PANAMA: GOP "PROFOUNDLY SATISFIED" WITH RESULTS OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000933 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PM SUBJECT: PANAMA: GOP "PROFOUNDLY SATISFIED" WITH RESULTS OF SALAS-BECKER BILATERAL MEETING REF: A. A: PANAMA 000623 ¶B. B: PANAMA 00782 ¶C. C: STATE 126055 ¶D. D: PANAMA 00793 Classified By: Ambassador Barbara J. Stephenson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Vladimir Franco, Director General of Legal and Treaty Affairs at the Panamanian MFA, declared himself "profoundly satisfied" with the results of two days of bilateral meetings on the Salas-Becker Agreement (SBA) December 17. The agreement, a corner stone of U.S. counter-drug operations in the region, had become subject to domestic criticism following the seizure by U.S. authorities of eight Panamanian sailors off a Panamanian flagged ship in 2006 (see ref A). Following on an earlier meeting in which the U.S. expressed regret for the seizure of the sailors and promised never again to request jurisdiction over Panamanian citizens under SBA (see ref B),the two days of sessions (Dec. 16-17) succeeded in developing common proceedures to implement SBA among the representatives of the numerous agencies involved in the agreement within both governments. In a side-bar meeting MFA Senior Advisor Adolfo Ahumada told Brad Kieserman, Chief of the U.S. Coast Guard Operations Law Group and NSC Director of Maritime Threat Reduction, that the Perseus V crew members in U.S. custody remained a "pebble in the shoe" of SBA, and that once they were back in Panama, "Salas Becker (will be) at no risk." Ahumada urged the USG to do everything possible to expedite their return to Panama under existing prisoner exchange mechanisms. Asked about Panama's willingness to prosecute pirates who attacked Panamanian flagged ships (see ref C),Ahumada said he sympathized with the problem, and said he would work to get approval for such cooperation within the GOP. End Summary. -------------- Profoundly Satisfied -------------- ¶2. (C) At the end of a two day bilateral meeting designed to develope Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the impelementation of the Salas-Becker Maritime Cooperation Agreement (SBA),Vladimir Franco, MFA Director General of Legal and Treaty Affairs, declared he was "profoundly satisfied" with the results, calling it a "great example of how we can work together respectfully." The creation of the SOPs is designed to minimize the possibility of future 
problems with regard to the implementation of SBA, one of the most important maritime counter-drug cooperation agreements the U.S. has in Latin America. Panama's cooperation with the U.S. under SBA became politically controversial in Panama after the U.S. seized eight Panamanian sailors off a Panamanian flagged ship in January 2006 (see ref A). While a legal detention under U.S. law, the seizures contravened SBA and the Panamanian constitution that forbids the extradition of Panamanian citizens. On September 12, 2008 Brad Kieserman, Chief of the U.S. Coast Guard Operations Law Group and NSC Director of Maritime Threat Reduction, and EMBOFFs met with MFA officials and conveyed an official expression of regret on behalf of the USG, and an official promise never to request jurisdiction over Panamanian citizens under SBA in the future (see ref B). -------------- Broad Participation Key to Success -------------- ¶3. (C) Franco had begun the meeting by noting that SBA was vital to Panama and the U.S.'s fight against drug trafficking, and that the mistakes that had been made in the past by both sides needed to be overcome to save the agreement. He specifically noted the Perseus V incident, and said that the lesson for both sides was that SBA could not continue to be implemented in an uncoordinated manner. He noted that there had been meetings among different Panamanian government agencies over the preceding two weeks to work out their concerns over the implementation of SBA, possible solutions, and coordinating mechanisms. He said they had reached agreement on 95% of the issues, and needed our agreement on only a few more to be able to complete a set of SOPs that would cover the entire agreement. Franco led a delegation that included representatives from MFA, the Panamanian Embassy in Washington, the Ministry of Government and Justice, the National Aero-Naval Service, Civil Aviation, the Panamanian Maritime Authority, and the Attorney General's office, including the two national drug prosecutors. Mr. Kieserman led a delegation from the U.S. which included CAPT Kevin O'Day, Chief of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) 11th District, CAPT Tom Crabbs, USCG Liaison