U.S. COORDINATOR SCHWEICH ENGAGES ITALIANS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 000357 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/29/2018 TAGS: PREL SNAR NATO IT MARR MOPS AF EAID SUBJECT: U.S. COORDINATOR SCHWEICH ENGAGES ITALIANS ON AFGHAN JUSTICE REFORM AND NARCOTICS REF: A. STATE 24923 ¶B. ROME 312 Classified By: Acting Political Minister-Counselor Gabriel Escobar for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. In meetings with GOI officials and the Italian press on March 13-14, Amb. Thomas A. Schweich, Coordinator for Afghan Justice Reform and Counternarcotics and INL PDAS, drew a strong correlation between security and narcotics in Afghanistan. He presented new USG and UNODC data showing that almost all new poppy cultivation is in insecure zones in the south and west (including Farah, in the Italian RC-West),where rule of law is weak or non-existent and wealthy landowners, corrupt officials and insurgents increasingly exploit the opium trade for profit. Schweich praised U.S.-Italian cooperation on Afghan Justice Reform in the wake of the Rome Rule of Law Conference in 2007, pressed for Italian follow-up on the implementation of the Afghan National Justice Sector Strategy, and urged more Italian donor aid to the justice sector. In meetings with officials from the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office and the Central Anti-Drug Service, he discussed the trafficking of South American cocaine and Afghan opiates into Italy and the rest of Europe. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) In meetings with GOI officials and the Italian press on March 13-14, Amb. Schweich provided an update on Afghan cooperation with the international community in the area of counternarcotics and justice reform. During meetings and a working lunch hosted by the Italian MFA on March 13 he met with Cristina Ravaglia, Deputy Director General for Asia and Oceania; Sergio Mercuri, Senior Italian Envoy for Afghanistan; Diego Brasioli, Director for G8 Affairs, Counterterrorism and Counternarcotics; Gianni Bardini, Director for Political-Military Affairs; Rosario Aitala, Senior Legal Adviser for Afghan Justice Reform, and Walter Zucconi, Central Asia Desk Officer at the Directorate General for Development Cooperation. ¶3. (SBU) Schweich emphasized that U.S. and UN data indicate that GoA-led educational programs and incentives have deterred poor peasant farmers from growing poppy in the north and east. These are areas where improved security has enabled the GoA and international partners to deliver counternarcotics services. In the areas in the south and west where poppy cultivation has risen, ISAF control of the terrain is more limited, and large-scale "industrial" poppy growers have expanded production into the Helmand river valley -- sometimes with insurgent protection, and often with the complicity of governing entities. ¶4. (C) MFA Political Military Director Bardini acknowledged the link between the insurgency and drug trafficking and noted that this would be on the agenda at the NATO Summit in Bucharest. He expressed concern that expanding ISAF's counternarcotics (CN) role could potentially overburden the mission with extra-military tasks. Schweich noted that ISAF's CN mandate already allows for civil-military information sharing and some force protection for Afghan eradication teams; the U.S. is not advocating a revision of ISAF's Operations Plan, but is instead urging military commands to actively implement existing CN authorities. ISAF Commander Gen. McNeill has introduced CN elements into his operational planning, Schweich noted, and in recent months integrated CN and counterinsurgency operations have contributed to the improvement of governance and security in Nangarhar. Schweich also stressed the importance of police training in drug-producing areas and urged the Italians to accept the U.S. invitation to embed Carabinieri trainers with U.S. Marine police training teams (Ref A). ¶5. (C) Ravaglia told Schweich that the recent "West 4" meeting of RC-West contributor nations in Rome (Ref B) reaffirmed the importance of police and military training and of close civil-military cooperation. She described the recent visit of MFA DG for Asia Iannucci to Herat, where Italy has its PRT, as "troubling." Lawlessness is on the rise in the province, fueled in part by rivalries between the Governor and the Police Chief. She welcomed the naming of ROME 00000357 002 OF 003 UNSYG Special Representative for Afghanistan Kai Eide and hoped that it would provide an impetus for donor coordination efforts in the coming months. Justice Reform: Need to Maintain Rome Conference Momentum - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶6. (SBU) On