Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09USUNNEWYORK81
2009-02-03 14:36:00
UNCLASSIFIED
USUN New York
Cable title:  

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OF SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA

Tags:  KAWC NL PGOV PREL SL 
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VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0081/01 0341436
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031436Z FEB 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5749
INFO RUEHFN/AMEMBASSY FREETOWN 1366
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 9092
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000081 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KAWC NL PGOV PREL SL
SUBJECT: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OF SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA
LEONE MEETS WITH PRESIDENT WINTER

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000081

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KAWC NL PGOV PREL SL
SUBJECT: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OF SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA
LEONE MEETS WITH PRESIDENT WINTER


1. (U) Summary. On January 29, the President of the Special
Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL),Justice Renate Winter, met
with the Management Committee to discuss the completion of
the Charles Taylor case, residual issues such as location of
the archives, future use of the Freetown facility, and other
issues related to the administration of the court. End
summary.

Delays in Completion of Charles Taylor Case Likely


2. (U) According to President Winter, the completion of the
Charles Taylor case will likely be delayed. The biggest
problem is that, beginning in September, the International
Criminal Court (ICC) will not be able to provide the SCSL
with unfettered use of ICC courtroom 2 for the Charles Taylor
trial. Given information technology issues, it is not
possible to hold an ICC case in the morning and an SCSL case
in the afternoon. At best, the ICC and SCSL may be able to
rotate use of the courtroom on a monthly basis. Winter has
persuaded the judges hearing the Charles Taylor case (Trial
Chamber 2) to make progress by sitting in July and August,
and taking vacations in September, but the Taylor case will
almost certainly continue beyond September.


3. (U) In addition, there are eighteen motions pending in
the Taylor case, one of which challenges the Prosecutor,s
&joint criminal enterprise8 theory. Without a decision on
that motion, the Prosecutor cannot close his case. President
Winter has urged Trial Chamber 2 to take action on all
pending motions.


4. (U) The defense may ask for more than four months to
prepare its case and to prepare a motion for an acquittal.
President Winter said that there is an &equality of arms8
agreement giving the defense a lump sum amount, without any
commitment to allocate to the defense any additional time to
prepare its case. If Trial Chamber 2 grants the defense more
time, President Winter will not authorize any additional
funds to go to the defense.


5. (U) The defense has announced that Charles Taylor will
testify, and that his testimony may last as long as six
months. This would significantly delay the completion of the
case, pushing it well into 2010.


6. (U) The Dutch and British Management Committee members
said that the SCSL must finish all of its work by the end of
2010, and that their countries would not fund the court
beyond that date.


7. (SBU) The President stressed the importance of the
Secretary General filling the vacant seat on the Appeals
Chamber as soon as possible, so that there would be no delays
at the appellate level. She suggested that she would prefer

that a woman fill the seat. (Note. The United States has
nominated a woman, Vermont Judge Shireen Fisher, to fill the
vacancy. A UN Office of Legal Affairs panel will interview
her on February 5. End note.)


8. (U) President Winter said that after the Appeals Chamber
decides any appeal in the RUF case, it would be more cost
effective to move the Appeals Chamber to The Hague, with a
cost-saving of over 30 percent. Thus, President Winter,s
preference is to hear the possible Charles Taylor appeal in
The Hague, not in Freetown.

Future Use of Freetown Facility


9. (SBU) President Winter described a plan for the future use
of the SCSL facility in Freetown that she said she and the
Registrar have discussed, as follows: (1) The old court
house should become a museum on the history of the conflict
in Sierra Leone. (2) The detention facility should be
transferred to the Government of Sierra Leone. (3) The court
house and administrative facilities should be a training
center for West African judges, in addition to office space
for UN agencies or a center for international law. She said
that Justice Ayoola of Nigeria,s idea of housing an ECOWAS
court in the facility could be compatible with this option,
as it only meets on an occasional basis. President Winter
said that the Ford Foundation has expressed an interest in
possibly providing funding for future use of the SCSL
facilities.


10. (SBU) The UK pointed out that the Government of Sierra
Leone, not the Management Committee, must take ownership of
the site issue. The Sierra Leone representative noted that,
while the issue is not within the mandate of the Management
Committee, Sierra Leone will need the Committee,s
&support8 and would like to work as a team.


Residual Mechanism


11. (SBU) President Winter said that the Yugoslavia and
Rwanda Tribunals should share a residual mechanism with the
Sierra Leone Court, ideally located in The Hague. Winter said
that the archives should be located in The Hague together
with other Tribunals, archives, with an electronic copy
available for the public in Freetown. The UK pointed out that
the Security Council working group on the Tribunals will not
have to make decisions on residual mechanism issues until
after the SCSL has already acted, given the differing
scheduled completion dates.

Enforcement of Sentences


12. (U) Benin has agreed to take custody of eight SCSL
prisoners, provided that Benin receives from USD 30,000 to
USD 50,000 per prisoner per year. President Winter is
seeking five-year commitments from individual European
countries to fund each prisoner,s costs. So far, Austria
has agreed in principle to this approach.


13. (U) The Sierra Leone representative said that it would be
better for the sentences to be served in the same country, so
that relatives and wives in particular could visit.
President Winter noted that the receiving country,s rules
would apply to visits, and pointed out that one prisoner has
seventeen wives and forty children.

Funding


14. (U) President Winter is concerned that the SCSL will run
out of funds later this year. She noted that Germany and
Ireland are unsure whether they will make a contribution this
year, as they are planning to contribute to the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon.

Site Visit


15. (U) The Management Committee discussed the agenda for the
upcoming site visit to The Hague and Freetown. USUN,s
Legoff informed colleagues that a State Department
representative would likely attend, but that Legoff,s
attendance was still uncertain given funding issues.
Rice

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