LEBANON TRIBUNAL: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CONTINUES

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000484 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC SY LE SUBJECT: LEBANON TRIBUNAL: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CONTINUES TO DISCUSS STAFFING, FUNDING REF: A. USUN 468 ¶B. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/REINEMEYER)-05/27/08 ¶C. USUN 171 ¶D. STATE 1170 (2007) ¶E. USUN 1185 (2007) ¶F. USUN 384 ¶1. (SBU) BEGIN SUMMARY: At its tenth meeting on May 29, the Management Committee for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) agreed to adopt a phased approach to approving the STL's first-year budget, briefly considered staffing for the STL, heard more about STL Registrar Robin Vincent's plan to assemble a ten-person advance team to handle critical set-up tasks, and discussed whether to hold a meeting in The Hague. The Management Committee agreed to approve an initial budget, providing for staffing costs, by July 11, followed by a revised budget that would reflect operational costs, which the Committee would approve during the fall of 2008. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Committee members agreed to STL Register Vincent's proposal to create the STL's first-year budget in two phases (ref A). The Committee would approve Vincent's initial budget by July 11, reflecting projected staffing needs, which would enable Vincent to begin recruiting staff. Vincent would then refine the budget, particularly projected costs for operational expenses relating to witnesses, travel, acquisition of equipment (informational technology, security, and communications),or short-term consultancies, and submit a revised, final budget to the Management Committee for approval by October 31. ¶3. (SBU) STL Prosecutor-Designate Daniel Bellemare, who heads the UN International Independent Investigative Commission (UNIIIC),will brief the Committee soon on his requests for staffing the STL's Office of the Prosecutor. Bellemare has requested 109 staff members for his office, 100 of whom would be assigned to The Hague and nine of whom would be assigned to Beirut. ¶4. (SBU) Vincent also provided details on the ten-person advance team with whom he plans to staff the STL in the next few months (ref B). Anticipating that the STL will not begin operating until January 1, 2009, after the UNIIIC mandate expires, Vincent said he would not issue permanent contracts for staff until 2009. In the meantime, he plans to bring only four staff members with him from UN Headquarters in New York to The Hague (one administrative officer, one legal officer, one associate legal officer/special assistant, and one human resources officer). All four are currently working on the Secretary-General's STL Task Force, and, although their initial appointments would be for two months, Vincent hopes some could remain longer. A building manager (seconded from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) and a security officer (on loan from the Sierra Leone Special Court) would join the team in The Hague on a temporary basis (approximately two months),and the STL would reimburse the ICTY and the SCSL for their services. Vincent would then hire a finance/budget officer and an information technology and communications officer in The Hague on short-term consultancy contracts. Finally, a liaison officer would serve on a temporary contract in New York. ¶5. (SBU) The Committee Chairman solicited views on whether the members of the Committee should travel to The Hague to visit the building that will house the STL and then meet in The Hague. Many members preferred to have their counterparts in The Hague meet informally instead. Formal and informal Committee meetings will continue to be held in New York. ¶6. (SBU) The Management Committee will meet again on June 6, and the Chairman expects to meet with interested states during the week of July 16. Khalilzad