GUINEA-BISSAU: SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED WITH

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000999 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DAKAR PLEASE PASS TO BISSAU WATCHER; IO PLEASE SHARE WITH PM/PPA FOR ACTION REQUEST, IF APPROPRIATE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL UNSC PHUM SNAR XY PU ZA SUBJECT: GUINEA-BISSAU: SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED WITH SECURITY SECTOR, DRUGS, AND UN TRANSITION REF: STATE 1140261 ¶1. (SBU) This is an action request. Please see para 15. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: UN Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) Representative Joseph Mutaboba on November 5 told the Security Council in an open session that there has been progress on national reconcliation, especially since he has secured a dialogue between President Sanha and Prime Minister Junior. He reiterated the "window of opportunity" for Guinea-Bissau, but warned that hegemonic politics and intra-party divisions threaten stability. Ambassador Rice during closed consultations said the U.S. remains deeply committed to helping Guinea-Bissau achieve a sustainable peace and pushed for progress on the Commission of Inquiry into the March and June political assassinations. ¶3. (SBU) SUMMARY CONTINUED: UN Office on Drugs and Cime Executive Director Costa described a "disturbing" drug problem in both Guinea-Bissau and in West Africa, and Rice noted the U.S. concern with drug trafficking. The transition from UNOGBIS to the integrated mission, UNIOGBIS, planned for January 1, 2010 is on track, although most of the staff for the mission probably will not be in Bissau until mid-January and beyond. Mutaboba in a meeting with Ambassaodor DiCarlo on October 30 asked for U.S. assistance in obtaining a biometric passport reader for Guinea-Bissau, and asked the U.S. to deploy the PISCES program there. Finally, Mutaboba asked to be put in touch with the Department's Coordinator for Counter Piracy so UNOGBIS (and UNIOGBIS) can play a role in that effort. The Council following consultations adopted S/PRST/2009/29. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- POLITICAL RECONCILIATION AND SSR ON TRACK...FOR NOW -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) During the open session, UNOGBIS Representative Mutaboba told the Council that there has been momentum in recent days on political reconciliation. President Sanha had opened the legislature on November 3 and called for a National Stability Pact. The Speaker of the Parliament also called on legislators to expedite security sector reform (SSR) laws. Sanha's appointment of a new Prosecutor General for the Commission of Inquiry was a positive step, and the new defense leadership (including the swearing in of the Chief of General Staff on October 27) has been "legitimized." Mutaboba reiterated the Secretary-General's sentiment that there is a "window of opportunity" in Guinea-Bissau, and told Council members that Guinea-Bissau still needs help. ¶4. (SBU) Brazilian PermRep Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, as Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission's (PBC) configuration on Guinea-Bissau, addressed the Council and flagged insufficient infrastructure in the country as key to economic recovery. African Union Acting Permanent Observer Tete Antonio worried that Guinea-Bissau's army was oversized compared to the general population; he also said that solving the problems with the pension fund for retired military was the key to success on SSR. Guinea-Bissau PermRep Alfredo Lopes Cabral in unscripted remarks explained that the needs of his country still warrant the international community's confidence. He also asked for international partners to help build prisons, explaining that the people of Guinea-Bissau need to have faith in their justice system. ¶5. (SBU) In closed consultations following the open session, Mutaboba shared two "good news" items with Council members. First, he said he has been able to secure a dialogue between President Sanha and Prime Minister Junior. Sanha, according to Mutaboba, expressed his appreciation to the UN for bringing the two officials together. Mutaboba suggested this momentum could help with the national political dialogue and appealed for Council members to help bilaterally. Second, Mutaboba has urged the Guinea-Bissau military to break away from partitions, and called this the "only way to end impunity." He pleaded with the Council to help fight organized crime (including drugs, small arms and light weapons, and human trafficking),as well as to help secure and monitor Guinea-Bissau's borders. ¶6. (SBU) Ambassador Rice noted that the U.S. remains deeply committed to helping Guinea-Bissau achieve a sustainable peace, and we are encouraged by the June and July elections in Guinea-Bissau. She also informed Council members that the U.S. planned to re-open a Mission in Bissau in the near future. She suggested that the national defense reform plan adopted by the National Popular Assembly in 2007 serve as the basis for SSR in Guinea-Bissau. The United Kingdom agreed that SSR, as well as counter-narcotics, were the "immediate priorities" for Guinea-Bissau. Most Council members mentioned elements of SSR in their statements. Mutaboba while answering wrap-up questions at the end of consultations asked Council members to be more proactive in their SSR assistance, and not wait for the Government of Guinea-Bissau to sign off on a whole strategy. He said he would repeat this message when he met with the European Union in Brussels on November ¶9. COMMENT: During negotiations prior to November 5, the French and UK experts mentioned holding off on SSR until the Government had a better idea of what it wanted to do. France took a hard line on protecting European Union equities in the PRST, which noted the EU's role in SSR. END COMMENT. ¶7. (SBU) Ambassador Rice also asked for an update on the Commission of Inquiry into the political assassinations of March and June, including what could be done to protect witnesses associated with its work. She flagged the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) technical assistance to the Commission and asked partner countries to do what they can to assist; Russia specifically thanked the U.S. for the FBI's work in this area. During Mutaboba's rebuttal, he did not answer the questions posed about the Commission, deferring judgment until after the anticipated "progress" the new Prosecutor