ICTY TASK FORCE TO CONTINUE ONCE CHAPTER 23 OPENS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000056

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE AND S/WCI; THE HAGUE FOR OLC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2020
TAGS: PREL PGOV KAWC ICTY HR
SUBJECT: ICTY TASK FORCE TO CONTINUE ONCE CHAPTER 23 OPENS,
JUSTICE MINISTER SKEPTICAL OF RESULTS

REF: ZAGREB 731 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Political Officer Chris Zimmer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)


1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: Ambassador Foley briefed Justice Minister
Ivan Simonovic on his trip to London to discuss Croatia's
investigation into missing war crimes documents and the UK's
block on Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) in
Croatia's EU accession negotiations. Although some in the
British Government still hold a skeptical view of Croatia's
cooperation with ICTY, the UK is willing to open the chapter
and move a final decision on Croatia's cooperation to a
closing benchmark. The focus now shifts to the Netherlands
as apparently the sole holdout on Chapter 23 and Simonovic is
trying to use his contacts in the Dutch Government to
convince their PM and Foreign Minister to accept the British
position. The Ambassador stressed the need to continue the
work of the Task Force once Chapter 23 is opened and to hold
people accountable for stealing and/or destroying documents.
Simonovic doubts that the documents will be found nor will
sentences for destroying documents become more severe, but
assured the Task Force's investigative work will continue.
END SUMMARY.


2. (C/NF) Ambassador Foley called on Justice Minister
Simonovic on January 25 to brief him on his trip to London
with Ambassador-At-Large for War Crimes Stephen Rapp to
discuss with British officials the prospects for unblocking
Chapter 23, one of the final hurdles for Croatia's EU
accession. The Ambassador described the division of opinion
in London on Croatia's progress in cooperating with ICTY and
on the GoC Task Force's work to find the missing documents in
the Gotovina case or to uncover what happened to them. He
noted that the British decision to move forward on Chapter 23
and transform the issue of ICTY cooperation into a strong
closing benchmark was taken with reluctance and that British
officials are giving Croatia the benefit of the doubt. Foley
stressed that both the US and UK expected the Task Force to
continue a vigorous investigation into the missing documents,
and to follow the evidence wherever it led.


3. (C/NF) Simonovic said he is refocusing on the Netherlands.
He spoke to the Minister of Justice and a MOJ State
Secretary, who are both personal acquaintances and from
different coalition partners. They told him that they would
speak to their Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and urge
them to lift the blockade. Simonovic also said that other
officials at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
recommended to the FM to open Chapter 23. He said that the
Belgians and Finns have taken the British position and the
Dutch are now isolated on Chapter 23.


4. (C/NF) A strong closing benchmark is not a problem,
according to Simonovic, although he doubts the Task Force
will be able to find the missing documents as they are "too
well hidden" by those who stole them. He agreed with the
Ambassador that, if the documents are not found, it will be
critical to uncover the details of the conspiracy to conceal
the documents and hold the perpetrators responsible. The
Ambassador expressed concern that the sentences meted out
thus far have been weak 6-month suspended sentences.
Simonovic responded that the punishments were within
Croatia's sentencing guidelines, he could not instruct judges
to hand out harsher sentences, nor did he think future
convictions would result in harsher penalties. He did
believe, however, that the Task Force would be able to
determine what happened to the documents and even reconstruct
what was in the documents.


5. (C/NF) Simonovic said that President-Elect Josipovic,
known throughout Europe for his early support of ICTY (which
was very unpopular domestically at that time),will be
supportive of Croatia's efforts to open Chapter 23 and reform
the judiciary and his election should show to other Europeans
that Croatia is not the same country it was in the 1990s
under Tudjman. He already spoke to Josipovic about utilizing
the February 18th inauguration as an opportunity to discuss
with European leaders the progress Croatia is making in the
investigation and in cooperating with ICTY.


6. (C/NF) COMMENT: GOC officials appear to understand the
need to continue a strong effort to locate the documents once
Chapter 23 is opened and are aware that complacency or
triumphalism could have negative ramifications for closing
the chapter. We are encouraging the Croatians to bring Dutch
and British officials to Zagreb to meet with those involved
in the Task Force to get a better understanding of the
investigation. Post will continue to monitor the Task

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Force's work to ensure that its aggressive approach is
maintained.
FOLEY