Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAKAR2030
2006-08-22 18:22:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dakar
Cable title:  

DIAS FATHER AND SON ARRESTED, QUESTIONED ABOUT

Tags:  PHUM CASC PINS KJUS SG 
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VZCZCXRO7879
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #2030/01 2341822
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221822Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6100
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 002030 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR DRL/AE, AF/RSA, AF/W, INR/AA, AND CA/OCS/ACS
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2011
TAGS: PHUM CASC PINS KJUS SG
SUBJECT: DIAS FATHER AND SON ARRESTED, QUESTIONED ABOUT
NATIONALITY AND CONVICTED OF SLANDER

REF: A. DAKAR 01205

B. DAKAR 01984

Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 002030

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR DRL/AE, AF/RSA, AF/W, INR/AA, AND CA/OCS/ACS
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2011
TAGS: PHUM CASC PINS KJUS SG
SUBJECT: DIAS FATHER AND SON ARRESTED, QUESTIONED ABOUT
NATIONALITY AND CONVICTED OF SLANDER

REF: A. DAKAR 01205

B. DAKAR 01984

Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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

1. (U) Jean-Paul Dias, head of the center right party BCG,
and his son, Barthelemy, leader of the "Socialist Vision"
movement within the Socialist Party (PS),were both arrested
last week in an unusual display of force. Jean-Paul Dias was
detained in Rebeuss Prison until his health failed, at which
point he was transferred to a secure hospital room. On
August 16, he was tried for dissemination of false news, a
death threat against the head of state, and contempt of
court, and sentenced to a year in prison with nine months
suspended. Barthelemy was charged with dissemination of
false news, slander and threats against a judicial official.
On August 22, the judge sentenced him to six months in
prison. The arrests have stirred controversy for three
reasons: the level of force used to arrest the elder Dias,
the fact that both father and son were arrested within days,
and the questions the Government has raised about their
nationality. END SUMMARY.

POLICE BREAK DOWN DIAS' DOOR AND STRIKE WIFE
--------------

2. (U) On August 8, the Police Criminal Investigation
Division (DIC) attempted to serve a summons on Jean-Paul Dias
to appear for questioning, but he refused to appear. For
days, the purpose of the summons was unclear. On August 16,
however, the press reported that the summons was to question
him about his nationality. Jean-Paul Dias was officially
born in Senegal to a French father and Cape Verdean mother.
His mother obtained his birth certificate after his birth in
1946, then re-registered his birth after she separated from
his father in 1948.


3. (C) The night of August 16, an elite police unit
(normally reserved for kidnappings and violent crimes)
surrounded the Dias home in full battle gear. Around 6
o'clock the following morning, the police -- Mrs. Dias
estimated more than 50 officers -- knocked, then immediately

broke down the front door of the house. Mrs. Dias told us
when she heard the knock, she went to open the door, as her
husband was not yet dressed. When she got to the door, the
police broke through it and hit her on the mouth. While she
bled profusely, they proceeded to the bedroom, which was
still dark in the early morning. According to Mrs. Dias,
they then grabbed her husband, refusing to let him get fully
dressed. He was dragged outside and, by Mrs. Dias' account,
shoved feet-first into a vehicle. She later obtained medical
treatment on her own.


4. (C) A visit to the Dias' home on August 18 quickly
revealed the extent of damage caused by the police. The
police attempted to break down two separate doors, before
using a battering ram to break through the twelve-inch thick
cement wall surrounding the front door. The bedroom door was
also forced open, and the electricity and phone lines cut.
Mrs. Dias told us she has not yet been able to restore
electricity or phone service and is essentially trapped in
their house. The damage to the doors affected the locks,
making it impossible to keep her house secure.

JEAN-PAUL DIAS' HEALTH DETERIORATES
--------------

5. (C) After a day-long interrogation at the DIC, Jean-Paul
Dias was held in Rebeuss Prison. According to media reports
and his wife, he was held in a cell with 20 or so others,
including some accused of murder and others who appeared
mentally ill. With no other source of air, prison
authorities created a small hole in one wall through which to
pump air. Apparently from lack of oxygen, however, Jean-Paul
ultimately fell unconscious. He later reported to his wife
that the guards accused him of feigning his illness and
failed to get medical help for days. RADDHO, a prominent
local human rights organization, asked for permission to
check on Dias but was refused access. Finally, a prison
doctor was sent and referred him to the hospital, where he
has been treated for heart problems and high blood pressure.

