FRANCE: S/WCI AMBASSADOR WILLIAMSON DISCUSSES WAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 001828 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2018 TAGS: PREL PHUM KAWC FR UN SUBJECT: FRANCE: S/WCI AMBASSADOR WILLIAMSON DISCUSSES WAR CRIMES ISSUES WITH GOF Classified By: Pol/D Andrew R. Young for reasons 1.4 (B & D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: S/WCI Ambassador Williamson met with French MFA officials on September 12 to discuss human rights abuses in Georgia and the status of the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda (ICTY and ICTR),the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL),the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT),and Guantanamo Bay detainees. On Georgia, MFA human rights director Sylvie Bermann said the EU was preparing to deploy military police observers to the buffer zone in South Ossetia as soon as October 1. She said a formal announcement would most likely come sometime this week during the GAERC on September 15 (Note: The EU made this announcement as previewed). Bermann noted there would be more discussions on Georgia coming up in the UNGA, UNAMIC, OSCE, as well as a conference set to take place in Geneva on October 15. Although there had been no official announcement, an EU deployment of 200 observers was set to commence October 1. Bermann said the GOF would know more soon about a UN fact-finding mission to Georgia. Bermann and advisor to the foreign minister Sylvie Pantz said the GOF was supportive of Georgian efforts to ask the ICC for a formal investigation into human rights abuses. On the KRT, MFA officials expressed concern about corruption and lack of focus for the tribunals. They are pleased the USG would now serve as a donor, which they believed would help address the corruption issue. The MFA also expressed concern about the lack of progress toward closure on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Pantz noted the GOF was becoming increasingly more supportive of assisting in Iraq. She also expressed concern about France accepting an Algerian detainee who had been adopted in France. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) S/WCI Ambassador Clint Williamson met with MFA advisor to the foreign minister Sylvie Pantz, and MFA human rights director Sylvie Bermann, Christian Bernier, Gurvan Le Bras, and Marc Giacomini in Paris on September 12. Georgia: Push for Investigation of Abuses -------------- ¶3. (C) Ambassador Williamson briefed Sylvie Bermann and MFA officials on his September 10-11 trip to Georgia, stressing the need for an immediate, robust EU mission to Georgia and separatist regions. While noting the U.S. is not a party to the ICC, Williamson added he did discuss with Georgian officials their thinking on an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation. Williamson believed the Georgians were going to make a formal request to the ICC for an investigation into war crimes and human rights abuses, but that the request would probably not come for some time since the Georgians are currently focusing their resources on their International Court of Justice case. In the meantime, Williamson feared that as time progressed more of the evidence would be lost, so it was important for observer missions to act quickly and get access to areas where crimes occurred. In addition, Williamson stressed that it would be helpful for missions to be staffed with individuals who have experience analyzing and investigating these types of crimes. ¶4. (C) Bermann explained that the EU observer mission's mandate has been agreed upon and that the participation of 65 EU military police were approved during force generation discussions. She was not optimistic that the EU would be able to add specialists that could deal with these crimes to the mission, saying that the mission will be deployed October 1 and that once deployed, officials might be able to push for greater access and an expanded mandate. Williamson noted that military police could help to investigate crimes and saw their inclusion as a positive step. Bermann added there would be more discussions on Georgia coming up in the UNGA, UNAMIC, OSCE, as well as a conference set to take place in Geneva on October 15. Williamson asked Bermann if all EU members were participating. Bermann replied not all EU members would but that they had received 360 proposals from them. She said the EU would intervene, if necessary, even if Russia refused an EU observer deployment to areas around the South Ossentian buffer zone. Williamson questioned whether there was anything the U.S. could do to help document crimes, noting that U.S. imagery of destroyed villages corroborated claims by NGOs Human Rights Watch and Moscow-based Memorial. Bermann's honest assessment was that U.S. support would cause many to view the mission as biased. Williamson agreed and told Bermann that he had expressed the same concern to the Georgians after they requested U.S. assistance in investigating crimes. PARIS 00001828 002 OF 003 Cambodia: U.S. Support for ICC Tribunal -------------- ¶5. (C) During a lunch meeting with Sylvie Pantz, Pantz asked what role the USG was going to play with regards to the special UN tribunal on war crimes in Cambodia. Williamson replied that Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte was planning to travel to the country to announce that the U.S. would give close to 2 