LEBANON TRIBUNAL: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETS TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USUN NEW YORK 000340

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2013
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC SY LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON TRIBUNAL: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETS TO
CONSIDER PENSION SCHEME OPTIONS, ALTERNATIVES TO BUILDING A
NEW COURTROOM, AND TRANSPARENCY OF CONTRIBUTIONS

REF: 4/4/08 WILCOX-REINEMEYER E-MAIL


1. (C) SUMMARY: USUN Legal Adviser Willson and USUN/MR
participated in an April 9 meeting of the Special Tribunal
for Lebanon (STL) Management Committee to discuss how best to
provide retirement, death and disability benefits to Tribunal
employees, as required under Dutch law, including the
possible inclusion of Tribunal employees in the UN Joint
Staff Pension Fund; questions raised by the French (ref
e-mail) regarding the possible use of International Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and/or the International
Criminal Court (ICC) courtrooms and holding cells, rather
than spending 13.5 million USD to construct new facilities;
and the view of some Committee members that recent requests
by certain contributors to the Tribunal to remain anonymous
raised concerns over issues of transparency and
accountability of Tribunal operations. END SUMMARY.

PENSION SCHEME OPTIONS
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2. (SBU) As previously reported, organizations operating in
the Netherlands, including the STL, must provide their
employees with a number of social security benefits,
including retirement, disability and death benefit coverage.
In response to questions posed in prior Committee meetings by
the principal donors, including the U.S., UN Office of Legal
Affairs representative Jay Pozenel briefed Committee members
April 9 on the feasability of including Tribunal personnel in
the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund (JSPF),which would thereby
provide Tribunal employees with retirement, disability and
death benefits as required under Dutch law. Pozenel
explained that the JSPF Executive Board first would have to
approve such a request, based on its determination that, a)
the STL was deemed to be an "intergovernmental organization;"
and, b) the STL had adopted the UN common system of salaries
and benefits. If the Executive Board so determined, the
Board would recommend to the General Assembly that Tribunal
employees be covered under the JSPF. The GA would then have
to endorse the Executive Board's recommendation.


3. (SBU) Pozenel noted that the next meeting of the JSPF
Executive Board was scheduled for July. If the Board
approved inclusion of Tribunal personnel in the program, the
GA could consider the Board's recommendation during the Main
Session of the 63rd UNGA in the Fall of 2008. Even under the
best of circumstances, Tribunal personnel would not be
covered by the JSPF until January 1, 2009. Pozenel suggested
it was more realistic to assume that the JSPF Executive Board
would not grant its approval until July 2009, thereby
delaying inclusion of JSPF staff under the Fund until January
1, 2010.


4. (SBU) Pozenel noted that under existing JSPF
arrangements, it takes five years of continuous employment
for UN personnel to become fully vested. If an employee were
to leave in less than five years, that individual would
receive as part of a "withdrawal settlement" all the
contribution that he/she had made, but without interest and
without the comparable funds set aside by the Tribunal on
his/her behalf. Pozenel said one alternative to the JSPF was
for the Tribunal to set up its own provident pension scheme,
but this option would prove very costly. UK representative
Simon Thomas asked whether another option might be for the
Tribunal to outsource its payroll function, including
pensions. Thomas said the key concern remained ensuring that
UNIIIC investigators, now considered to be UN staff members
and, hence, covered under the JSPF, would enjoy similar
benefits once they transferred to the Tribunal as members of
the Office of the Prosecutor. Committee members agreed to
resume consideration of this issue when the Committee
reconvenes on April 17, hopefully with cost estimates
provided by the Secretariat regarding outsourcing as well as
the financial implications of the Tribunal setting up its own
pension fund.

