BOSNIA - INCREASED INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 000574

SIPDIS

EUR (JONES),EUR/SCE (FOOKS, MCGUIRE),S/WCI (WILLIAMSON,
VIBUL-JOLLES),INR (MORIN),INL (CARROLL),EUR/ACE (DUNN,
KEETON, TEFFT); NSC (HELGERSON); OSD (BEIN); DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE FOR OPDAT (ALEXANDRE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM KJUS BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - INCREASED INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
PRESSURE TO EXTEND MANDATE OF FOREIGN JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS

REF: SARAJEVO 505

Classified By: Ambassador Charles English for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (b)


1. (C) SUMMARY: As a follow-up to their lunch with High
Representative Valentin Inzko (Reftel),the Quint Ambassadors
met on May 5 with State Justice Minister Barisa Colak to urge
him to prepare legislative amendments needed to extend the
presence of international judges and prosecutors past
December 2009. Colak informed the ambassadors that his
ministry would prepare the amendments in a week's time for
consideration by the Council of Ministers (CoM),but said the
amendments would clearly spell out which kinds of cases
international judicial officials could work on, and noted
that his party, HDZ-BiH, would not support having
internationals work on organized crime cases. All of the
Quint ambassadors underscored to Colak the importance of
allowing internationals to work on organized crime cases.
However, divisions remain in the international community
about how to approach the extension issue. After receiving a
briefing about judicial issues on April 30 by State Court
President Meddzida Kreso and State Prosecutor Milorad
Barasin, ambassadors from several donor countries, including
the UK, issued a press release unequivocally endorsing the
extension. A few countries balked, including Italy, Sweden,
Germany, and France. END SUMMARY.

Quint Ambassadors Demarche Colak
--------------


2. (C) As a follow-up to their meeting with HighRep Inzko,
the Quint Ambassadors met with State Justice Minister Barisa
Colak to urge him to send legislation to the Council of
Ministers permitting extension of the mandate of
international prosecutors and judges. The British
Ambassador, in his role as spokesman for the group, stressed
the shared, strong concern about maintaining the integrity
and efficiency of the State Court and the State Prosecutor's
Office. He said that the judiciary lies at the heart of
Bosnia's Euro-Atlantic integration process and that the
international community has seen a good return on the
significant investment it has made in the judiciary over the
years.


3. (C) The British Ambassador pointed out that the extension
of the secondees' mandate would provide added expertise in
the fight against organized crime, assist Bosnia in meeting
its obligations to the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia (ICTY),and instill greater public
confidence in the judiciary in light of political attacks
against it. He also underscored that the international
community trusts Court President Kreso's and State Prosecutor
Milorad Barasin's judgment, and they support the extension.
He added that the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council
(HJPC) had given broad support to the initiative, and that
the initiative was an urgent matter given the negative impact
the uncertainty over this issue has already had on the State
Court and the State Prosecutor's Office.

Colak: Yes to War Crimes, Organized Crime -- Forget About It
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Minister Colak told the Ambassadors that he had not
yet submitted the needed legislative amendments to the CoM
because he was convinced that the Registry Agreement between
OHR and the Bosnian Presidency, which governs the presence of
the internationals at the State Court and the State
Prosecutor's Office, needed to be amended. Because OHR had
disagreed with his opinion, Colak said he sought the advice
of the Presidency on this matter. (Note: The Presidency,
after a series of discussions, had sided with OHR. End Note)
Colak then pointed out the differences of opinion regarding
the extension between the HJPC and Kreso and Barasin (e.g.
Kreso favors keeping international judges on appellate panels
for both war crimes and organized crime; the HJPC proposed
keeping international judges for war crimes only). Colak
also called attention to an HJPC suggestion that
internationals work at the State Court and the State
Prosecutor's Office as monitors. When asked by the
Ambassador about whether Kreso and Barasin would support this
proposal, Colak admitted that he did not know. (Note: Kreso

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and Barasin have told us repeatedly that do not support
having monitors working at their respective institutions
because the monitors would not bring much value added. We
agree. End Note)


5. (C) Colak said he had spoken at length with HDZ-BiH party
leader Dragan Covic, Prime Minister Nikola Spiric, and
members of Parliament about this issue. He made clear that
his party would not support having internationals work on
organized crime cases, and said the Alliance of Independent
Social Democrats (SNSD) has said that it would reject the
extension initiative altogether. Colak added that he was
working diligently to secure funds for the judiciary.

