UN SECURITY WORKING GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000940 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2015 TAGS: PREL UNGA SUBJECT: UN SECURITY WORKING GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS VISITS ARUSHA AND THE HAGUE Classified By: Minister Counsellor Carolyn L. Willson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The UN Security Council Working Group (WG) on International Tribunals visited the International Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) September 29 to October 2. The WG, comprised of the Security Council's legal experts, made the visit to enhance its ability to draft and adopt a Security Council Resolution in December that will establish the way ahead for a residual mechanism(s) for the Tribunals. The mechanism would, in theory, kick in once each of the Tribunals has completed its work. UN Security Council Resolutions have already established completion strategies for each of the Tribunals and indicate that the trial work for the ICTR and ICTY should be completed by the end of 2008 and 2009 respectively. The Prosecutor for the ICTY shared, however, that it is conceivable that the work of the ICTY will continue until 2012. The ICTR's leadership proposed that a residual mechanism (sucessor to the ICTR) be created rather soon so that its personnel can work alongside the ICTR to facilitate a smooth transition. END SUMMARY -------------- The ICTR's view of a residual mechanism -------------- ¶2. (C) During the WG's visit to the ICTR, the tribunal's President, Judge Dennis Byron, its Chief Prosecutor Hassan Jallow, and its Registrar, Adama Dieng all shared their views on a residual mechanism. Byron mentioned that the ICTR has established a "Coordination Council" to address the tribunal's residual issues. This "Council" advocates two separate mechanisms, one for the ICTR and one for the ICTY. Bryon also said that a residual mechanism could be in place by January 1, 2010, but the tribunal would continue to function (albeit in a downsized manner) until the end of all trial work. His view is that the residual mechanism could be stood up and be run in parallel with a down-sized tribunal for a year or two. In regard to staff for the residual mechanism, Byron said that a tracking team would be needed as well as a small core staff for chambers and the office of the prosecutor resulting in a mechanism that would have a limited, full-time trial capacity. When pressed by some members of the WG as to a possible location, Byron cryptically suggested Nairobi as there is already a UN infrastructure there that could absorb such a residual mechanism. COMMENT: Byron appeared to be elusive when asked specific questions about the residual mechanism. He seemed somewhat reluctant to share information contained in the Goldstone Commission's report on archives and indicated that the ICTR would likely need additional time to finish its work. END COMMENT. ¶3. (C) Hassan Jallow said that the residual mechanism should contain a provision that would allow it to support and carry out the ICTR's previous agreements. He also said that it should have the ability to provide technical and evidentiary support to national prosecutorial authorities. Adama Dieng mentioned that any residual mechanism should retain translation services and the ability to deal with future witness protection issues. Referring to the Goldstone Commission's report in regard to the future location of the tribunal's archives, Dieng said that the report has been received and was being analyzed. He promised to share its recommendations with the WG very soon. ¶4. (U) The WG visited the ICTR's detention center in Arusha. Detainees had access to work in their gardens, exercise and read in the center's library. The center was professionally run and from all accounts the detainees are being treated justly. The WG also had the opportunity to observe an ongoing trial which provided first hand knowledge of the lack of speed of the ICTR's procedings. -------------- The ICTY's view of a Residual Mechanism -------------- ¶5. (U) President Fausto Pocar was the first to brief the WG and summarized the ICTY's current workload. He said there are seven trials, four of which involve multi-accused, and six appeals. Pocar said the ICTY has worked hard to reduce the number of witnesses when possible to enhance efficiency. In regard to the residual mechanism, Pocar said there has to be legal continuity and insinuated that a downsized version of the ICTY should be kept in place to ensure such legal continuity. As an example and suggesting that the prosecutor's office needs to remain in place even after its work is completed, Pocar asked hypothetically, "what if on appeal, a case gets sent back for re-trial? He acknowledged that the ICTY had received a copy of the Goldstone Commission's report on archives, but has not sufficiently evaluated its contents. Pocar said that the report has no status and that it might be rejected. On the location of the archives, he said that they would have to be in the same location as any judicial activity, at least initially, and cited The Hague as the logical place. Pocar responded vaguely to a WG question on the timing of the residual mechanism, saying only that he would need to know the decisions of the WG as soon as possible in order to have a clear idea as to the time-frame. ¶6. (U) The ICTY's Chief Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, said that it would be best to analyze the residual mechanism by function and added that it would not be able to take on an ongoing trial. On the location of the archives, he suggested that having two locations for the archives, one for the ICTY and the other for the ICTR, is really a political issue. Although somewhat reluctant to provide an exact date, Brammertz said that the ICTY's work would likely need to continue for two years beyond the date provided in the completion strategy. Hans Holthuis, the ICTY's Registrar, chaired a meeting that included presentations from the tribunal's budget officer, archivist, public affairs officer and translations team. The archivist shared that he is in the process of transforming the tribunal's documents into digital form. Currently, he said, the tribunal's records are 100 percent in use and that he has "digitized" approximately 60 percent of the tribunal's records and hopes to have all records "digitized" by 2010. ¶7. (U) The WG also visited the ICTY's detention center. According to the center's commanding officer, the average age of the detainees is 57. Many detainees have needed additional medical care as they have aged which has increased the center's overall cost. Wolff