STAFFDEL SMITH LOOKS AT RULE OF LAW AND SECURITY IN

UNCLAS MONROVIA 000701 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EAID LI SUBJECT: STAFFDEL SMITH LOOKS AT RULE OF LAW AND SECURITY IN LIBERIA ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff members Shannon Smith (Biden) and Sarah Margon (Feingold) visited Liberia August 20-22. Their visit, which focused primarily on rule of law and security issues, included meetings with the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Rule of Law issues Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Minister of Defense Brownie Samukai, and Inspector General of the Liberia National Police Beatrice Monah Sieh Brown. Their visit also included a trip to Kakata to see the INL-funded Justice Sector Support for Liberia Program. They discussed the ongoing work and funding crisis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with TRC Chairman Jerome Verdier and visited an International Rescue Committee gender-based violence project. Though most of the trip was positive, members of the Liberian Senate Foreign Relations Committee told the StaffDel how the United States should have done more to prevent the war in Liberia. END SUMMARY. RULE OF LAW: "LIBERIA'S BIGGEST CHALLENGE" ¶2. (SBU) Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Rule of Law issues Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu told the StaffDel that rule of law, and specifically getting the legal system to work, was "Liberia's biggest challenge" and therefore one of "UNMIL's biggest priorities." She said that from the beginning of Liberia's history, the judicial system was never designed to work for everyone. It was intended to be used by the settlers with the understanding that rural inhabitants would continue to use their traditional justice systems. Now that the system is supposed to cover the entire country, there are far too few courts and a serious lack of trained legal personnel. She said UNMIL will build eight magistrate courts as "Quick Impact Projects" throughout the country, provide motorbikes to Sheriffs in outlying areas, and look at the possibility of sending career magistrates to Ghana for a two-year training program. ¶3. (U) Representatives from the U.S.-contractor PAE working in the Justice Sector Support for Liberia program took the StaffDel up to Kakata, Margibi County to demonstrate how they are training county attorneys, public defenders, and working with the police to boost their investigative and evidence gathering techniques. Officials at the police station and courthouse in Kakata explained that it is difficult for the authorities to apprehend suspects or get witnesses to court because of a lack of transport. They also explained that they suffer from an overwhelming backlog of cases. The prison was overcrowded (mostly with pre-trial detainees) but the warden said they receive support from UNMIL and that they are starting a program to have the prisoners grow their own food on prison grounds. SECURITY: SUCCESS FOR THE AFL, SOME PROGRESS MADE FOR THE POLICE ¶4. (SBU) Minister of Defense Brownie Samukai thanked the StaffDel for continued U.S. support of the Security Sector Reform Program, and particularly for leadership training for officers. He stressed, however, that the MOD no longer wanted to work with U.S. contractors and reiterated several times that he would appreciate if all future projects were done with active-duty U.S. military personnel. When asked if there had been any problems with the current contractors, the Minister said "No, they're doing a good job," but then went on to say that he thought the U.S. could have more of an on-the-ground impact in Liberia using relatively cheaper and more flexible soldiers over expensive and contractually-bound outside firms "that really only want to make money." He also lamented that the GOL was not consulted as the original contracts were being drafted or the MOD would have pushed to have done things differently. He did not specifically elaborate, however, on what the MOD would have done. After the meeting with the Minister, the StaffDel attended an Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) officer commissioning ceremony and toured the Edward Binyah Kesselly (EBK) military barracks that the U.S. renovated as part of our contribution to the Security Sector Reform program. ¶5. (U) The StaffDel also visited the headquarters of the Liberia National Police and observed training for the new Emergency Response Unit at the Police Academy. Inspector General of the Liberia National Police (LNP) Beatrice Monah Sieh Brown told the StaffDel her biggest priority was to improve the LNP's community policing programs. She would also like to completely renovate the LNP headquarters building, or at least get electrical power. TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FACES FUNDING CRISIS ¶6. (U) Chairman of the TRC Jerome Verdier told the StaffDel that the TRC had applied for an extension of its mandate from September 2008 to June 2009 in order to conduct more public thematic hearings and organize a national reconciliation conference to coincide with the release of the final report. He explained, however, that the GOL had yet to provide any funding for the extension and that the TRC would face serious difficulties funding basic operations in the coming months if donors could not help contribute soon. Kristen Cibelli, representative of the U.S. NGO Benetech, told the StaffDel about her work with the TRC to code and statistically analyze approximately 17,000 TRC witness statements in order to study who committed what kinds of human rights violations during Liberia's 14-year civil conflict. GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE STILL A PROBLEM ¶7. (U) The StaffDel visited an International Rescue Committee (IRC) project in a village near Monrovia that grouped together neighborhood men and women into "action committees" to stop domestic violence and rape in the area. The villagers recounted how their action committees had intervened on several occasions when women were being physically abused by their husbands. They also explained how pressure from male members of the group on male-offenders was particularly effective in changing behavior. The IGP explained how the Women and Children's Protection Section of the LNP was working harder to stop gender-based violence (GBV) and the JSSL team explained the GOL's plans to dedicate a new criminal court solely to hearing cases on GBV. LIBERIAN SFRC: U.S. SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE TO PREVENT WAR ¶8. (SBU) The StaffDel's meeting with the members of the Senate Foreign Relations committee was unlike the others in that the Senators expressed slight dissatisfaction with the United States' relationship with Liberia. Chairman Abel Massaley expressed displeasure that the U.S. failed to intervene militarily earlier on several occasions to prevent Liberia from falling in to war. He said this showed that Liberia was the "bastard" child of the U.S., but that the U.S. could make up for its mistake by hosting AFRICOM in Liberia. Senator Ballout from Maryland County was upset that much of Africa was divided between the British Commonwealth and la francophonie and that Liberia had no equivalent membership because it was a U.S. colony. Several of the Senators complained that it was too difficult for their family and staff members to get a visa to go to the United States. COMMENT ¶9. (SBU) The StaffDel's trip highlighted both the successes Liberia has achieved and the challenges it still faces related to security and rule of law at all levels. In each meeting except the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Liberians were quick to offer their sincere gratitude for U.S. assistance in these areas and then suggest ways in which additional support would benefit existing programs. The two members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who were the most negative about Liberia's relationship with the United States were also the two that were most upset about recently refused NIV cases they had tried to "sponsor." Legislators have increasingly weighed in to try and obtain visas for unqualified NIV applicants, either as purported staff or family members, for travel to the United States. ¶10. (U) This message has been cleared by StaffDel Smith. THOMAS-GREENFIELD