Ambassadors to Colak: Organized Crime is Crucial
-------------- ---


6. (C) Speaking with one voice, the Ambassadors argued that
it was important to have internationals continue working on
organized crime cases. The British Ambassador pressed Colak
for further details about when he expects to forward the
legislative amendments to the CoM and whether the language in
the amendments would be broad or specific regarding the scope
of an extension. Colak responded by saying that the
amendments would be prepared within a week's time and that
they would contain specific language to ensure that there is
no room for differing interpretations. Colak also noted that
he had no indication as to whether Prime Minister Spiric
would place the issue on the CoM agenda expediously.

Kreso and Barasin Present an Alarming Picture to Donors
-------------- --------------


7. (U) On April 30, a few days before the meeting with
Colak, State Court President Meddzida Kreso and State
Prosecutor Milorad Barasin briefed ambassadors and
representatives of donor countries on the state of affairs at
their respective institutions. Participating missions, in
addition to the U.S. Embassy, included the embassies of the
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Austria, the Office of
the High Representative, the European Commission, and the
EUSR. Both Kreso and Barasin presented an alarming picture,
noting that the budget cuts they are facing are hampering
normal operations, including those of the Court's Witness
Support Section. They further explained that the impending
departure of internationals has caused the court to reduce
from 6 to 4 the number of first instance war crimes panels
and from 3 to 2 the number of first instance organized crime
panels. New cases can not be assigned to the internationals,
and the internationals and some members of the local staff,
acting on the assumption that there will be no extension,
have already begun searching for jobs. Kreso and Barasin
also explained that, as a result of the budget shortfalls,
they can not submit requests to the HJPC to replace the
internationals with nationals, nor are there funds to support
implementation of the National War Crimes Strategy. Kreso
and Barasin stressed that work at the Court and Prosecutor's
Office would become much more difficult if the initiative to
extend the secondees does not get off the ground by the end
of May. They also reminded attendees of the political
attacks they had been weathering.

Diplomatic Shuffling
--------------


8. (C) The aim of this Dutch-led meeting was to jump start
support by the international community for the initiative to
extend the mandate of the internationals, and more broadly
speaking, support for state-level judicial institutions and
the rule of law in Bosnia. The ensuing diplomatic
disagreements over the text of a joint press release
following the briefing, however, highlighted the divisions
within the international community over the initiative. The
United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria,
Switzerland, the Office of the High Representative, and the
EU Special Representative joined us in issuing a press
release that unequivocally endorsed the extension. The
European Commision, Sweden, and Italy decided to withhold
support for the press release because they deemed it
premature. They maintained that the meeting was a
fact-finding mission, prompting Norway and the Netherlands to

SARAJEVO 00000574 003 OF 003


point out that there had been many meetings and fact-finding
missions on this subject about which all donors had already
been briefed. They also noted that the Swedes had funded an
independent expert report that came out in strong support for
the extension. The Germans declined to support the press
release because they opposed explicit mention of support of
the extension initiative, and as a result, decided to skip
the meeting. France was nowhere in sight. Reactions to the
joint press release were relatively muted.


9. (U) The text of the press release is as follows:

Ambassadors and representatives of donor countries to the
State Prosecutor's Office and the State Court met with State
Prosecutor Milorad Barasin and Court President Kreso to
discuss the rule of law and the work of both of their
judicial institutions. They commended the work being done by
the State Prosecutor's Office and the State Court on behalf
of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Ambassadors of the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland,
United Kingdom, and the United States, and representatives
from the Austrian Embassy, the Office of the High
Representative, and the EU Special Representative, stressed
their strong support for the work of Chief Prosecutor Barasin
and President Kreso. They noted the vital role played by the
State Prosecutor's Office and State Court in investigating
and prosecuting war crimes, organize crime, corruption, and
terrorism, stressing that this work is critical to the
development of the rule of law and to Bosnia and
Herzegovina's Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

The Ambassadors and representatives emphasized the importance
of the State Prosecutor's office and the State Court
receiving sufficient funding to enable them to carry out
their responsibilities. They also expressed concern about
attacks on the State Prosecutor's Office and the State Court.
They underscored that attempts to undermine and discredit
the work of these two institutions are unacceptable.

The Ambassadors and representatives reiterated their strong
support for the request by State Court President Kreso and
State Prosecutor Barasin to extend the presence of the
international judges and prosecutors working at their
institutions past the legislatively -mandated December 2009
deadline. They called on state-level authorities to amend
existing legislation in order to permit the extension.
ENGLISH