SADC SECURITY CHIEF IMPRESSED BY ILEA

C O N F I D E N T I A L GABORONE 000479 SIPDIS FOR AF/S, AF/RSA, INL, PM ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/2019 TAGS: PREL KJUS KCRM SNAR MASS SADC BC SUBJECT: SADC SECURITY CHIEF IMPRESSED BY ILEA REF: GABORONE 457 Classified By: Ambassador Stephen J. Nolan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On June 11 Ambassador Nolan and P/E Chief Merritt accompanied Lieutenant General (retired) Tanki Mothae, SADC's Director of the Organ on Politics, Defense, and Security on a visit to the U.S.-funded International Law Enforcement Acadey (ILEA) in Otse, approximately 45 minutes outsideof Gaborone. The USG and the GOB jointly operat ILEA Gaboronein a very effective and mutually-bneficial partnership, with many of the visiting aculty coming from USG law enforcemententities like DHS/FLETC, the FBI, ATF, DEA, DS, among others. During the Ambassador's June 8 call on Mothae at the SADC Secretariat headquaters in Gaborone (reftel),the General expressed interest in learning more about U.S. Government activities related to peace and security in the SADC region. Mothae's portfolio includes diverse areas such as civilian policing, customs, and immigration, all of which fall under the scope of ILEA activities. ¶2. (C) During this 2-hour ILEA visit, Mothae was briefed by ILEA senior management (American and Batswana) on the history of the program, participating countries (currently 29 from across Sub-Saharan Africa, predominantly in Southern and East Africa but also several in Central and West Africa),and the breadth of state-of-the-art courses offered to combat the twin scourges of transnational crime and terrorism. He also toured the impressive facility which is situated adjacent to the Botswana Police Academy campus, and was able to observe an ongoing course on Wildlife Investigations. Mothae was extremely impressed with the ILEA concept and its modern facilities out amidst the African bush. He was happy to learn that nearly all SADC countries are already participating (except suspended Madagascar and non-member Zimbabwe). In fact, the 31st class of nearly 40 mid-level law enforcement professionals from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland graduated from ILEA Gaborone's flagship Law Enforcement Executive Development (LEED) program on May 29. The LEED certificate is increasingly viewed as a prestigious professional credential among the law enforcement community across the continent, and beyond. ¶3. (C) Mothae seemed eager to find ways to partner with ILEA in future, and he noted that ILEA is already helping SADC by providing crucial training to most of its member states. He invited the ILEA Director to address a SADC meeting June 15, at which member states will be discussing plans to implement a region-wide "Univisa" (akin to the Schengen visa within the EU). Mothae thanked the Ambassador for his introduction to ILEA and also promised to pass us a response in writing "soon" to our June 5 letter on Golfhino and broader peace and security cooperation. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: The participation of the ILEA director in a SADC meeting June 15 is a good example of the kinds of "quick-win" partnerships we can forge with SADC on the path to deepening our cooperation with the regional body. Lt. Gen. Mothae can show his member states that he is partnering with the USG to "deliver" important training related to peace and security, while the ILEA Director can raise awareness of his program amongst government leaders from 12 ILEA participating countries in one meeting, helping to ensure member-government support for ILEA programs and activities. We hope that the visit to ILEA gave Mothae a tangible sense of what USG peace and security assistance can look like, and made him aware of the benefits the SADC region is already receiving from our robust and extensive ILEA programs that have been underway at ILEA Gaborone for much of the past decade and are highly appreciated by personnel from those African states selected for training. This field trip may spur Mothae and his staff to be more responsive to future USG inquiries on peace and security matters and to (finally) reply to the questions we need answered before moving forward with the January 2009 Presidential Determination. END COMMENT. NOLAN