POSSIBLE USE OF
ALTERNATE FACILITIES
--------------


5. (C) Committee members next discussed the concerns raised
by the French delegation in a letter to Committee Chair Kathy
Adams (UK) circulated April 4 (ref e-mail) regarding the
possible use of ICTY or ICC courtrooms and holding cells
rather than refurbishing the AVID Building being offered
rent-free by the Dutch at a cost of 13.5 million USD. French
Mission legal adviser Hubert Renie noted that with the recent
request by UNIIIC Commissioner Bellemare for a six-month
extension of the IIIC's mandate, it was unlikely the STL

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would need full-time courtroom space until the middle to
latter half of 2009, if not later. With the ICTY already
engaged in completion activities to finish its work by 2010,
the Committee should request additional information regarding
the feasability and likely costs of using ICTY facilities by
the STL. Similar information should be obtained concerning
the STL's possible use of ICC courtrooms. Dutch Mission
legal adviser Brechje Schwachofer made clear that there were
no Dutch national facilities available for use by the STL.
She warned that housing the judges and Tribunal staff in one
location and the court facilities in another raised security
concerns, as well as additional cost considerations.
Schwachofer reminded Committee members that it would take
approximately one year to refurbish the AVID Building and
construct a courtroom and holding cells, meaning that even if
work were to begin the following day, the courtroom would not
be ready until sometime in late March-early April 2009.


6. (C) USUN asked whether it would be possible to proceed
with refurbishing the AVID Building except for construction
of the courtroom and holding facilities. Schwachofer said it
was possible to proceed with the project in separate phases,
but doing so would raise the costs. Given the ongoing
uncertainty over the construction of a courtroom and holding
cells, she noted that Dutch officials temporarily had
suspended work on improving external security of the
building. If a decision were to be taken to locate the
courtroom elsewhere, some of the added security precautions
now envisioned for the AVID Building no longer would be
necessary. Hence, the security upgrade will not proceed
until the Management Committee reaches a clear decision on
the way forward.


7. (C) OLA A/SYG Larry Johnson noted that two trials at the
ICTY were scheduled to continue through May 2010. The
Charles Taylor trial, now underway in ICC facilities under
the auspices of the Sierra Leone Special Court, is expected
to conclude by the end of 2009. However, some Special Court
judges already were recommending that the Taylor appeal be
conducted in The Hague, rather than Freetown. If that were
to occur, Johnson said, this would preclude the use of ICC
facilities by the STL.


8. (C) Committee members agreed to resume consideration of
this matter at the next Committee meeting on April 17. OLA
will provide estimated costs for the use of ICTY and ICC
facilities, including holding cells. French Mission legal
adviser Renie said he would report such information, once it
became available, back to Paris for further instructions.

TRANSPARENCY OF
FUNDING
--------------


9. (SBU) OLA distributed a chart dated April 7 (copy faxed
to IO/UNP on 4/10) showing current totals on amounts actually
contributed by Member States (40.4 million USD) to the
Tribunal and amounts pledged (17.1 million USD) for years 2
and 3. Committee Chair Adams noted that the contributions of
several states were listed under the heading, "Regional
States," since these countries did not want to be identified
by name. USUN said the Committee should welcome the
contributions from each and every Member State that was
willing to provide funding for the STL. It remained the
right and privilege of each contributing state to request
that their donation be made anonymously. Such a request in
no way diminished the integrity or reputation of the Tribunal
and its work. Therefore, there was no reason not to respect
the wishes of those states who requested that their names not
be listed. French legal adviser Renie agreed with USUN that
every effort should be made to respect the conditions under
which individual contributions were made.


10. (SBU) Both Dutch legal adviser Schwachofer and UK
representative Thomas voiced concern regarding the importance
of transparency in the Tribunal's work. Schwachofer said
anonymous donations will lead to questions, as was the case
during OLA U/SYG Michel's recent press briefing on the STL.
Schwachofer argued that it was in the best interests of the
Tribunal to be as transparent as possible. Committee Chair
Adams noted that while it might not be desirable to conceal
the source of certain funds contributed to support the work
of the Tribunal, there was no fundamental obligation for
Member States to agree to disclose publicly their
contributions. The wishes of individual Member States should
be respected.

NEXT COMMITTEE
MEETING

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11. (U) Committee members agreed to reconvene on April 17 to
resume consideration of pension schemes for Tribunal
employees and the possible use by the STL of ICTY and/or ICC
courtrooms and holding cells. The Committee also will
discuss judges' salaries in light of the General Assembly's
adoption in March 2008 of a resolution setting new salary
levels for ICTY, ICTR and ICJ judges, and the Committee will
renew its consideration of a risk allowance for STL judges.

Khalilzad