-- Existing agreements: Asked about what agreements might
hinder prosecution of Syrian suspects, Rizk and Sadr cited
the 1950 Syrian-Lebanese treaty that prohibited extradition
of military or diplomatic personnal between the two
countries. Both said that this treaty was one of the
justifications for the international tribunal.

-- Location: Rizk and Sadr said that the GOL wanted to
avoid having to initiate a bilateral agreement with a host
country. They wanted to restrict the agreements they need to
present to parliament to one, the UN-GOL agreement.
Therefore, the GOL did not wish to pursue the UK's offer of
an airbase on Cyprus, which they said would require a
GOL-Cyprus agreement that Parliament would have to approve.

BEIRUT 00000489 002 OF 002


Instead, the GOL wants the international tribunal to be held
in a UN facility such as Vienna, New York, or Geneva. The
Ambassador noted that those cities were all extremely
expensive. Rizk shrugged, "what can we do?" As for prison
sentences, the GOL would imprison any Lebanese sentenced but
seeks a "host" for non-Lebanese suspects. It would not be
viable, Rizk argued, for Lebanon to imprison Syrian President
Bashar al-Asad, should he be found guilty of involvement.

-- Role of the UN Security Council: Rizk and Sadr said that
they expected the GOL would request help from the UNSC, but
they deferred to wait until after further consultations
before speculating on what specifically the GOL might request.
FELTMAN