LEBANON TRIBUNAL - PROGRESS REPORT

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000780 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM KJUS LE PREL SY SUBJECT: LEBANON TRIBUNAL - PROGRESS REPORT REF: WILLSON-REINEMEYER 9/17/07 EMAIL ¶1. USUN Legal Adviser spoke with UN Assistant Secretary General for Legal Affairs, Larry Johnson, September 18, about progress on the appointment of a Prosecutor and Judges for the Lebanon Tribunal. He confirmed that UN Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel has interviewed some prospects for the Prosecutor's job. Johnson also said that UN Independent International Investigations Commissioner Serge Brammertz is currently in Hong Kong at a meeting of Prosecutors and will be on the lookout for new names to add to the list. ¶2. The UN Legal Office (OLA) has given the Secretary General four nominees for the panel which will select the Prosecutor and Judges. The Secretary General is to choose two of the four to serve with Michel on the panel. The panel candidates are people with experience as judges on the Rwanda Tribunal (ICTR),Yugoslav Tribunal (ICTY) or International Court of Justice (ICJ). The panel will convene in the middle to end of October to make their selections. In addition to the Prosecutor, they must choose seven (7) international and four (4) Lebanese judges. Although OLA has sufficient Lebanese nominees, they have received only four nominees for international judges. ¶3. The UN is anxious to select the Prosecutor so that he or she will have two months overlap with Brammertz before January 1, when the new Prosecutor would begin work at the Commission. The UN also plans to convene the Tribunal's Management Committee soon so that it can begin discussion of terms and conditions of employment of the staff and other details that will be needed to get the court up and running. USG Michel reported to the Council on September 19 and a report on his briefing will be provided shortly (septel). KHALILZAD