JEAN-PAUL DIAS SENTENCED
--------------

6. (U) He was tried on August 16, charged with dissemination
of false news (for saying the Prosecutor did President Wade's
bidding),a death threat against the head of state (for
saying he would kill anyone who tried to touch his son),and
contempt of court (for criticizing the Prosecutor),and

DAKAR 00002030 002 OF 002


sentenced to one year in prison with nine months suspended.
His attorneys are considering an appeal.

BARTHELEMY DIAS SUMMONED, ARRESTED AND SENTENCED
-------------- ---

7. (C) On August 12, Jean-Paul Dias' son was summoned to the
DIC and questioned for 24 hours before being placed in
detention at the prison camp, normally used to hold prisoners
who have already been tried and sentenced. The Dakar daily
"Walfadjri" theorized the GOS wanted to keep father and son
apart, partially out of fear that they could cause trouble
together. Again, RADDHO sought access but was refused. On
August 14, Barthelemy Dias was formally charged with
spreading false news, slander and threats against a judicial
official. On August 16, the same day as his father's trial,
the police again entered the Dias home. Without a warrant,
they searched the house and seized Barthelemy's U.S. passport
and a weapons permit. Barthelemy holds dual Senegalese and
American citizenship.


8. (C) Barthelemy's case went to trial on August 17. An
outstanding orator, he was in complete control of the
courtroom, telling judges not to interrupt him. His sister,
Fanny, told us the guards outside Barthelemy's trial
attempted to bar her from the trial, as they tried to do when
she attended her father's trial the day before. She also
reported that during Barthelemy's trial, the prosecutor cited
an article in the penal code which does not exist. The
prosecutor also told the defense lawyers in front of the
courtroom that they "should be ashamed of defending such a
mean, petty person." One of his lawyers familiar with the
fact that this prosecutor had previously been charged with
embezzlement, responded that the prosecutor was ill-placed to
talk. The prosecutor surprised Barthelemy's attorneys by
introducing into evidence a recording of him accusing Wade of
lying and the prosecutor of corruption. Barthelemy said the
statements were made in the Dias' garage just after Jean-Paul
Dias' arrest. The son's attorneys argued the evidence should
not have been admissible; and the judge decided to put off
rendering a verdict until August 22, when he sentenced the
younger Dias to six months in prison. His U.S. passport has
been returned and consular access has been offered in
principle for later this week.

COMMENT
--------------

9. (C) In May, Embassy reported on the arrest of Jean-Paul
Dias while entering a Good Friday service at the national
cathedral (Ref A). At the time, he was charged in connection
with statements he made prior to the arrest of Amath
Dansokho, leader of the Labor Party, urging resistance to any
attempt by the DIC to apprehend Dansokho. Jean-Paul Dias
subsequently made a comment that he would "kill" whoever
attempted to arrest his son. Although prominent members of
the opposition condemned this statement, and the police said
they viewed it a serious threat, there was widespread
agreement that the police used unreasonable force to arrest
him this time around. Embassy agrees, especially since the
elder Dias has a reputation for making inflammatory
statements and since the summons being delivered was for
questions regarding his nationality, as later admitted by the
prosecutor, and not with his threats.


10. (C) Nationality has apparently become an issue in both
the father and son's cases. Despite the fact that Mrs. Dias
has not yet contacted the U.S. Congress, as reported in the
media, nor sought other direct assistance from the USG for
her son, the GOS has made inquiries into Barthelemy's
citizenship status and publicly questioned whether or not
Jean-Paul is, in fact, Senegalese. Fanny Dias pointed out
that questioning citizenship is odd, given her husband's
experience as former advisor and minister to previous
presidents (and given the fact that President Wade and his
wife both hold French citizenship). She and others in the
NGO community, as well as in the press, have argued that it
is a slippery slope to start questioning people's
citizenship, in a country traditionally marked by tolerance.
Fanny added that she was in Cote d'Ivoire just prior to the
eruption of fighting there and remarked upon some
similarities to the Senegal of today. In particular, she
said the Ivoirians began to question people's nationality
before the civil conflict.


11. (C) Embassy does not necessarily believe the Dias
arrests are harbingers of an outbreak of Cote d'Ivoire-style
conflict, but they are a low point in Senegal's human rights
records and examples of the out-and-out intimidation in the
run-up to the next elections. END COMMENT.
JACOBS