Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ANTANANARIVO393
2007-04-23 13:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Antananarivo
Cable title:  

AF/E Director Reddick in Antananarivo

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PHUM PINR MA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3740
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHAN #0393/01 1131344
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 231344Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4673
INFO RUCNSAD/SADCC COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0872
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000393 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/E, AF/FO, INR/AA, AND DRL
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PHUM PINR MA
SUBJECT: AF/E Director Reddick in Antananarivo


ANTANANARI 00000393 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000393

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/E, AF/FO, INR/AA, AND DRL
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PHUM PINR MA
SUBJECT: AF/E Director Reddick in Antananarivo


ANTANANARI 00000393 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In Madagascar April 15-18, East Africa Bureau
(AF/E) Director Reddick paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister
to discuss the April 4 referendum and ongoing disaster response. In
meetings with the Red Cross and the Presidency, Director Reddick
explored possible solutions to Madagascar's chronic prison problem.
Director Reddick also took part in a planning session for upcoming
democracy advocacy activities following up on the December 3
election. END SUMMARY.

Prime Minister Rabemananjara
--------------


2. (SBU) In a cordial meeting with the Prime Minister, General
Charles Rabemananjara, AF/E Director Reddick and the Ambassador
inquired about the connection between the April 4 referendum and the
Madagascar Action Plan (MAP). PM Rabemananjara explained the
Constitutional reforms were needed to allow the President to manage
the country and implement the choices made by the Malagasy people.
The MAP is complementary, he continued, as it is the country's first
long term economic blueprint for development. The Prime Minister
expressed satisfaction with the referendum result, calling the 75
percent approval a sign of the people's confidence in the
Government.


3. (SBU) Moving to disaster relief, the Prime Minister thanked the
United States for its response to the series of cyclones that have
hit Madagascar. Commenting on the ongoing Government-led relief
effort, he said coordination must be improved. PM Rabemananjara
said all GOM agencies and partners must make decisions on accurate
and timely information about the situation on the ground across the
country.

Madagascar's Overcrowded Prisons
--------------


4. (SBU) Given the deplorable conditions in Madagascar's prison
system, Post's Human Rights Report has consistently highlighted
prison conditions as the most serious violations of human rights.
AF/E Director Reddick received a briefing from International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Country Director Maziar Mostafavi

for the latest update on conditions. The ICRC just completed an
assessment of a sample including 13 of Madagascar's prisons around
the country. Abuse and neglect of prisoners remains a top concern,
as does the acute problem of overcrowding.


5. (SBU) Following the assessment, ICRC will soon make a decision
about maintaining its presence in Madagascar to continue its
assistance in prisons. Political will, Mostafavi insisted, must be
backed up by concrete actions and immediate improvements in prison
conditions.

Presidency Prisons Pilot
--------------


6. (SBU) The Norwegian advisor to the President on Good Governance,
Petter Langseth, freely acknowledged the sorry state of Madagascar's
prisons and its judicial backlog. He said the problem with most
solutions previously considered, including a project by the European
Union, is that they were capital intensive and would deplete
Madagascar's scarce financial resources. Langseth's alternative is
to use the substantial land holdings in the prison system to
generate revenue and make the prisons self-sustaining.
Simultaneously he would ease overcrowding by clearing the cases of
prisoners awaiting trial. Finally, he would introduce job training
skills to decrease recidivism. Langseth presented this project,
with a USD 333,000 budget for three model prisons, and sought U.S.
funding to help launch it, noting that it responds to the criticisms
we have raised in the Human Rights Report. Reddick accepted the
proposal but made no promises on funding, noting that it remains the
GOM's responsibility to improve its human rights record regardless
of whether it receives outside funding to do so.

National Democratic Institute Building on Success
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) AF/E Director Reddick met with newly-arrived Country
Director for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Scott Kearin to
discuss follow-up steps on electoral reform in Madagascar. NDI
continues to reinforce the capacity of Malagasy democracy promoting
NGOs and plans to organize a senior elections official from a
Southern African Development Community (SADC) country to visit
Madagascar. Efforts will follow two parallel tracks: one, to
continue to advocate for electoral reforms to include use of a

ANTANANARI 00000393 002.2 OF 002


single ballot and an independent electoral commission; two, to
address longer-term needs for political party development and civic
education.


8. (SBU) COMMENT: Prime Minister Rabemananjara was soft-spoken in
our meeting, but the senior General carries a big stick in his
internal Cabinet meetings. The prisons crisis in Madagascar remains
a black mark on the country's otherwise satisfactory human rights
record. The Presidency plan to improve them sounds plausible, but
like the ICRC we need to see action and a commitment of the GOM's
own resources, instead of talk. END COMMENT.

MCGEE