SPECIAL COURT REGISTRAR DISCUSSES COMPLETION OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L FREETOWN 000617 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, S/WCI, L/AF,IO USUN FOR AHILLMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2016 TAGS: PREL KAWC SL SG SUBJECT: SPECIAL COURT REGISTRAR DISCUSSES COMPLETION OF TRIALS, CONCERNS ABOUT DETAINEE HEALTH, LIBERIA OUTREACH REF: DOHERTY-HILLMAN/TAFT E-MAIL OF JULY 26 Classified By: Ambassador Thomas N. Hull, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) Special Court for Sierra Leone Registrar Lovemore Munlo met with Ambassador and PolOff on July 26 to discuss a number of issues the Court faces, including its completion strategy (discussed in reftel). Munlo stood by the draft completion calendar forwarded to the Management Committee that estimates that the CDF and AFRC trials and appeals will be complete in late 2007/early 2008 and that the RUF case will be complete by the end of 2008. Munlo added that the estimate of 4-6 months per appeal was still a rough estimate, since these dates do not take into consideration the fact that appeals chamber judges may grant time extensions or call witnesses during the appeals process or take vacation between appeals cases. ¶2. (C) Munlo also said he is happy to finally be on the record voicing his concerns for detainees' health. The draft agreement for detainees to be treated for serious health conditions in Senegal, Munlo said, is still stalled in the Senegalese Ministry of the Interior, according to his interlocutor from the British High Commission in Freetown. Munlo said the Senegalese are reviewing an older version of the agreement (originally formulated in 2003 to provide medical assistance to now-deceased indictee Foday Sankoh). Munlo said that the UN Office of Legal Affairs is supposed to approach the Government of Senegal with new language (drafted to "tighten things up" at the behest of USUN),but he is afraid that the Sengalese will see this as an excuse to reject the agreement. ¶3. (U) Munlo said that he would like to do more outreach in Monrovia concerning the Charles Taylor trial, but to date has been unable to reach UNMIL SRSG Alan Doss. Munlo said that he would like to meet with President Johnson-Sirleaf as well as the Liberian legislative assembly and civil society to answer questions and clear up misconceptions about the Taylor case. "We need to be seen as doing something," Munlo said. Munlo also wants to arrange video links for Liberians to view the Taylor case, as directed in UNSCR 1688. ¶4. (C) Comment: Munlo's message to the Management Committee regarding the completion calendar is not just his own: others on the Court staff share his views about the need to ensure a fair trial by allowing ample time for the defense. In particular, we have heard concerns about the troubling optics of "changing the rules in the middle of the game" (i.e., allowing the prosecution to go at its own pace and then tightening the strings when it comes time to give the defense its time on the floor). Post agrees that efficiencies can be found in the system, but that those efficiencies should not come at the expense of a fair trial. End Comment. HULL