BELGIUM DESIRES TO "PRESERVE UNSCR 1267" BY ADDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 000697

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/WE, IO AND S/CT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2019
TAGS: PTER ETTC PGOV PREL KTFN UN BE
SUBJECT: BELGIUM DESIRES TO "PRESERVE UNSCR 1267" BY ADDING
PROCEDURES "CLOSER TO DUE PROCESS"

Classified By: Political Economic Counselor Richard Eason, reasons 1.4(
b) and (d).


1. (C) On May 13, Charge met with Thomas Baekelandt,
Counter-Terrorism Coordinator at the Belgian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. Baekelandt said that sanctions under UNSCR
1267 against terrorist financing entities such as Al Barakat
have been challenged in Belgian courts and in the European
Court of Justice. He warned that a decision of the European
Court of Justice (understood to be Kadi vs. European Council
and European Commission) risks undermining the UN Security
Council in its authority to impose sanctions. He said that
while U.S. courts view the seizure and freezing of assets
under UNSCR 1267 as administrative actions, civil law
European courts tend to view them as punitive. Moreover, UN
sanctions are directly applicable and enforceable in Belgian
and other European courts, Baekelandt said. As a result, the
European courts are demanding more "due process", for example
a right of appeal from the decision to place an entity on the
sanctions list. Baekelandt worries that if sanctions under
UNSCR 1267 cannot be enforced in Europe it will mean a return
to the "law of the jungle."


2. (C) Baekelandt observed that UNSCR 1822 improved the
procedures used by the Sanctions Committee, and Belgium is
interested in seeing it implemented in full. The GOB would
also like to see that resolution broadened by adding
procedures that will make it more palatable to European
courts. In that regard, "likeminded" countries, including
Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, are working on a
strategy to convince the permanent members of the Security
Council, including the Russians and the Chinese, that it is
in their interest to make changes that will preserve the
sanctions' enforceability. Baekelandt said Belgium does not
favor a Swiss proposal to create a review panel for listing
decisions made by the Security Council, and views such ideas
as too politically unacceptable to be realistic. However,
the Belgians and "like-minded" countries intend to try to
"calm down" the Swiss by proposing modifications to 1267
procedures, beyond those already adopted in UNSCR 1822. This
would involve allowing entities targeted by sanctions to
submit comments to the UN about the listing decision.
Baekelandt said he sees the time frame for achieving the
changes desired by Belgium as being one or two years.

BUSH
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