COTE D'IVOIRE: JUSTICE FOR THE RICH AND POWERFUL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000439

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2018
TAGS: KCOR KDEM KJUS PGOV IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: JUSTICE FOR THE RICH AND POWERFUL

REF: ABIDJAN 403

Classified By: Pol/Econ Section Chief Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b/d
)



1. (C) Summary. Cote d'Ivoire's judicial system is broken and
not likely to be fixed soon. The President of the Ivorian
Bar Association told Ambassador that the judiciary is filled
with corrupt judges. Court decisions are not published and
judges' copies of their decisions are sent to persons outside
the judiciary for typing because judges and clerks lack
computer training. The poor state of the judiciary will
undoubtedly have an effect on the ongoing prosecution of top
officials in the cocoa sector on corruption and embezzlement
charges (See reftel). According to a member of the Bar
Association, pressure will be exerted on the judges involved
in the case both by the financially powerful accused as well
as the politically powerful Presidency. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Democracy cannot flourish in a state that lacks rule
of law. Cote d'Ivoire's judicial system, partly because of
the political crisis that split the country in two and partly
due to the culture of impunity that has since taken hold of
Ivorian society, has become practically dysfunctional. There
is a perception among Ivorians that justice in Cote d'Ivoire
is available only to those with financial resources or
political connections. Unfortunately, this perception seems
to be the reality.


3. (C) Ambassador met on June 19 with the President of the
Ivorian Bar Association, Claude Mentenon. Mentenon described
the state of the justice system as "appalling." He noted that
in Cote d'Ivoire's "unity" government in which all major
parties are represented, the Minister of Justice is a member
of the Prime Minister's New Forces movement and his mandate
is limited to the identification process which is a necessary
step in preparations for the upcoming presidential election.
Mentenon said Justice Minister Mamadou Kone has absolutely no
authority to reform the judicial system, which Embassy has
been told includes about 550 judges and 500 attorneys.


4. (C) Mentenon described a court system that is riddled with
corrupt judges and lacks a police presence to protect judges
from the accused as well as any public record of decisions
rendered. He characterized the President of the Supreme
Court as a "public danger," who changes his legal decisions
depending on the interests he is trying to protect. Most
disturbingly, Mentenon alleged that there are line items in
the government's budget for nonexistent courts and that when
he raised this with government officials, he was urged not to
go public because international aid to Cote d'Ivoire would
dry up as a result.


5. (SBU) An Abidjan Appeals Court judge told Poloff that
Supreme Court offices are not located in one building, judges
in many courts are forced to share offices due to lack of
space, and there are no legal libraries. She said that,
while there are computers, many judges and clerks don't know
how to use them and have been given no training, so decisions
are given to outsiders to type. (Comment. This practice
could conceivably allow for tampering with the texts of
judges' decisions. End Comment.)


6. (C) The poor state of the judiciary will have an effect on
the ongoing corruption prosecution of top officials in the
cocoa sector (See Reftel). Kouame Kouassi, a member of the
Bar Association's Executive Committee, told Poloff July 1
that pressure will be exerted on the judges involved in this
case both by the accused who are financially powerful as well
as the politically powerful Presidency. Kouassi said the
judges will advise the Chief Prosecutor of how they plan to
proceed and that, in practice, the Chief Prosecutor receives
his orders directly from the President. Kouassi recounted to
Poloff how a judge approached him offering to enter into
discussions if Kouassi were representing any clients in this
case (Kouassi is not).


7. (C) Kouassi believes that, while there is substance to the
allegations in these cases, and even if the government is
sincere about fighting corruption, there is a political
motivation for the prosecution. Kouassi explained that
rumors about corruption in the cocoa sector have existed for
years and have been ignored until now in the lead-up to
presidential elections. According to Kouassi, the
prosecution will follow this case to its end because
President Gbagbo will be discredited if those who have been
arrested, some of whom are prominent members of Gbagbo's FPI
party, are released after only a few weeks or months.
Kouassi believes Gbagbo was forced to arrest the FPI members
involved because otherwise his efforts would not have been
taken seriously. He explained that, while there is no

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official plea bargaining process in the Ivorian legal system,
there are permissible unofficial discussions with judges
regarding leniency if the accused cooperates. Thus, those
arrested thus far may benefit from implicating others in the
cocoa corruption scandal.
NESBITT