Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06FREETOWN617
2006-07-31 14:40:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Freetown
Cable title:  

SPECIAL COURT REGISTRAR DISCUSSES COMPLETION OF

Tags:  PREL KAWC SL SG 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHFN #0617 2121440
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 311440Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0184
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0098
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 0064
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
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)

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