VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDR #0376/01 0771327
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181327Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5736
INFO RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA PRIORITY 2510
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA PRIORITY 2965
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI PRIORITY 0931
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 0570
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 1053
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000376 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/WCI BDOHERTY 
ALSO FOR IO 
AF/E FOR BYODER, AF/RSA FOR MBITRRICK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL UNGA ICTR TZ
SUBJECT: ICTR:  AMBASSADOR WILLIAMSON DISCUSSES TRIBUNAL 
CLOSURE, OTHER ISSUES WITH ICTR OFFICIALS 
 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
¶1. (U) Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (S/WCI), 
Clint Williamson, met with President Mose and other key 
officials at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 
(ICTR) and toured the United Nations Detention Facility in 
Arusha on March 7 and 8.  Discussions centered on issues that 
could impact the ability of the Tribunal to complete trials 
as scheduled. (Note: Initial trials should be completed by 
the end of 2008 and appeals by December 31, 2010.)  Among the 
key concerns of ICTR officials were:  how to address residual 
issues upon the Tribunal's closure,  how to build judicial 
capacity in Rwanda, and how to resolve outstanding issues 
concerning the transfer of files, cases, detainees, convicts, 
acquitted persons and the ICTR archives.  Both Ambassador 
Williamson and ICTR officials acknowledged that all the 
questions raised required answers, preferably well before the 
Tribunal closes in 2008.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) While the March 8 and 9 discussions in Arusha raised 
more questions than yielded answers, Ambassador Williamson 
emphasized throughout that the USG is aware of the 
outstanding issues and ready to work with ICTR officials to 
resolve them.  The Ambassador told President Erik Mose, 
Prosecutor Habbar Jallow and Registrar Adama Dieng that the 
USG is developing policy positions on the key issues and will 
confer with other Security Council members and ICTR 
contributors to reach consensus on theses issues before the 
Tribunal's 2008 completion date. 
 
ICTR President's Term Up in May 2007 
---------------------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) A central issue to keeping the ICTR'S completion 
strategy on pace is who will be at the helm as President of 
the ICTR.  President Mose has played a key role in stepping 
up, and keeping up, the pace of trials and maximizing use of 
the Tribunal's four courtrooms.  However, Mose's second term 
ends in May 2007 and an extension would require amending the 
statutes of the Tribunal, a potentially dangerous precedent 
for both the ICTR and its sister Tribunal, the International 
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.  While Dieng 
commented: "You don't change a team that wins," Mose and 
Jallow were silent on how to address the fact that President 
Mose's term expires soon.  None offered a suggestion on how 
to get around the term limit statute. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Prosecutor Jallow said he plans a test case of a 
"Rule 11 bis" transfer to Rwanda in April with approximately 
20 such transfers expected in 2007.  Jallow and Mose 
discussed the plan to indict additional individuals for the 
purpose of preparing cases before transfer.  Senior Trial 
Attorney, Barbara Mulveney, told Ambassador Williamson that 
if the indictments were canceled, files could be referred 
without going through the Chambers.  Mulveney expressed the 
view that keeping the cases in the Tribunal's system is one 
method of prolonging the ICTR's existence.  She noted that 
the judges who are deciding whether to transfer cases would 
themselves benefit from the Tribunal continuing past its 
scheduled time of closure in December 2008. 
 
RPF Cases 
--------- 
¶5. (SBU) Regarding Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) cases, 
Jallow said he is focusing on two or three individuals and 
has asked his team to decide in April or May "whether we have 
cases or we don't" so that any announcement regarding the RPF 
cases could be made by June 2007.  The Acting Assistant 
Registrar (name) suggested that the immediate transfer to 
Rwanda of any RPF indictments would help mitigate criticism 
from the Government of Rwanda (GOR). 
 
Recommendations Sought 
---------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Ambassador Williamson asked President Mose for 
specific recommendations regarding how to address residual 
issues once the ICTR is closed.  Mose suggested that a 
residual body could be based in Kigali rather than Arusha. 
He also agreed with Ambassador Williamson that there would 
not be a need for a large forum of judges for the reviews and 
for "Rule 11 bis" referrals.   Mose stressed that 
strengthening the judicial capacity of Rwanda needed to focus 
 
on the high court, rather than building capacity in general, 
in order to ensure the ICTR cases were transferred to a court 
of international standards. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Mose, Jallow, Dieng, and the GOR Representative to 
the ICTR, Alloys Mutabingwa, were all in agreement that 
relations between the Government of Rwanda (GOR) and the ICTR 
were good.  However, the ICTR officials noted one specific 
area for improvement, namely, the need for a prompt response 
from the GOR to ICTR requests for security clearances of 
potential ICTR employees; the officials claimed that up to 20 
such requests had yet to be answered. Mutabingwa, on the 
other hand, told the Ambassador that the GOR had answered all 
outstanding requests. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶8. (SBU) Ambassador Williamson's visit to Arusha reassured 
ICTR officials that the USG is aware of their plight 
concerning the numerous important issues that need to 
addressed and resolved as the Tribunal winds down.  While 
much work remains to be done on many fronts--from case 
transfer and victim protection, to the standards of the 
Rwandan high court and the location of the ICTR 
archives--President Mose and other officials clearly 
appreciated the open and frank dialogue on with the 
Ambassador on what needs to be accomplished, as well as 
knowing that someone is listening to their concerns. 
WHITE