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P 041437Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6949
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1483
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 6231
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 2760
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1224

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001785 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ICJ RW DJ FR
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI AND RWANDA: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ON 
FRANCE,S JUDICIAL ENGAGEMENTS 
 
REF: KIGALI 391 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, 1.4 (b/d 
). 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  (C)  MFA DAS-equivalent Helene Le Gal on April 
30 said that recent developments in the Borrel case, 
involving judicial searches of the MFA and Justice Ministry, 
largely involved internal French legal issues.  The Borrel 
case continued to affect France-Djibouti relations, although 
both sides tried to carry on "business as usual" in other 
areas.  Le Gal reported with regret that France-Rwanda 
relations were at a standstill, with no official contact 
between the two sides, and with neither maintaining an 
official presence in the other.  Le Gal noted litigation at 
the International Court of Justice with both Djibouti 
(seeking release of the Borrel files) and Rwanda (seeking to 
quash France-generated warrants against Rwandan officials), 
with both cases expected to last many months, if not years, 
before their resolution.  The Borrel case has also created 
friction among a number of GOF agencies, leading to more 
media attention than the case itself might otherwise warrant. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
DJIBOUTI 
 
¶2.  (C)  MFA DAS-equivalent for East and Central Africa 
Helene Le Gal discussed Djibouti and Rwanda on April 30.  She 
said that recent developments in the Borrel case (involving 
the mysterious 1995 death of French magistrate in Djibouti 
and his widow's continuing efforts to overturn the finding of 
suicide) now centered on the lawsuit brought by his widow 
after then-MFA spokesperson Herve Ladsous (currently French 
Ambassador in Beijing) publicly stated in January 2005 that 
the GOF would provide its case files to Djibouti in a spirit 
of cooperation.  Mrs. Borrel sued the MFA, claiming that 
Ladsous's "promise" was an improper attempt to pressure 
investigative judge Sophie Clement into releasing the files. 
Le Gal said that Ladsous based his original statement on 
advice received from the Justice Ministry.  (See Paris Points 
for April 17.)  However, after he made his statement, Clement 
said that she would not release the files and the Justice 
Ministry, in deference to Clement, rescinded its previous 
advice, thus leaving Ladsous, Le Gal suggested, out to dry. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Le Gal confirmed that investigative judges involved 
in Mrs. Borrel's suit against the MFA searched the MFA (April 
19) and Justice Ministry (April 20), seizing a fair number of 
documents and records.  Le Gal reminded that none of this had 
anything to do with determining how Borrel died but rather 
concerned only Ladsous's "promise" to release the files and 
why that "promise" was made. 
 
¶4.  (U)  NOTE:  The press reported that Gendarmerie personnel 
who would normally have participated in the April 19 and 20 
searches of the MFA and Justice Ministry refused to do so 
because of their "political" nature on the eve of France's 
presidential elections.  The investigative judges instead 
received assistance from the judicial police of Paris suburb 
Nanterre to carry out their searches.  The investigative 
judges on May 2 attempted to conduct a similar search of the 
offices of the French Presidency, specifically, its Africa 
cell.  The judges were rebuffed by the Presidency's security 
unit, which said that such a search would be illegal under 
French law protecting the Presidency from such searches 
because of separation-of-powers concerns.  (See Paris Points 
for May 3.)  END NOTE. 
 
¶5.  (C)  At the same time Mrs. Borrel was suing the MFA in 
order to prevent Djibouti from receiving the files (Mrs. 
Borrel and her supporters have alleged that the Government of 
Djibouti may have been complicit in her husband's death), Le 
Gal noted, not without irony, that Djibouti was suing France 
at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to have the files 
released.  Le Gal said that the ICJ case would take months, 
if not years, to resolve, noting that Djibouti had six months 
to file its initial pleadings, after which France would have 
six months to respond.  Other steps would follow after 
similarly well-spaced intervals.  Le Gal noted investigative 
Judge Clement's subpoenas to have senior Djiboutians, 
including President Guelleh, testify in her ongoing 
investigation into Borrel's death, but Le Gal said that 
immunity of one kind or another would likely protect them 
from being compelled to do so. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Le Gal said that despite these several complicated 
 
PARIS 00001785  002 OF 002 
 
 
and distracting legal matters, both sides were trying to 
conduct "normal" relations.  Although the Djiboutians 
remained quite concerned about the Borrel case (especially 
the possibility that certain individuals might have to 
testify in French courts), Le Gal indicated that they 
understood better the independent role of the French 
judiciary and were becoming more inclined to let the Borrel 
case play itself out separately and to minimize its effect on 
overall relations.  Still, the Djiboutians were continuing 
with their ICJ suit. 
 
RWANDA 
 
¶7.  (C)  Le Gal was far less optimistic about Rwanda.  She 
said glumly that official contact between the two sides had 
ceased to exist.  All official French activities in Rwanda 
had stopped and all official GOF personnel had departed.  The 
same was true of the Rwandan Embassy and its personnel in 
Paris.  The only French in Rwanda were long-term expatriates, 
missionaries, and French who worked for NGOs, with Belgium 
overseeing French interests.  Le Gal regretted this state of 
affairs and expressed a degree of bitterness towards 
anti-terrorism Judge Bruguiere's November 2006 report 
accusing President Kagame and some of his associates of 
involvement in the killing of then-President Habyarimana and 
others, which precipitated the 1994 genocide.  The report led 
to international arrest warrants against nine senior Rwandans 
and a recommendation that Kagame face charges for involvement 
in Habyarimana's death.  The report caused Rwanda to sever 
relations with France. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Le Gal said that neither side was taking any steps 
to improve or restore relations, which she seemed to regret. 
Rwanda was attempting at the ICJ to quash the warrants 
generated by Bruguiere's report (ref A).  Le Gal said that 
France had recently agreed that the ICJ had jurisdiction over 
the Rwandans' complaint.  She predicted, as in the Borrel 
case, a long and time-consuming litigation, with many months 
or even years before its resolution.  As a practical matter, 
she indicated that the warrants would not likely impede 
legitimate government travel by those against whom the 
warrants were issued. 
 
¶9.  (C)  COMMENT:  Le Gal was clearly disappointed that the 
Borrel case was proving to be such a distraction.  However, 
she made clear that, in terms of bilateral relations, it was 
an irritant, albeit not a trivial one.  Within the GOF, the 
case has generated interagency rancor and bureaucratic 
disruption, involving the MFA, Justice Ministry, Judge 
Clement, the magistrature (which has strongly supported 
Clement's independence as an investigative judge), the 
Gendarmerie, and now the Presidency.  This in turn has 
increased the media's interest, more so than might otherwise 
be warranted.  Given Mrs. Borrel's repeated success in 
drawing attention to the case on a periodic basis (this time 
at the peak of France's presidential election season), we 
expect that it will return as a prominent issue from time to 
time.  Regarding Rwanda, Le Gal's outlook was notably bleak, 
and she was less able than she had been in the past to 
conceal her frustration over everything that has happened 
since the issuance of Bruguiere's report.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
STAPLETON