million dollars to support the tribunal. He added that Negroponte would stress to the Cambodians that the U.S. and the international community are concerned about corruption. Pantz wanted to know if the U.S. could place special conditions on the tribunal since they were now donating. Williamson replied that further U.S. donations would be evaluated on an annual basis but noted the current donation would give the U.S. a seat on the steering committee. Williamson said the Japanese gave the most money but had not adequately monitored spending of the funds to make sure they were being used correctly. The U.S. was working to get Japan to do more to encourage the Cambodians to battle corruption. Another concern was Chinese financial support that is provided without conditions. This practice might give Cambodia another reason not to accept any conditions from other donors, Williamson said. ¶6. (C) In an afternoon meeting at the MFA, Giamcomini commended the U.S. for its contribution to the tribunal. He estimated that as a result the Japanese would most likely reduce their contribution. Bernier noted that the tribunals so far were not working, especially when the prosecutors kept calling for 200 or more witnesses to testify. He said the key was to ensure that just a few "eye witnesses" testified. Williamson noted the tribunal process has also been complicated by Cambodia's unwillingness to allow for the presence in the country of a UN special envoy to oversee the tribunal. ICTY and Rwandan Genocide Tribunals: Residual Issues -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Ambassador Williamson noted to MFA officials that while the Russians had previously been outwardly difficult on issues concerning the closure of the ICTY, they were privately more cooperative -- agreeing that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic should be tried in the Hague. Due to the situation in Georgia, Williamson expected that the Russians could become more difficult. Bermann agreed and asked about next steps, to which Williamson replied that he would be visiting the ICTY that week and his deputy would visit the ICTR to press for bottom line figures and to convey the message that an open ended process is unrealistic. Giacomini envisioned a residual mechanism that consisted of a trial chamber and an appeals court with administrative work transferred to another UN structure if Mladic still had not been captured. The ICTY would completely close after both Mladic and Karadzic were tried. The ICTR was more complicated, Bernier said. He noted the GOF believed that Rwandan justice could not be trusted for the remaining cases, and there were one or two criminals who would justify trial by an international court. (Comment: Bernier did not explain which of the 13 outstanding fugitives he saw as justifying an international trial or give an explanation of where they should be tried or what should happen to cases of other fugitives.) Special Court for Sierra Leone: Too Long and Costly -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Pantz expressed frustration with the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Ambassador Williamson expressed the same frustrations, noting that on his recent trip to Freetown, he found the judges there were "very defensive" when questioned about the length of the trial -- currently going on for four years -- and why they took every Wednesday off. He said the USG had repeatedly pushed the SCSL to be more efficient in order to facilitate continued funding of the tribunal. Williamson noted that DNA tests are currently being done on a body believed to be that of Johnny Paul Koroma's. If it proves to be Koroma, only limited residual mechanisms for the SCSL will be needed. Giacomini complained that the problem with international jurisdiction is any request for improved management is seen is interfering with the courts. Iraq: GOF Offers to train Iraqi Judges in Iraq -------------- - PARIS 00001828 003 OF 003 ¶9. (C) Pantz said FM Kouchner wanted to do more to help Iraq. She noted the French have opened an Embassy office in Irbil (Iraqi Kurdistan),and had expanded training of Iraqi judges in Paris. But now the time was ready to train these judges on Iraqi soil, she said. (Comment: Pantz's comment stands in stark contrast with a position the French staked out in a non-paper passed to S/I Satterfield earlier this year in which the MFA noted that a constraint on its ability to provide training for judges was "our inviolable principle of not sending any French citizens to Iraq under the current security conditions." Post will follow up to clarify/encourage Pantz's position. End comment.) Guantanamo: Release of Detainees a Problem -------------- ¶10. (C) Pantz inquired about the progress of the return of Guantanamo detainees to their respective countries of origin. She told Ambassador Williamson that Amnesty International had approached the GOF about an Algerian detainee who might have been adopted in France (Note: It is possible that Pantz is confusing an Amnesty International approach with a U.S. request to the French Embassy in Washington to consider accepting this detainee),but it is difficult to convince a French public that detainees are not dangerous. Pantz believed Foreign Minister Kouchner is open to considering accepting detainees and he should be pushed on the issue. ¶11. (U) S/WCI Williamson has cleared this message. STAPLETON