UPDATE ON UN EFFORTS TO SET UP LEBANON TRIBUNAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000575

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2017
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC SY LE
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON UN EFFORTS TO SET UP LEBANON TRIBUNAL

REF: A. REINEMEYER-KUMAR-WILLSON E-MAIL


B. BEIRUT 963

C. BEIRUT 1005

D. USUN 515

Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, per 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. USUN Legal Adviser and Poloff met with UN
Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) attorneys Mark Quarterman and
Jerome de Hemptinne on July 12 to seek an update on efforts
to establish the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. USUN Legal
Adviser met separately with UN Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel
to convey the information in refs A-C. Stressing the need to
move quickly to maintain momentum behind the establishment of
the tribunal, USUN officers urged prompt action on the
location of the court, selection of judges, the budget, and
security. Quarterman agreed that speed was critical and
expressed hope that the venue could be announced and an
initial budget presented in the SYG's 90-day report on
implementation of resolution 1757, due in early September.
He said the three potential host countries (the Netherlands,
Germany, and Austria) had given the UN "not entirely
negative" signals about their willingness to accept the
tribunal. The UN has hired Robin Vincent, the former
Registrar of the Sierra Leone court, to begin preparing a
budget for the tribunal. Quarterman said the UN would move
quickly to put in a process to appoint judges and a
prosecutor, but he appealed to the USG to urge GOL officials
to be realistic about the pace and the advisability of
rushing these preparations. He agreed that tribunal judges
and the prosecutor must be protected once they are appointed,
but noted that before they become UN employees, other
countries might have to step into fill the void. End Summary.

Budget: Getting Ready to Move Forward
--------------


2. (C) Quarterman reported that OLA had hired Robin Vincent,
the British national who formerly served as Registrar for the
Sierra Leone tribunal, as well as another outside expert to
begin preparing staffing tables and budget estimates for the
Lebanon tribunal. Vincent is scheduled to start working in
New York on July 16. While Vincent would have to wait until
the tribunal's venue is determined before preparing a final
cost estimate, Quarterman characterized the decision to hire
him now as a positive step that put the UN in a position to
move forward quickly once a venue is determined. Quarterman
also said the UN fund to receive donor contributions for the
tribunal had been established. The UN has also secured
internal funds to cover setup costs (travel, salaries, etc.)
until donors begin contributing into the tribunal-specific
fund.


3. (C) Quarterman said the UN had received written
confirmation from the GOL to proceed with the steps necessary
to establish a management committee to oversee the work of
the tribunal. He said this confirmation would enable the UN
to proceed with establishing the committee even if there is a
change in government in Beirut. Quarterman added, though,
that the UN would likely wait to actually set up the
committee until some of initial steps -- securing a location,
preparing a budget, etc. -- have been taken. Predicting that
the committee would include the major donors to the court,
Lebanon, and other interested parties, he wondered whether it
would also make sense to include those Council members who
abstained on resolution 1757 as a way of bringing them into
the process and securing their support. Quarterman promised
to stay in touch with USUN on this question.

Venue: Announcement by September?
--------------


4. (C) Although he declined to divulge details, Quarterman
said the UN had received "not entirely negative signals" from
the three countries (the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria)
it had approached to host the tribunal. He added that UN
Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel had recently traveled to one of
the three possible sites on other business but also met with
officials to continue consultations on the tribunal with that
government. (Note: USUN heard separately that UN Under
Secretary-General for Safety and Security David Veness also

SIPDIS
recently traveled to The Hague to investigate the security
implications of basing the Lebanon tribunal in that city.
End Note.) Quarterman expressed hope that the UN would be
able to decide on a venue by the time the Secretary-General
is expected to submit his 90-day report on the implementation
of resolution 1757 in early September.

Appointments: Lebanese Must Be Realistic
--------------

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5. (C) Judges: USUN Legal Adviser passed the information in
ref A to Michel in a separate meeting on July 12. Michel
offered no substantive response.


6. (C) Quarterman, noting that the UN would ordinarily have
planned to appoint judges early next year when at least some
of the funding is in place, said OLA had reconciled itself to
accelerating that timeline in response to pressure from
Lebanon. He indicated that the UN would soon send a letter
to member states inviting nominations within sixty days for
international judges to serve on the tribunal. Per the
UN-GOL tribunal agreement, OLA would also solicit nominations
from other qualified persons, such as international jurists.
At the same time, the Secretariat would begin assembling the
selection panel that would select both Lebanese and
international judges. Quarterman estimated that it would
take a few months, once nominations are received, for
candidates to be interviewed, vetted, and appointed. For
security reasons, he suggested that appointments of Lebanese
and international judges would be made at the same time, even
if the Lebanese judges are selected first.


7. (C) Emphasizing that Brammertz's successor should be in
place by November 2007 to ensure some overlap between the two
investigators, Quarterman said OLA was now "actively
thinking" about possible names. He mentioned that Michel had
discussed the issue with Brammertz on July 11. Whoever is
selected to succeed Brammertz should also become the
prosecutor of the tribunal, Quarterman argued. Acknowledging
that some Lebanese have pushed for the appointment of a
prosecutor as a way of transferring responsibility for the
four incarcerated generals to the tribunal, Quarterman
underscored that the prosecutor would not be able to charge
the generals without the judges being in place. Moreover,
the UN would have to delay the point at which the new chief
investigator would actually become the prosecutor until
sufficient funds are in place to set up the tribunal and
cover its expenses for three years. Expressing some
exasperation with Lebanese demands for quick action
regardless of the steps necessary to establish the tribunal,
Quarterman urged the USG to help ensure Lebanese expectations
for the court are realistic.

Security: Judges Must Be Protected
--------------


8. (C) Quarterman underscored that the UN and the
international community have a moral obligation and a
pragmatic one to protect the tribunal judges and prosecutor
once they are appointed. But he noted that until the
appointments are announced, the judges would not be UN
employees. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of
keeping the list of nominated judges strictly confidential.
If the Lebanese conclude it is necessary to protect those
nominees before the selections are made, despite the risk
that such protection would make it clear which judges have
actually been nominated, Quarterman said the UN had proposed
that the GOL talk to third countries to secure this
protection. Recalling the number of Lebanese politicians who
have been assassinated even with close protection details,
Quarterman opined that it might be necessary to move the
appointed judges outside Lebanon once their names are
announced.
KHALILZAD