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courage is contagious

Viewing cable 07BUENOSAIRES881, MEETINGS WITH ARGENTINE JUSTICE MINISTER AND

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07BUENOSAIRES881 2007-05-04 21:06 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Buenos Aires
VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0881/01 1242106
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 042106Z MAY 07 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8059
INFO RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KJUS FBI AR
SUBJECT: MEETINGS WITH ARGENTINE JUSTICE MINISTER AND 
PROSECUTOR GENERAL ON JUDICIAL REFORM AND USDOJ TRAINING 
 
REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 814 
 
     B. 2006 BUENOS AIRES 02612 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR E. ANTHONY WAYNE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  Ambassador met separately with Minister of 
Justice Alberto Iribarne on April 24 and Prosecutor General 
Esteban Righi on April 27 to discuss upcoming USDOJ 
consultations and training seminars; GOA efforts to introduce 
judicial reform; trafficking in persons (ref A); and passage 
of Argentina's counterterrorism finance law (septel).  While 
both welcomed USG training programs, Righi expressed concern 
with the timing of the training given that it is an electoral 
year.  Ambassador assured Righi that the training is not open 
to the public and will not be publicized.  As a result, Righi 
agreed to the training.  On judicial reform, Iribarne stated 
that the GOA would introduce draft legislation before the 
elections, but Righi was not as optimistic, suggesting that 
such a strategy raises the risk that the issue will become 
politicized.  In addition, the Ambassador raised 
anti-corruption issues with Iribarne who noted that the 
Ministry's Anti-Corruption Office was mostly focused on 
prevention, rather than investigation, of corruption.  End 
Summary. 
 
USDOJ Consultations, Training and Extradition Assistance 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
2.  (C)  Following up on U.S. Attorney General Gonzales' 
February offer to provide trial advocacy training to 
Argentine prosecutors and investigators, the Ambassador 
informed both Iribarne and Righi that the training would take 
place in June.  LEGATT added that USDOJ plans to offer one 
course in Buenos Aires and one in Cordoba that would train 80 
federal and provincial prosecutors and investigators.  He 
also noted that on May 7, three USDOJ prosecutors would be 
visiting Argentina for consultations with the GOA to discuss 
the mutual legal assistance treaty and extradition issues. 
LEGATT noted that the FBI is helping the GOA with its 
extradition request for suspected human rights violator 
Ernesto Guillermo Barreiro.  He further explained that the 
request must provide probable cause for all crimes the GOA 
intends to prosecute, because of the rule of specialty, which 
stipulates that a country can only prosecute a suspect for 
crimes that the country of extradition approved in its 
extradition order. 
 
3.  (C)  Iribarne welcomed the consultations and training, 
but Righi expressed electoral sensitivities over the timing 
of the June trial advocacy seminar, particularly if the 
seminar is widely publicized.  He noted that the GOA is 
currently working on reforming the judicial system and argued 
that prospects for passage could be jeopardized if the 
seminar became publicly known.  The Ambassador assured Righi 
that the seminar would not be publicized and that its 
intended audience is focused on federal and provincial 
investigators and prosecutors.  Righi stated that so long as 
the training is not publicized and that the title of the 
course is not "Procedural Reforms", he is comfortable with 
the training taking place. 
 
GOA Judicial Reform Efforts 
--------------------------- 
 
4.  (C)  On judicial reform, Iribarne stated that a 
Presidential decree has helped to advance reform of the 
Criminal Procedure Code.  A bicameral commission that 
includes academics and judges is currently reviewing the 
proposed reforms.  While complex, Iribarne stated that he 
believed the reform will be ready by August-- well before the 
October Presidential elections.  In a separate meeting, PG 
Righi was not as optimistic, opining that introducing the 
reforms so close to the elections runs the risk of 
politicizing the issue.  He acknowledged that Argentina's 
judicial system is in great need for reform as there is great 
public dissatisfaction with the judiciary's performance. 
 
GOA Judicial Reform Efforts 
-------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C)  Iribarne also briefed the Ambassador of the GOA's 
efforts to push judicial reform.  He noted that there is 
intense debate, particularly over reform of the Court of 
Appeals for Criminal Matters.  Since the matter is so 
divisive, Iribarne explained that he is looking to separate 
out the issue from the rest of the judicial reforms currently 
under consideration.  He explained that the Court of Appeals 
for Criminal Matters not only hears federal criminal appeals, 
but also hears all non-federal criminal cases for the federal 
capital of Buenos Aires since the capital does not have its 
own appeals system.  Half of the court's docket are ordinary 
 
appeal claims from the capital.  Consequently, the GOA is 
proposing to create a new Court of Appeals for the capital 
that would deal with all ordinary appeals from the capital. 
This would allow the original Court of Appeals to focus 
exclusively on federal crimes, including cases on the human 
rights abuses that occurred during the military dictatorship. 
 He believes that this would improve the Court's case 
management efficiency by decreasing its workload.  (NOTE: 
This would also speed up current human rights trials which is 
a top priority of the Kirchner administration.)  He also 
indicated that current reforms under consideration would 
create a special Secretariat that would deal exclusively with 
human rights cases. 
 
Judicial (in)efficiency 
----------------------- 
 
6.  (C)  When asked about the causes of significant judicial 
delays, Iribarne stated that it is more a question of 
leadership and using limited resources effectively, ratheQ 
than an overwhelming caseload.  He noted that the MOJ is 
currently finalizing a report that highlights the best 
practices of labor judge Graciela Marino whom President 
Kirchner recently recognized with a national award for 
quality in the public sector.  Iribarne complained that there 
is too much bureaucracy involved in the administration of 
justice and that appeals courts should exercise their power 
to deny hearing cases, and only hear those cases that have a 
broad impact on Argentine jurisprudence.  He did acknowledge, 
however, that Argentina needs more appeals courts. 
 
7.  (C)  Righi offered another explanation for judicial 
delays, citing the fact that suspects can participate in, and 
thereby hinder, investigations.  In addition, prosecutors can 
air the case in public during the investigation phase.  This 
slows down the judicial process and often results in the 
media and public taking sides before a case is even tried. 
This slows down the judicial process and raises the potential 
for bias in trials.  This also makes it very difficult to 
conduct complex investigations, Righi acknowledged.  LEGATT 
noted that the U.S. judicial system prohibits this practice 
by prosecutors, precisely because it can influence public 
opinion.  Righi agreed, noting that prohibiting this practice 
would be useful, but that given Argentina's experience with 
gross human rights violations during the 1970s military 
dictatorship, such changes would be very difficult to pass. 
 
MOJ Anti-corruption Office focused on Prevention not 
Investigations 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
8.  (C)  On anti-corruption, Iribarne told the Ambassador 
that the UN had offered to evaluate the performance of the 
GOA's anti-corruption office (ACO).  In contrast to his 
previous explanation of the ACO's mission (ref B), he 
explained that the office is mostly focused on increasing 
government transparency and preventing corruption, as opposed 
to investigating corruption allegations.  In recent weeks, 
the Minister asserted that the (ACO) has invited NGOs to 
monitor a government bid for the construction of new prisons. 
 Ambassador noted that this was a positive step, as NGOs play 
a very important role in ensuring transparency at all 
government levels. 
WAYNE