justice reform, Schweich praised Italian coordination of the 2007 Rome Rule of Law Conference, which raised USD 98 million in pledges. He also noted the mood of optimism for the justice sector at the February Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) meeting in Tokyo, where Italian efforts were instrumental in achieving progress on the Afghan National Justice Sector Strategy (NJSS) and National Justice Program (NJP). Our priorities now should be to maintain momentum on donor support for the NJSS, which will require an additional USD 300 million if it is to be implemented over the next five years. The U.S., Italy and Canada, as the largest justice sector donors, have the high ground from which to press other donors to do more. In addition, the U.S. and Italy should continue to focus on justice sector capacity-building and urge the GoA to put an end to political interference in prosecutions. Mercuri agreed that more funding was crucial and hoped that the World Bank's approval of a justice sector chapter in the ARTF (Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund) would spur donors to contribute. ¶7. (SBU) In response to the GoI,s proposal to dismantle the International Coordination Group for Justice Reform (ICGJR), Schweich advocated that the ICGJR be supported indefinitely, describing it as a well-functioning mechanism for justice sector coordination and questioning the logic behind the Italian proposal to dismantle it. Mercuri defended Italy,s position on the grounds that the ICGJR will eventually need to be replaced by an Afghan-owned institution, but assured Schweich that the GoI has no desire to dismantle the ICGJR until a parallel Afghan institution is functioning at full capacity. Heroin Trafficking from Afghanistan a Growing Concern - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (SBU) In his meetings with MFA Officials, with Chief Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Piero Grasso, and with the Interior Ministry's Anti-Drug Director Rodolfo Ronconi, Schweich discussed cocaine and opiate trafficking patterns and the status of international counternarcotics efforts. All participants agreed on the importance of Iran, which is the transit point for 50 percent of the Afghan opiate trade and which is experiencing a boom in heroin addiction as a result. Ronconi noted that Italy was the only European country with a drug liaison officer in Tehran, in addition to officers in Tashkent, Islamabad and Kabul. Data supplied by these officials indicates the increasing problem of precursor importation into Afghanistan (particularly via Pakistan). Grasso and Ronconi confirmed that Italy remains a destination and transit point for South American cocaine and, to a lesser but still significant extent, Afghan heroin. Although both drugs are increasingly trafficked via West African routes, the primary heroin routes run through Iran and Central Asia to Turkey, Russia and the Balkans. Italian organized crime groups continue to play a prominent role in drug trafficking, along with Albanian, Serbian and Ukrainian groups. ¶9. (SBU) Italian judicial cooperation in this area includes training for anti-drug prosecutors and other officials in Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Iran and Afghanistan, where one of Grasso's deputies, Fausto Zuccarelli, worked with the UNODC on drafting sections of the Afghan Penal Code. Italy also has the lead role in the EU Police Chief's COSPOL heroin trafficking investigation project, funds the Paris Pact initiative to counter the consumption and trafficking of Afghan opiates, and helps finance the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC). ¶10. (U) Schweich also addressed the issues of Afghan counternarcotics and justice reform in an on-the-record luncheon with leading Italian editors and journalists with experience in Afghanistan. In addition, he conducted ROME 00000357 003 OF 003 television interviews on Afghanistan with TG-5, Italy's leading private TV newscast, and the satellite channel of AGI, Italy's second-largest wire service. Comment - - - - ¶11. (SBU) Ambassador Schweich's visit was successful not only in reaffirming close U.S.-Italian cooperation on Afghan justice reform and counternarcotics, but also in supporting Embassy efforts to educate Italian public opinion on the realities of the situation in Afghanistan and to build public and political support for international efforts there. Both in the run-up to the Italian General Elections of April 13-14 and during the formation of the new government, Embassy Rome will continue to look for opportunities to engage the Italian government and media on Afghanistan. ¶12. (U) This message has been cleared by Ambassador Schweich. BORG