General would kick-start. -------------- -------------- SOBERING MESSAGE ON DRUGS IN WEST, AND EAST, AFRICA -------------- -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In both the open meeting and closed consultations, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa alerted Council members to what is becoming a distrubring drug problem in Guinea-Bissau. He expressed concern that the international community had "wasted time" since he first alerted members five years ago about the West Africa drug problem. He also made a link between the country's rising drug trade and its poor judicial system, uncontrolled sea and air space, and open land borders. In closed consultations, Costa highlighted the intercontinental drug problem, in which drugs originating from Afghanistan and Pakistan are transiting through East Africa and converging in the Sahel area with those from West Africa. He also explained that West Africa is becoming a hub for drug consumption, not just transit. He posited that chemical precursors do not originate in West Africa, so are obviously coming from somewhere (he suggested Asia, coming through the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then to Mexico and West Africa). ¶9. (SBU) Ambassador Rice said that the U.S. is extremely concerned about drug trafficking in West Africa, and suggested the Economic Community of West African States should be encouraged and supported to take the lead on a coordinated, regional approach to fight drugs. She also encouraged the UN Office for West Africa to do its part in the effort. All Council members agreed with Rice, with most calling for more funding for counter-narcotics efforts. France asked for regular UNODC briefings on Africa-related trafficking; Costa in response said he would welcome the opportunity. Libya said that the drug problem in West Africa is not only a regional issue, highlighting the role North Africa plays in fueling the trafficking. -------------- A HARD FOUGHT PRST -------------- ¶10. (SBU) The Council following consultations adopted a Burkinabe-drafted PRST (S/PRST/2009/29) after last-minute revisions from Russia. In negotiations on the PRST on November 4, Russia was fine with wording on "shared responsibility" in paragraph six, but overnight had received instructions from Moscow that the wording was not okay. Intense side negotiations during consultations between Burkina Faso, Mexico (who insisted on inclusion of the wording),and Russia--as well as the U.S. and France--helped work out differences. -------------- -------------- TRANSITION TO UNIOGBIS ON TRACK FOR JANUARY 1, 2010 -------------- -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Mutaboba told the Council in general terms that the integrated follow-on mission, UNIOGBIS, would be ready to go on January 1. He said that UNIOGBIS had been given an "ambitious" mandate and offered no details on other aspects. In a meeting with USUN staff on November 2, UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) Integrated Peacebuilding Missions Unit staffer, Vina Najibullah (protect),gave blunt details about the transition from UNOGBIS to UNIOGBIS. Overall, she (who is in charge at UN headquarters of all hiring and administrative aspects of these DPA missions),like Mutaboba, believes UNIOGBIS will be up and running on January 1, but full staffing will take a number of months. She said that DPA was "not good at field work," but has learned lessons from the integrated peacebuilding mission in Sierra Leone (the first such integrated mission). DPA has requested $19 million for UNIOGBIS with 119 staff, which includes 35 safety and security staff and 32 support staff. She said that DPA has completed 80 percent of the interviews for staff positions, but the new UN hiring pratices are slowing down the process. ¶12. (SBU) The DPA staffer asked for U.S. assistance in ensuring the ACABQ adopts the proposed budget for UNIOGBIS, adding that Under-Secretary-General Lynn Pascoe often says that "we should not continue anemic (peacebuilding) missions; we need to invest for five years instead of continuing to trickle a small amount of money in." She also said that Department of Field Support (DFS) Assistant-Secretary-General Anthony Banbury (U.S.) was a "breath of fresh air," and personally spearheads a group in DFS to help with peacebuilding transition missions. COMMENT: Mutaboba during his myriad meetings in NY offered no staffing details. Similarly, the Secretary-General's recent report (S/2009/552) on Guinea-Bissau lacked adequate information on plans for UNIOGBIS. Post found out more in the meeting with the DPA staffer than we had in any other meeting. END COMMENT. -------------- -------------- MUTABOBA ASKS FOR U.S. HELP ON CRIME, DRUGS, AND COUNTER-PIRACY -------------- -------------- ¶13. (SBU) In a meeting with Ambassador DiCarlo on October 30, Mutaboba asked explicitly for U.S. assistance to curb transnational crime and drugs. He expressed frustration that Guinea-Bissau now has biometric passports, but they do not have the necessary machine to read them. He also explained that he had personally visited the airport in Bissau and had taken a trip to the Senegalese border in an effort to expose the key problem: lax security associated with having a diplomatic passport; Bissau authorities do not check a diplomatic passport holder's bags at all, making drug trafficking easy. ¶14. (SBU) Mutaboba also asked for the U.S. to deploy PISCES (Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System) in Guinea-Bissau. In this regard, he commented that INTERPOL's presence in Bissau is essentially an incompetent staff and other assistance is needed to make any difference. He lamented that Guinea-Bissau's police are "close to nothing," and UNOGBIS has only been able to help with sporadic training. Separately, Mutaboba took time to thank the FBI for its work on the Commission of Inquiry. ¶15. (SBU) Mutaboba asked to be put in touch with the Department's Coordinator for Counter Piracy, Robert Maggi, to discuss counter piracy and Guinea-Bissau's role. Ambassador DiCarlo agreed such a meeting was a good idea. COMMENT: Mutaboba seemed anxious to carve out a role for himself in counter piracy, including by working with other UN missions in West Africa. END COMMENT. Post reqests Department assistance to arrange such a meeting or telephone call. Post also requests Department's position on Mutaboba's two requests above (paras 13 and 14),and whether Post should seek more information from the UN on these requests. Rice