VZCZCXRO7277
OO RUEHBZ RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUCNDT #0629/01 2122125
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 312125Z JUL 07
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2370
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0899
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 8917

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000629 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL UNSC KJUS KDEM PGOV SL XA
SUBJECT: UN/SIERRA LEONE SPECIAL COURT: MANAGEMENT 
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN MCNEE'S JULY 10 LETTER TO AMBASSADOR 
KHALILZAD SEEKING SUPPORT FOR THE SPECIAL COURT 
 
 
¶1.  USUN has received a letter dated July 10, 2007 (full text 
- para 2) from Canadian Ambassador John McNee, current 
Chairman of the Sierra Leone Special Court Management 
Committee, addressed to Ambassador Khalilzad seeking 
additional U.S. financial support for the Special Court.  The 
Special Court's New York representative recently informed 
members of the Management Committee that as of June 30, the 
Court had approximately $10.6 million in its account, an 
amount sufficient to sustain ongoing Court operations in 
Freetown and The Hague only until mid-October.  Court 
officials have repeatedly emphasized to USUN that they are 
depending on a U.S. contribution to cover Court costs, now 
averaging approximately $2.8 million per month, through the 
balance of 2007 (i.e., November and December 2007) and into 
early 2008 until additional contributions from other donor 
states are received. 
 
¶2.  Text of July 10, 2007 letter from Special Court Chairman 
McNee to Ambassador Khalilzad: 
 
Begin text: 
 
Excellency, 
 
I am writing to you in Canada's capabity as chair of the 
Management Committee of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, 
to draw your attention to several important developments at 
the Special Court for Sierra Leone. 
 
You will, of course, have noted the recent appearance of the 
President and Prosecutor befor the Security Council, and the 
subsequent adoption by the Council of a Presidential 
Statement supporting the Court's work (S/PRST/2007/23).  You 
will also have seen the news from Freetown that the Judges of 
Trial Chamber II have delivered their verdict in the AFRC 
case.  A verdict in the CDF case is also expected shortly. 
And the trial of the former President of Liberia, Charles 
Taylor, has begun in The Hague.  These are all significant 
milestones in the Special Court's life. 
 
Such progress has only been possible thanks to the continued 
hard work and dedication of the staff of the Court.  Their 
tireless efforts, particularly over the past few months when 
the Court has had the additional challenge of establishing 
parallel facilities in The Hague, deserve our most sincere 
appreciation. 
 
These past months have also been a time for re-evaluation. 
Last September, the Management Committee invited Judge 
Antonio Cassese to undertake an "independent review" of the 
Court, with the intention of identifying changes or 
improvements that might help the Court complete its work in 
Freetown more expeditiously and efficiently, and ensuring the 
Court was well prepared for the trial in The Hague.  Judge 
Cassese's reports - the full tet of which can be found at 
 
- highlighted the "remarkable achievement" of the Court to 
date: not least the speed with which it established itself; 
the rapid detention of indictees; the way it has grappled 
with novel issues of international criminal law; the 
"exemplary" outreach programme; and the groundbreaking 
establishment of a Defense Office. 
 
However, the report also identified several areas needing 
attention if the Court was to continue that success.  In 
particular, he criticized the funding arrangements of the 
Court, and noted that the voluntary funding arrangements for 
the SCSL had meant not only continued financial insecurity, 
but also a history of false economics (for instance, he 
observed that early decisions to provide judges with only 
limited support had reduced the Court's costs initially, but 
resulted in delays in trial proceedings and decision writing, 
and therefore to increased costs in the long term). 
 
One such false economy, and another of Judge Cassese's key 
criticisms, was the fact that the Court had a non-resident, 
part-time President.  This, he said, had resulted in a lack 
of leadership, weak coordination mechanisms, and insufficient 
ownership, particularly by the judges, of the Completion 
Strategy.  He also considered that the Defense Office was not 
providing the defense teams with the level of support that 
had originally been envisaged.  Finally, although his remit 
was to focus principally on judicial operations, Judge 
Cassese made several recommendations concerning day-ti-day 
management issues at the Court, including the need for better 
strategic leadership, improved communication between the 
different sections, and better provision for staff training. 
 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000629  002 OF 002 
 
 
I am pleased to say that the senior leadership of the Special 
Court moved swiftly to address the most important issues 
identified in Judge Cassese's report.  Inter alia, there is 
now a full-time, resident President; amendments have been 
made to the rules of procedure to streamline the Court's 
proceedings; and several new posts have been provided to lend 
additional support to the judges.  A review of the role of 
the Defense Office has also been undertaken.  Meanwhile, 
management practices at the Court have changed, with better 
coordination between sections, clearer lines of communication 
and more information sharing.  As a result the Court is on 
track to complete its work in line with the benchmarks set 
out in its Completion Strateby (the latest update).  In this 
regardk i would like to pay particular tribute to the 
President, Judge George Gelaga King, and the Registrar, 
Herman von Hebel, who have both played pivotal leaderhsip 
roles over the past fews . 
 
The Management Committee has also changed its approach in the 
light of Judge Cassese's recommendation to "work out a tight 
and final plan for the completion of the Court's activities." 
 Rather than continuing with the practices of approving 
annual budgets, we requested a number of unknowns at this 
stage, not the least of which is legacy issues, which will be 
an important strand of work for the Management Committee in 
the coming months.  However, the Completion Budget provided 
to us by the Court (and approved by the Management Committee 
in June 2007), sets out for the first time in one document 
how the financing of the Court will look over the rest of its 
life.  As you will see from the summary of the budget 
(S/2007/388), the Court is looking strategically at how it 
will meet the remaining milestones in the Completion 
Strategy, including managing the process of drawing down 
staff and resources as the Court gets into its appeals phase 
and the, finally, ceases operations in early 2006.  (The full 
budget can be found at: www. sc-sl.org/documents/ 
budget/2007-2009.pdf. 
 
The Completion Budget gives us all welcome clarity.  However, 
it also sets out the scale of the fundraising task ahead. 
The bottom line is that we need just under $90 million U.S. 
dollars more to cover the Court's costs over the end of its 
lifetime.  And while that is a low figure by international 
standards, we are still struggling to raise the voluntary 
contributions necessary to cover the Court's monthly costs, 
let alone give it the financial security Judge Cassese put so 
much emphasis on in his report.  The continued support of 
countries such as yours is vital.  It means that we gave 
raised nearly $30 million of that $90 million.  But, at this 
stage of the Court's life, when it has to pay for operations 
not only in Freetown but also in The Hague, that is 
unfortunately only enough money to keep the Court financially 
afloat until October 2007.  So please consider whether your 
country could give more to the Special Court.  Every 
donation, no matter now small, takes us closer to our $90 
million fundraising target. 
 
Finally, let me take this opportunity on behalf of the entire 
Management Committee to express our thanks for the interest 
and support shown to the Special Court to date. 
 
With best regards, 
 
John McNee 
Ambassador and Permanent Representative 
 
End text. 
 
 
KHALILZAD