MFA REGREST GABON'S OVERREACTION TO CRITICISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000063

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GB FR
SUBJECT: MFA REGREST GABON'S OVERREACTION TO CRITICISM

REF: A. LIBREVILLE 16

B. LIBREVILLE 9

Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Young, 1.4 (b/d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Gabonese are overreacting to criticism
expressed by dissidents and centered on alleged corruption on
the part of GOG officials, MFA desk officer Claude Blevin
said on January 14. The Gabonese have been quick to see a
French hand in support of the dissidents but this was not the
case; part of the Gabonese misunderstanding stems from a
refusal to believe in the independence of the French
judiciary and its openness to anyone's filing a lawsuit, as
several parties had done with respect to Gabon and other
African countries. Gabonese ire in the present case has been
stoked by the direct involvement of a Gabonese citizen and by
the open letter against President Bongo published by Bruno
Ben Moubamba. The French are not trying to interfere in
Gabon's judicial process but are advising the Gabonese to
adhere to their own legal procedures and to respect human
rights. Blevin was unable to provide information on a
separate controversy with a connection to Gabon involving FM
Kouchner's alleged attempts to collect overdue fees
associated with his activities prior to assuming office. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) MFA Gabon desk officer Claude Blevin on January 14
briefed on the current friction between France and Gabon
(reftels). He said that this friction arose because of the
GOG's inability to tolerate criticism of President Bongo,
especially with respect to alleged corruption. A series of
lawsuits filed in France accusing Bongo and other African
leaders of corruption had served as the vehicle for such
criticism. Blevin said that there had been three lawsuits
filed in recent years against Bongo and other leaders for
corruption and for using ill-gotten gains to acquire
properties in France and elsewhere. The first suit was
brought in France in July 2007 by several NGOs against Bongo,
and Presidents Sassou-Nguesso (ROC),Obiang (Equatorial
Guinea),Campaore (Burkina Faso),and Dos Santos (Angola).
Another one followed in March 2008, against the same parties.
Both suits were eventually dismissed.


3. (C) The present case, and the basis for the current
spat, was filed on December 2, 2008 by two NGOs devoted to
good governance and weeding out corruption against Bongo,
Obiang, and Sassou-Nguesso. This case differed from the
others, however, in that a Gabonese citizen (Gregory Ngbwa
Mintsa -- ref A, para 9) joined in this suit in an individual
capacity. Blevin said that his participation in the suit was
one of the straw's that broke the camel's back; the GOG could
tolerate NGO lawsuits but not one that included a Gabonese
citizen. Libreville viewed this as a form of opposition that
bordered on treasonous or seditious behavior.


4. (C) The second straw that helped push the GOG over the
edge, Blevin said, was an open letter distributed on the
internet by Bruno Ben Moubamba. This letter strongly and
directly criticized GOG corruption and asked pointedly what
good Bongo had really done for Gabon. Some of the five
dissidents arrested and then released on January 12 were,
according to Blevin, associated with Moubamba or agreed with
his letter, as described ref A, para 6.


5. (C) Gabon harbored suspicions about France's role,
Blevin said, but these suspicions were largely based on a
misunderstanding of the French judicial system. The Gabonese
did not understand that in France, anyone can file a suit
against anyone. Eventually, the vigorously independent
French courts, sometimes on their own motion, would dismiss a
frivolous or defective case, as happened with the first two
corruption suits. Blevin said that the Gabonese, on the
other hand, believed that even allowing suits of this type to
be filed demonstrated implicit GOF support for the suit,
which, Blevin stressed, was not at all the case.


6. (C) Having shifted into high gear, the Gabonese then
denied a visa to a French lawyer who wanted to defend one of
those arrested in Gabon. Blevin said that the GOF, since
this friction arose, had wanted to avoid direct involvement
in the case, and did not, at all costs, want to be seen as
trying to manipulate Gabon's internal management of the case.
France had simply advised Gabon to respect everyone's rights
and to follow Gabon's own laws and procedures. Blevin did
say that France had tried to "facilitate" such matters as the
lawyer's visa, in an effort to lower tensions. Blevin
expressed appreciation for the demarche Embassy Libreville
carried out on January 12, which was consistent with the
message the French wanted to send.


7. (C) Blevin said that France had also suggested to the
Gabonese that their reaction to the corruption allegations
tended to make the dissidents' claims more credible.

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Moreover, this "overreaction" did not reflect well in terms
of Gabon's adherence to human rights, free speech, rule of
law, and good governance principles. Blevin speculated that
French criticism, along with that of the U.S. and others, may
have helped convince the GOG to release the prisoners, even
if only on bail, and to adopt a less aggressive posture.


8. (C) Blevin regretted the emergence of the spat, which he
said was counter to the otherwise good relations between
France and Gabon.


9. (C) Blevin was not able to provide information on recent
press reports that FM Kouchner, even after taking office, had
sought to collect fees from certain parties (including Gabon)
that were owed to several enterprises with which Kouchner was
associated prior to becoming Foreign Minister. Kouchner has
stated that he did nothing improper; Blevin said that the
fact that one of the parties involved was allegedly the
government of Gabon had not become a bilateral issue,
although he could not predict where the claims about Kouchner
would go.

STAPLETON