ITALY AGREES TO CONSIDER THREE DETAINEES FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000786

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2019
TAGS: PREL IT

SUBJECT: ITALY AGREES TO CONSIDER THREE DETAINEES FOR
RESETTLEMENT, AIMS TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENT AT G8

Classified By: A/DCM Barbara A. Leaf for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Special Envoy Fried met separately with
Foreign Minister Frattini and Minister of Justice Alfano in
Rome on July 1 to share information on three Guantanamo
detainees for the Italians to consider for possible
resettlement in Italy. Italian officials are
contemporaneously working with the USG on a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU)to transfer two Guantanamo detainees and
one Bagram detainee to Italy for prosecution, and are
reviewing a list of eight other Guantanamo detainees to
determine whether charges against them exist in Italy.
Minister Alfano underlined GOI interest in the expedient
conclusion of the MOU and both Frattini and Alfano stated
that the GOI would like to announce the conclusion of the MOU
and the transfer of the three detainees for prosecution at
the G8 summit July 8-10. End summary.

Italy Wants to Play a Leading Role
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2. (C) In separate meetings on July 1, Special Envoy for
Guantanamo Closure, Ambassador Daniel Fried, met with Italian
Minister of Justice Alfano and Italian Minister of Foreign
Affairs Frattini. In the morning meeting, Minister of
Justice Alfano emphasized the GOI's willingness to help the
USG in its objective of closing the Guantanamo Bay detention
facility. Alfano highlighted the GOI's lead role in
developing the June 4 EU framework agreement for the
resettlement of detainees in EU Member States and that with
this framework now settled, the GOI stood ready to receive
three detainees based on existing charges for each in Italian
courts. (Embassy's DOJ Attache has worked with the Italian
MOJ to confirm charges for two Guantanamo detainees and one
Bagram detainee in Italian courts, and the GOI has agreed to
receive these three individuals for possible prosecution.)
Amb. Fried acknowledged Italy's helpful role, and noted also
the list of eight further Guantanamo detainees provided
recently by the Embassy for the MOJ to review in expectation
that some may also have charges in Italian courts. Alfano
affirmed that the GOI was conducting a preliminary review of
those eight further names to determine whether any charges
existed.


3. (C) Amb. Fried then moved on to a new category of detainee
for the GOI to consider, namely individuals approved for
resettlement and not requiring prosecution. Fried provided
Minister Alfano the files of three detainees who the USG has
approved for transfer, and who require resettlement due to
post-transfer treatment concerns if returned to their country
of origin. Amb. Fried noted that any questions the GOI might
have on these files should be channeled through intelligence
liaison at Embassy Rome.

GOI Desire to Announce Transfer MOU at G8 Summit
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4. (C) Minister Alfano told Amb. Fried the GOI would like to
complete an MOU on transfer of the three previously agreed
detainees in time to announce their transfer at the July 8-10
G8 summit. Amb. Fried agreed to contact Washington and ask
that work be expedited on the MOU. In the follow-on meeting,
Minister Frattini echoed Alfano's request that the MOU be
ready in time for announcement at the G8. After receiving
the same three files from Amb. Fried previously provided to
Alfano, Frattini opined that it would be helpful to have
Schengen-releasable versions of the files, so that the GOI
might be able to also announce at the G8 its plans to
disseminate information on individuals it is considering for
resettlement apart from the possible prosecutions. On this
issue, Frattini noted that the Italian Parliament would not
need to ratify any arrangement for the transfer and that it
could likewise be effected expeditiously. Frattini also
relayed a conversation with AG Holder, during which he
commented that the GOI may look to enter into an agreement
with any transferred detainees that they not file legal
actions against the United States or Italy as a condition of
their transfer. Amb. Fried noted that the USG would not
require this condition, but took the concern over Italian
claims on board and promised to discuss it when back in
Washington.

Frattini Addresses Potential Resettlements
--------------


5. (C) In providing FM Frattini the files on the three
detainees for the GOI to consider for resettlement, Amb.
Fried focused on the fact that this group represented
low-risk individuals who the USG is not asking the GOI to
prosecute. Specifically, Amb. Fried highlighted the cases of

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two of the three, whom the U.S. federal courts have ordered
released. He invited Frattini to review the files, noting
that the GOI could pass any follow-up questions via
intelligence channels and that the GOI is welcome to send a
delegation to Guantanamo to speak with any detainees it is
considering, without any commitment to take them.


6. (C) Frattini thanked Fried for the files and said he
would have GOI authorities review them expeditiously. In
response to Fried's question about Minister of Interior
Maroni's reservations about accepting detainees, Frattini
said that Maroni was concerned about the possible impact on
Italian security, and the burden the detainees would thus
impose on security resources, in light of any need for
surveillance and other measures. Frattini said that if the
U.S. was proposing detainees who were not dangerous
(referring to the court-ordered releases),this would help
mitigate the problem. Frattini said that his own task, on
the other hand would be to help integrate the detainees into
Italian society in terms of employment and other support.
Fried responded that Italy would have to make its own
security assessment of each detainee and that no security
expert would likely ever say there was no risk. Fried
assured Frattini that the USG would work with Italy to
provide information to assist it in meeting its Schengen
requirements.


7. (C) Fried closed by thanking the GOI, in particular PM
Berlusconi, for standing with the U.S. on the effort to
close Guantanamo. Frattini assured him that the U.S. could
continue to rely on Italy.
DIBBLE
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