This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001991 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/WCI - PROSPER, IO - WARLICK, L/AF - TAFT, 
INR/WCAD - SEIDENSTRICKER/MORIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 1.6 FIVE YEARS AFTER CLOSURE OF ICTY 
TAGS: PREL PHUM NL ICTY ICTR
SUBJECT: ICTR: SEEKING INFORMATION ON THE DEPUTY PROSECUTOR 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 224968 
 
     ¶B. PROSPER-KAYE E-MAIL 8/5/03 
 
Classified By: Deputy Legal Counselor David Kaye, reasons 1.5(b) and (d 
). 
 
¶1. (C)  Summary: Dutch MFA officials responsible for 
following the international criminal tribunals for the Former 
Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) said that, given their 
lack of experience working with him, they were not in a 
position to provide an assessment of the current ICTR deputy 
prosecutor's ability to act as interim chief prosecutor.  Two 
senior officials at the ICTY, however, offered in confidence 
their assessments of his abilities.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) In a meeting with Embassy legal officer on August 6, 
MFA legal adviser Johan Lammers and senior officer in the UN 
and IFIs department Thijs Buchli said that the MFA did not 
have enough contact with ICTR deputy prosecutor Bongani 
Christopher Majola to provide a definitive assessment of his 
skills.  Noting that some key officers who might have 
thoughts on Majola were on leave, Lammers and Buchli said 
they were nonetheless familiar with the UNSYG's proposal to 
appoint a separate chief prosecutor for the ICTR, on which 
they expressed no official position.  They were concerned, 
however, that the position not remain empty for any 
significant period of time.  In particular, they believed 
that leaving the position empty, or simply enabling Majola to 
act in an interim capacity for an extended period, could 
leave the wrong impression that the ICTY would be "taken care 
of" while the ICTR remained without leadership.  Buchli in 
particular urged that, whatever the decision, it be made 
quickly so as to avoid such an impression. 
 
¶3. (C) Two slightly diverging views were expressed by two 
senior ICTY prosecutors on August 7.  Drawing from ref B, 
emboff asked Chief of Prosecutions Michael Johnson and Deputy 
Prosecutor Graham Blewitt, as asides in separate private 
conversations, whether they had any reaction to the UNSYG's 
proposal that Majola act as chief prosecutor for some interim 
period.  Johnson (strictly protect), who served as acting 
deputy prosecutor for the ICTR in the fall and led the effort 
to hire Majola, believes that Majola has extraordinary skills 
and is doing superb work at the ICTR.  Still, he does not 
believe that Majola has the political or managerial skills to 
run the ICTR Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) as chief 
prosecutor.  The lack of prosecutorial experience did not 
appear as a problem to Johnson, particularly as the position 
requires as much special political skills in dealing with the 
Rwandan government, victims and witnesses, and others. 
Johnson simply believes that Majola, perhaps as much out of 
inexperience as any other factor, lacks the political 
abilities to run a Tribunal that should play a stabilizing 
role in regional relations.  (Note: Johnson -- a natural 
candidate for the job with deep experience with and 
commitment to the ICTR -- disclaimed any interest in the job 
himself, though we understand from a diplomatic colleague 
here that he has recently expressed openness to it. End 
note.) 
 
¶4. (C) Blewitt (strictly protect) said that he had not worked 
enough with Majola to provide extensive or definitive views. 
He echoed Johnson's views suggesting that Majola lacks the 
necessary political experience.  That said, he suggested that 
if both Majola and senior ICTR/OTP official Melanie Werrett 
were promoted -- he to chief prosecutor and she to deputy -- 
they might make an effective team, particularly since 
Werrett, who has long experience as a prosecutor in the ICTR, 
the UK and Zimbabwe, could compensate for Majola's 
inexperience as a prosecutor.  He noted as an example that he 
and Judge Richard Goldstone, the first chief prosecutor of 
the ICTY, enjoyed a very productive relationship in part 
because he, Blewitt, brought extensive prosecutorial 
experience while Goldstone, not a prosecutor, brought 
political and other skills to the job. 
RUSSEL