ACTION REQUEST ON LEBANON TRIBUNAL: EMERGENCY

S E C R E T USUN NEW YORK 000241 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2018 TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC SY LE SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST ON LEBANON TRIBUNAL: EMERGENCY RELOCATION OF JUDGES Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, per 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) This is an action request. Please see para 3. ¶2. (S) BEGIN SUMMARY: Dutch Mission Legal Adviser Brechje Schwachofer convened UK, French, and USUN counterparts on March 14 to discuss options under consideration for ensuring the security of the Lebanese judges on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) once their identities are revealed. She reported that if the names of these judges leak unexpectedly, the UN Department of Safety and Security (DSS) has determined that they must be immediately evacuated outside of Lebanon. Schwachofer warned that if such a scenario unfolds, the Netherlands will not/not have the secure facilities in place to house them. She said a third country would therefore have to step forward to accept the judges until they can be relocated long-term in the Netherlands, but no country has yet volunteered. Regardless of when the identities of the judges become public, Schwachofer said the Dutch government would need at least three months advance notice to put appropriate security measures in place to relocate them, in part because it does not want to lease the required private residences before necessary. The Dutch plan to start this process three months before the first meeting of the judges, at which time DSS assesses the risk of a leak as so high that they must be relocated, assuming they have not already left Lebanon. End Summary. ¶3. (S) ACTION REQUEST: U.S., UK, and French officers agreed to check if their governments could temporarily house the judges in case of an unexpected leak and then reconvene to discuss the issue further with the UN Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) during the week of March 17. USUN therefore seeks an initial answer as soon as possible about whether the U.S. could commit to host the Lebanese judges for roughly three months. If no P-3 countries volunteer, USUN will urge OLA to approach other possible host countries immediately, and may seek Department demarches to encourage those countries to consider OLA,s request favorably. Whichever country agrees to host the judges on an emergency basis would most likely have to bear the costs of their temporary relocation. END ACTION REQUEST. Preferred Long-Term Relocation Option -------------- ¶4. (S) Schwachofer reported on March 14 that the Dutch security services have developed several options for relocating the Lebanese judges long-term in the Netherlands after they have their first meeting to draft rules of procedure and evidence. Their preferred option is to select and secure housing in advance into which the judges would move in immediately after arriving in the Netherlands. The judges would be informed that the STL Management Committee had authorized the Dutch to arrange and secure their housing. For this approach to succeed, however, Schwachofer said the UN would need to provide the Dutch with the names of the four Lebanese judges, which the UN has thus far been reluctant to do for security reasons, and because the judges themselves have not been notified of their selection. Having those names is essential so the Dutch security services can determine how many dependents each judge will bring to the Netherlands, assess each judge,s risk level, and determine what security modifications are necessary for their residences. ¶5. (S) Schwachofer acknowledged the downsides of this Dutch preferred long-term approach. Among other things, the judges, who would be paying the rent for their accommodations, might not find them suitable, and the judges, names might leak when the Dutch security services conduct their risk assessments. She said the Dutch government would continue discussions with OLA consultant Robin Vincent (who will assume duties as STL Registrar next month) and OLA on the preferred long-term relocation option. If the UN is uncomfortable providing the Dutch information on the judges in advance, and if the Lebanese government continues to raise objections to the Dutch selecting long-term accommodations for the judges without their input, she said the Dutch could resort to an interim approach. Under this plan, once the judges hold their first meeting in the Netherlands, the judges would be housed in any one of several temporary accommodations (described below) until their long-term accommodations in the Netherlands are ready. This way, the judges would be able to see and approve their long-term housing before they move in. Alternative Interim Relocation Options -------------- ¶6. (S) The first interim option is that the Dutch would move the judges into high-security safe houses, which could be on a military base. Schwachofer explained that, although the Dutch are exploring the first option, no temporary safe houses appear to be available immediately. The second option is that the judges could be placed into the Dutch witness protection program, given new identities and disguises, and moved to areas of the Netherlands where they could live temporarily. Schwachofer said that option would place severe burdens on the judges, who could not communicate with the outside world or socialize freely with neighbors. For judges with school-aged children, that option would be particularly onerous. ¶7. (S) A third option would be for the UN to place the judges into the facilities the STL eventually will have to establish to house witnesses. The Dutch are currently accommodating witnesses before the Special Court for Sierra Leone at a remote airbase, but that location could not/not be used to house the STL judges. Witnesses for the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia are often accommodated in houses or hotels, which would be too risky for the Lebanese judges, she said. Schwachofer also said this third option would not be available any time soon and would likely entail significant costs for the STL, since it does not yet have such a facility and might not need one for some time. A fourth option would be to house the judges temporarily in a third country until their long-term accommodations are ready. This would be similar to the contingency accommodations necessary if the judges, identities leak unexpectedly before their first meeting in the Netherlands. KHALILZAD