to Joint Inter-Agency Task Force South (JIATF-S),Mr. Lou Orsini, USCG Chief of Interdiction, CDR Harry Schmitt, Deputy Chief of Law Enforcement for USCG District 7, CDR Sheryl Dickinson, Staff Judge Advocate for JIATF-S, and LT Tamara Wallen, Legal Advisor to the USCG Chief of Law Enforcement. EmbOffs from DOS, DEA, TAT, and ODC represented the Embassy. -------------- Jurisdiction Requests Major Issue -------------- ¶4. (C) Among the problems identified by the Panamanians was the SBA provision for declining jurisdiction over non-Panamanian citizens in criminal cases. SBA identified the Panamanian National Maritime Service (SMN) (now National Aero-Naval Service - SENAN) as the point of contact for such decisions. Franco explained that SMN/SENAN was never competent to take such decisions, and that this fact was the origin of the Perseus V case. As a result, he proposed that such requests only come through the diplomatic channel, from the U.S. Embassy in Panama to the Panamanian MFA. The U.S. delegation agreed, and this procedure will be written into a joint SOP that will be used by both sides to implement the agreement. At a subsequent meeting, MFA Senior Advisor Adolfo Ahumada agreed with a U.S. proposal that a diplomatic channel be set up to consider such requests over weekends and holidays to avoid long delays for the USCG at sea. The Panamanian side also announced that the SENAN operations center would be the 24/7 point of contact for all requests related to SBA, except for requests for jurisdiction. The two parties also discussed the future of the ship rider program, disposition of large ships seized in counter-drug operations, and what Panamanian prosecutors needed from the USCG in their evidence packets. -------------- Resolving Perseus V -------------- ¶5. (C) In a pull-aside meeting with MFA Vice Minister Ricardo "Dicky" Duran and Ahumada, Franco told Mr. Kieserman and PolOff that the GOP had convinced five of the Perseus V prisoners in various federal prisons in Texas to solicit prisoner transfer, and that they hoped that the successful execution of those transfers would convince the remaining prisoners to solicit transfer. Franco requested USG assistance in expediting the transfers. Ahumada described the Perseus V prisoners as a "pebble in the shoe" of SBA, and said that once they were all in Panama, "Salas-Becker (will be) at no risk." -------------- Piracy Cooperation -------------- ¶6. (C) Mr. Kieserman then noted the UN Security Council's recent approval of Resolution 1851 and inquired if Panama would be willing to prosecute acts of piracy against Panamanian flagged vessels in the Indian Ocean (see ref C). He said as more naval vessels were deployed in the area, the likelihood of pirates being captured would increase. Noting the jurisdictional difficulties involved in such prosecutions, Mr. Kieserman asked that Panama show support by taking on some of these prosecutions. He explained that there would probably not be more than one or two cases a year, and that the USG would provide logistical support for such prosecutions. He also noted that SBA could be used to authorize U.S. boarding of Panamanian flagged ships in piracy cases, as the agreement refers to maritime law enforcement, not just counter-drug operations. While noting there were serious logistical issues for Panama to prosecute such cases, including translation issues, and the availability of prosecutors and staff, Ahumada said he was sympathetic about the issue, and would push the issue within the GOP to secure agreement to prosecute a limited number of cases to support UN anti-piracy efforts. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) This meeting was a major success, in large part due to the diligent preparatory work of the MFA, and especially Vladimir Franco. Post has raised the issue of Franco's uncooperativeness in the past (see ref D),due to his tendency to look for reasons why things could not happen, rather than for ways they could. SBA has been a major example of that, but Franco has worked very hard to bring the different elements of the GOP together to find ways to overcome the inherent defects in the way the GOP has been implementing SBA and has put the agreement on a sounder legal and procedural basis than it has ever been. As our previous cable suggested, Franco's legalistic nature has actually benefited the USG. Pending the final transfer of the Perseus V prisoners, Post believes the U.S. has finally put the SBA crisis behind it. The successful conclusion of this process would not have been possible without the leadership and diligence of Mr. Kieserman, and Post wishes to express its deep appreciation of his role throughout this process. STEPHENSON