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INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 0064
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C O N F I D E N T I A L FREETOWN 000617 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, S/WCI, L/AF,IO 
USUN FOR AHILLMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2016 
TAGS: PREL KAWC SL SG
SUBJECT: SPECIAL COURT REGISTRAR DISCUSSES COMPLETION OF 
TRIALS, CONCERNS ABOUT DETAINEE HEALTH, LIBERIA OUTREACH 
 
REF: DOHERTY-HILLMAN/TAFT E-MAIL OF JULY 26 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Thomas N. Hull, Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
¶1. (U) Special Court for Sierra Leone Registrar Lovemore 
Munlo met with Ambassador and PolOff on July 26 to discuss a 
number of issues the Court faces, including its completion 
strategy (discussed in reftel).  Munlo stood by the draft 
completion calendar forwarded to the Management Committee 
that estimates that the CDF and AFRC trials and appeals will 
be complete in late 2007/early 2008 and that the RUF case 
will be complete by the end of 2008.  Munlo added that the 
estimate of 4-6 months per appeal was still a rough estimate, 
since these dates do not take into consideration the fact 
that appeals chamber judges may grant time extensions or call 
witnesses during the appeals process or take vacation between 
appeals cases. 
 
¶2.  (C) Munlo also said he is happy to finally be on the 
record voicing his concerns for detainees' health.  The draft 
agreement for detainees to be treated for serious health 
conditions in Senegal, Munlo said, is still stalled in the 
Senegalese Ministry of the Interior, according to his 
interlocutor from the British High Commission in Freetown. 
Munlo said the Senegalese are reviewing an older version of 
the agreement (originally formulated in 2003 to provide 
medical assistance to now-deceased indictee Foday Sankoh). 
Munlo said that the UN Office of Legal Affairs is supposed to 
approach the Government of Senegal with new language (drafted 
to "tighten things up" at the behest of USUN), but he is 
afraid that the Sengalese will see this as an excuse to 
reject the agreement. 
 
¶3. (U) Munlo said that he would like to do more outreach in 
Monrovia concerning the Charles Taylor trial, but to date has 
been unable to reach UNMIL SRSG Alan Doss.  Munlo said that 
he would like to meet with President Johnson-Sirleaf as well 
as the Liberian legislative assembly and civil society to 
answer questions and clear up misconceptions about the Taylor 
case.  "We need to be seen as doing something," Munlo said. 
Munlo also wants to arrange video links for Liberians to view 
the Taylor case, as directed in UNSCR 1688. 
 
¶4. (C) Comment: Munlo's message to the Management Committee 
regarding the completion calendar is not just his own: others 
on the Court staff share his views about the need to ensure a 
fair trial by allowing ample time for the defense.  In 
particular, we have heard concerns about the troubling optics 
of "changing the rules in the middle of the game" (i.e., 
allowing the prosecution to go at its own pace and then 
tightening the strings when it comes time to give the defense 
its time on the floor).  Post agrees that efficiencies can be 
found in the system, but that those efficiencies should not 
come at the expense of a fair trial.  End Comment. 
HULL