MEETINGS WITH ARGENTINE JUSTICE MINISTER AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000881

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KJUS FBI AR
SUBJECT: MEETINGS WITH ARGENTINE JUSTICE MINISTER AND
PROSECUTOR GENERAL ON JUDICIAL REFORM AND USDOJ TRAINING

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 814


B. 2006 BUENOS AIRES 02612

Classified By: AMBASSADOR E. ANTHONY WAYNE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary: Ambassador met separately with Minister of
Justice Alberto Iribarne on April 24 and Prosecutor General
Esteban Righi on April 27 to discuss upcoming USDOJ
consultations and training seminars; GOA efforts to introduce
judicial reform; trafficking in persons (ref A); and passage
of Argentina's counterterrorism finance law (septel). While
both welcomed USG training programs, Righi expressed concern
with the timing of the training given that it is an electoral
year. Ambassador assured Righi that the training is not open
to the public and will not be publicized. As a result, Righi
agreed to the training. On judicial reform, Iribarne stated
that the GOA would introduce draft legislation before the
elections, but Righi was not as optimistic, suggesting that
such a strategy raises the risk that the issue will become
politicized. In addition, the Ambassador raised
anti-corruption issues with Iribarne who noted that the
Ministry's Anti-Corruption Office was mostly focused on
prevention, rather than investigation, of corruption. End
Summary.

USDOJ Consultations, Training and Extradition Assistance
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Following up on U.S. Attorney General Gonzales'
February offer to provide trial advocacy training to
Argentine prosecutors and investigators, the Ambassador
informed both Iribarne and Righi that the training would take
place in June. LEGATT added that USDOJ plans to offer one
course in Buenos Aires and one in Cordoba that would train 80
federal and provincial prosecutors and investigators. He
also noted that on May 7, three USDOJ prosecutors would be
visiting Argentina for consultations with the GOA to discuss
the mutual legal assistance treaty and extradition issues.
LEGATT noted that the FBI is helping the GOA with its
extradition request for suspected human rights violator
Ernesto Guillermo Barreiro. He further explained that the
request must provide probable cause for all crimes the GOA
intends to prosecute, because of the rule of specialty, which
stipulates that a country can only prosecute a suspect for
crimes that the country of extradition approved in its
extradition order.


3. (C) Iribarne welcomed the consultations and training,
but Righi expressed electoral sensitivities over the timing
of the June trial advocacy seminar, particularly if the
seminar is widely publicized. He noted that the GOA is
currently working on reforming the judicial system and argued
that prospects for passage could be jeopardized if the
seminar became publicly known. The Ambassador assured Righi
that the seminar would not be publicized and that its
intended audience is focused on federal and provincial
investigators and prosecutors. Righi stated that so long as
the training is not publicized and that the title of the
course is not "Procedural Reforms", he is comfortable with
the training taking place.

GOA Judicial Reform Efforts
--------------


4. (C) On judicial reform, Iribarne stated that a
Presidential decree has helped to advance reform of the
Criminal Procedure Code. A bicameral commission that
includes academics and judges is currently reviewing the
proposed reforms. While complex, Iribarne stated that he
believed the reform will be ready by August-- well before the
October Presidential elections. In a separate meeting, PG
Righi was not as optimistic, opining that introducing the
reforms so close to the elections runs the risk of
politicizing the issue. He acknowledged that Argentina's
judicial system is in great need for reform as there is great
public dissatisfaction with the judiciary's performance.

GOA Judicial Reform Efforts
--------------


5. (C) Iribarne also briefed the Ambassador of the GOA's
efforts to push judicial reform. He noted that there is
intense debate, particularly over reform of the Court of
Appeals for Criminal Matters. Since the matter is so
divisive, Iribarne explained that he is looking to separate
out the issue from the rest of the judicial reforms currently
under consideration. He explained that the Court of Appeals
for Criminal Matters not only hears federal criminal appeals,
but also hears all non-federal criminal cases for the federal
capital of Buenos Aires since the capital does not have its
own appeals system. Half of the court's docket are ordinary

appeal claims from the capital. Consequently, the GOA is
proposing to create a new Court of Appeals for the capital
that would deal with all ordinary appeals from the capital.
This would allow the original Court of Appeals to focus
exclusively on federal crimes, including cases on the human
rights abuses that occurred during the military dictatorship.
He believes that this would improve the Court's case
management efficiency by decreasing its workload. (NOTE:
This would also speed up current human rights trials which is
a top priority of the Kirchner administration.) He also
indicated that current reforms under consideration would
create a special Secretariat that would deal exclusively with
human rights cases.

Judicial (in)efficiency
--------------


6. (C) When asked about the causes of significant judicial
delays, Iribarne stated that it is more a question of
leadership and using limited resources effectively, ratheQ
than an overwhelming caseload. He noted that the MOJ is
currently finalizing a report that highlights the best
practices of labor judge Graciela Marino whom President
Kirchner recently recognized with a national award for
quality in the public sector. Iribarne complained that there
is too much bureaucracy involved in the administration of
justice and that appeals courts should exercise their power
to deny hearing cases, and only hear those cases that have a
broad impact on Argentine jurisprudence. He did acknowledge,
however, that Argentina needs more appeals courts.


7. (C) Righi offered another explanation for judicial
delays, citing the fact that suspects can participate in, and
thereby hinder, investigations. In addition, prosecutors can
air the case in public during the investigation phase. This
slows down the judicial process and often results in the
media and public taking sides before a case is even tried.
This slows down the judicial process and raises the potential
for bias in trials. This also makes it very difficult to
conduct complex investigations, Righi acknowledged. LEGATT
noted that the U.S. judicial system prohibits this practice
by prosecutors, precisely because it can influence public
opinion. Righi agreed, noting that prohibiting this practice
would be useful, but that given Argentina's experience with
gross human rights violations during the 1970s military
dictatorship, such changes would be very difficult to pass.

MOJ Anti-corruption Office focused on Prevention not
Investigations
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8. (C) On anti-corruption, Iribarne told the Ambassador
that the UN had offered to evaluate the performance of the
GOA's anti-corruption office (ACO). In contrast to his
previous explanation of the ACO's mission (ref B),he
explained that the office is mostly focused on increasing
government transparency and preventing corruption, as opposed
to investigating corruption allegations. In recent weeks,
the Minister asserted that the (ACO) has invited NGOs to
monitor a government bid for the construction of new prisons.
Ambassador noted that this was a positive step, as NGOs play
a very important role in ensuring transparency at all
government levels.
WAYNE