SUGGESTED INFO MEMO ON BOUTERSE TRIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARAMARIBO 000609 SIPDIS SIPDIS WHA/CAR FOR JACKIE ROSHOLT, INR FOR BOB CARHART, WHA/PDA FOR AUDREY PRUITT AND CHARLOTTE PETERSON, USEMBASSY BRASILIA FOR BRIAN BUTCHER, LEGATT FOR K KURRIER, POL-MIL FOR MIKE BORDERS, DRL FOR JENNIE MUNOZ AND THERESE TRACY, DOJ FOR ROBERT LIPMAN, OSD FOR ASHLEY RICHARDSON, SOUTHCOM FOR STEVEN WETZEL E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2017 TAGS: PGOV ASIC SNAR NS SUBJECT: SUGGESTED INFO MEMO ON BOUTERSE TRIAL Classified By: PolOff in accordance with EO 12958 ¶1. (U) The following is suggested text for an info memo on the "December Process" (Bouterse trial) in Suriname. ¶2. (C) The trial of Desi Bouterse and 24 co-defendants for the December 1982 murder of fifteen political opponents will begin on Friday, November 30. Bouterse is expected by many to attempt to derail the trial through fomenting unrest and violence. President Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan and Minister of Justice and Police Chandrikapersad Santokhi, staunch political and personal enemies of Bouterse, say they are committed to ensuring that the process moves forward peacefully and without the taint of politics. Bouterse, coup leader in 1980, military strongman from 1980 to 1992, and current opposition leader and parliamentarian, remains a prominent figure in Surinamese politics, whether delivering bombastic speeches or goading his National Democratic Party (NDP) to try to force the government,s resignation. Often disappearing into the unpatrolled, forested interior of the country, Bouterse is the subject of rumors ranging from likely true: drug trafficking and alliances with the FARC -- to speculative: contracting Guyanese assassination squads, organizing Amerindian uprisings, and planning arson attacks on the Surinamese judiciary,s homes. While Bouterse has admitted "political responsibility" for the 1982 killings of fifteen opponents of his then-military government and offered a public apology, he continues to deny personal involvement. Eyewitness reports place him at the site of the killings, and one rumor circulates that Bouterse castrated one victim before killing him. "I,m not paying attention to the trial" remains the Bouterse line, and as the process moves forward, he may test the government,s will by daring them to compel him to appear. He may appear for trial to deride the government, the process, and the politics of putting him on trial. Or, he may choose to flee. There is little clarity on what form the trial will take. Hans Lim A Po, Surinamese legal expert and policy advisor to the government, does not know how the trial will be structured -- including if defendants will be tried together or individually. Much will depend on the will and health of the aging, independent-minded judiciary. At the quickest, the trial will last for months, and at the slowest, for years. It could be followed by an amnesty process in Parliament, which Speaker Paul Somohardjo favors. Ordinary Surinamers regard the trial, machinations and rumors surrounding it with alienated cynicism. They appear less worried about whether Bouterse will be convicted, or start riots and fires, and more about whether this government, or a subsequent Bouterse-led one, will move forward decisively to address inefficiencies created by a corrupt, bloated state sector. For most, the trial promises to be business as usual: incremental steps forward in the midst of speculation and rumors reported by a less-than-responsible press, and attempts by both political sides to get the public on their bandwagons. In the end, the only side ordinary Surinamers are likely to take is their own, which bodes ill for Bouterse,s plans for popular revolt -- as well as the government,s plans for public approval of its procedures, policies, and the trial itself. SCHREIBER HUGHES