UN/SIERRA LEONE SPECIAL COURT: LEGACY PROJECT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000373 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNSC KJUS KDEM PGOV SL XA SUBJECT: UN/SIERRA LEONE SPECIAL COURT: LEGACY PROJECT CONSULTANT AMBASSADOR MELROSE (RET.) BRIEFS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE ¶1. SUMMARY: Former U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone Joe Melrose (Ret.),currently serving as a consultant to the Sierra Leone Special Court on legacy issues, briefed members of the Special Court Management Committee on April 22 regarding possible uses of the Court facilities in Freetown once the trials have been completed. Basing his initial analysis on a March 8-14 trip to Freetown and his meetings with various Sierra Leonean Government officials, Melrose suggested that the Court building and several adjacent structures could be used simultaneously for different purposes, including the rental of certain office space to various UN agencies or NGOs to generate revenue to offset at least part of the approximately 750,000 USD in annual costs needed to maintain the Court complex. Sierra Leone Ambassador Kanu indicated that the GOSL has not, as yet, expressed its preference for the Court's eventual use, pending its careful analysis of the options that Melrose has identified. Options Melrose presented may include use of the Court by ECOWAS, the AU or the ICC; conversion of adjacent buildings to house the Special Court's archives accessible to researchers and scholars; establishment of a transitional justice or rule of law center; and/or creation of a legal training center or law school. END SUMMARY. MULTIPLE USES, IDEALLY SELF- SUSTAINING -------------- ¶2. Given the historic hybrid nature of the Special Court and the widespread perception of the Court's symbolic legacy of addressing the terrible atrocities committed in Sierra Leone, Melrose suggested that the future disposition of the Court site had special significance not just for Sierra Leoneans but for many in the region. Melrose said the ideal future use of the site would incorporate international, regional and domestic purposes, while at the same time preserving the historical value of the Court's numerous achievements. This could be done by considering various uses of the Court building itself and the adjacent structures. However, a key obstacle will be the high annual overhead costs to maintain the property - approximately 750,000 USD to pay for fuel, replacement parts and maintenance of the generators needed to supply a constant flow of electricity in a city where a reliable source of electrical power is a luxury. ¶3. For this reason, Melrose said he thought it would be important to use at least part of the Court site to generate revenue by renting the offices now occupied by the Prosecutor (OTP) to UN agencies operating in Sierra Leone, or to NGOs. The income derived from such rentals could then be used to offset at least partially the high annual maintenance costs for the property. At the same time, the detention facility, if not employed to house prisoners convicted by the Special Court, could be used as a prison for Sierra Leoneans aged 18 to 24 who have been convicted of crimes and who otherwise presently lack a facility of their own. There would be no reason, Melrose argued, to delay efforts to rent the OTP offices once the trial phase of the RUF case was completed later in 2008. ¶4. Melrose indicated that the Registrar's Office likely would have to be maintained for a certain period of time to address residual Court matters and to oversee the safe storage and cataloguing of Court archives. Ideally, the Court's records would be made accessible to researchers and scholars, and could be combined with documents from Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The office now housing the Court's Outreach section might serve as an appropriate area to safeguard the records, recognizing that climate and temperature controls would have to be installed to ensure proper preservation of the documents. ¶5. As to the Court building itself, Melrose reminded Committee members that it contained state-of-the-art capabilities with computers, closed-circuit television and full interpretation facilities - and that the only Court is the only one of its kind in West Africa. One possibility was to use the Court to deal not only with Sierra Leone criminal matters, but also to resolve land disputes and/or as a commercial arbitration court. The International Criminal Court (ICC) also might be interested in establishing a facility in Africa through use of the Special Court structure. Although the ECOWAS Court of Justice has a permanent base in Abuja, Nigeria, Melrose said it often met in other neighboring states. The Special Court could serve as its alternate location. USUN NEW Y 00000373 002 OF 002 ¶6. Melrose said another key future use of the Court complex could be as a legal training center, perhaps partially sustained through partnerships with law schools in the U.S. or Europe. Sierra Leone Ambassador Kanu, noting that the GOSL has yet not taken a firm position on the future disposition of the Court site, proposed that the Court could serve as an African university to train African criminal lawyers. Nigerian representative Angela Nworgu said it would be important to incorporate a Sierra Leonean component and identity to whatever future use is made of the Court site. UK representative Simon Thomas warned that future financial support for whatever option was chosen might prove difficult, since many governments, including HMG, would likely be anxious to shift funding to economic development projects in Sierra Leone once the Special Court's work had been completed. It would be helpful if Melrose could identify in his future reports possible sources of funding for whatever use is made of the Court site. PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PLANNED FOR THE FALL -------------- ¶7. Melrose indicated that he planned to return to Sierra Leone in the coming weeks for further review of options governing disposition of the Special Court premises. He promised to keep the Committee informed, most likely in late August-early September, and to link his ongoing efforts to those being pursued in connection with Special Court residual issues. Khalilzad