VZCZCXRO6109
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #0824/01 1241825
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 041825Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5999
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1520
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1341
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0796
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1209

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000824 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
DRL 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV HA
SUBJECT: JUSTICE REFORM ADVANCES SLOWLY 
 
REF: A. PORT AU PRINCE 370 
 
     ¶B. PORT AU PRINCE 526 
 
PORT AU PR 00000824  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d 
). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis will 
officially present the justice ministry's three laws on 
reform (ref A) on May 3, along with the rest of the 
government's legislative program.  MINUSTAH political officer 
Lizbeth Cullity said the presidents of the national assembly 
and chamber of deputies, Joseph Lambert and Eric Jean 
Jacques, assured SRSG Edmond Mulet that parliament will pass 
the laws by May 14.  At a meeting with Haiti's major donors 
on April 24, Justice Minister Rene Magloire asked the donors 
to develop an action plan for the ministry.  He reported that 
President Rene Preval has created a commission to examine the 
justice ministry's initiatives over the past year and to come 
up with an action plan for justice reform.  Meanwhile, the 
Minister's kidnapping task force has successfully tried and 
sentenced some of Haiti's best-known kidnappers. 
Notwithstanding the new draft legislation and Minister 
Magloire's task forces, the donor community is increasingly 
convinced that justice reform, if left up to Minister 
Magloire, may stall.  End summary. 
 
PM Presents Justice Reform to Parliament 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2.  (C) According to the minister, President Rene Preval and 
his council of ministers determined that the justice ministry 
should make revisions to the legislation that had been 
submitted to parliament mid-March (ref A), in advance of the 
Prime Ministers official presentation.  Presidential advisor 
Bob Manuel was the main critic of the original legislation, 
and he worked closely with the justice minister and 
MINUSTAH's justice section officers to rework the legislation 
in April.  The justice ministry re-submitted the new draft 
legislation, which MINUSTAH justice section chief Danielle 
Saada reported has the unified support of the justice 
minister, the PM and Manuel. 
 
¶3.  (C) If the legislation does not pass by the end of the 
current session on May 14, Lambert and Jean Jacques told the 
SRSG that the national assembly will go into extraordinary 
session.  Cullity reputed that this is not consistent, 
however, with the calendar provided by the parliament's 
justice commission heads, Senator Youri Latortue and Deputy 
Patrick Dumond, who have protracted the review process until 
sometime this summer. Cullity said that MINUSTAH is prepared 
to launch a very aggressive public campaign to encourage the 
quick passage of the legislation.  MINUSTAH's political staff 
question Latortue's motives.  (Comment: Parliament has not 
voted on much legislation in the past year, thus Lambert and 
Jean-Jacques' May 14 date seems ambitious.  End comment.) 
 
The Ministry Needs an Action Plan 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4.  (SBU) To justify his request for help with an action 
plan, the Minister explained that President Preval has set up 
a commission to examine various initiatives that the justice 
ministry oversees.  The commission comprises representatives 
from civil society, political parties, parliament, and the 
international donor community; and the justice ministry's 
director general, Josue Pierre Louis; and the secretary of 
state for justice reform, Caius Alphonse.  (Comment:  Over 
the past few months tension has reportedly increased between 
the justice minister and his director general and secretary 
of state for justice reform.  Some in the donor community 
suspect that Louis and Alphonse encouraged President Preval 
to set up this commission.  End note.)  MINUSTAH's justice 
section chief and commission member Danielle Saada speculated 
that though the meetings are poorly attended, the commission 
may have their report/action plan finished in two weeks.  In 
response to Saada's comments, Magloire outlined the justice 
ministry's progress on a number of conventions and accords, 
the majority of which he claims have left the ministry for 
parliament's or the prime minister's review.  
 
¶5.  (U) The donors, including the U.S., France, the EU, 
Canada, and MINUSTAH, were visibly hesitant to agree to draft 
the justice ministry's action plan.  All participants tried 
to dissuade the minister from his idea to present the GoH 
with a donor-drafted action plan, stating that this would 
send the wrong signal to the president's commission and the 
public.  After the meeting, donors expressed dismay that, one 
year after taking office, Minister Magloire remained 
uninformed about donor activities on the ground, despite the 
many updates they have provided to the ministry.  If it were 
just the minister, one donor representative lamented, it 
would be understandable, but in general, the justice ministry 
does not participate in the many programs donors are 
initiating country-wide: ''no wonder he wants us to write his 
action plan.'' 
 
¶6.  (U) After the minister had left, the donors discussed the 
upcoming report by the president's commission.  More 
optimistic representatives thought that it will serve as an 
action plan and bring everyone on the same page.  On the 
other hand, the commission appears to be politically 
motivated, and because it did not include the minister 
himself, the report may create further tension within the 
ministry. The donors have decided to wait for two weeks to 
see what the president's commission produces, and to see the 
final product of a NCSC-funded consultant who is working at 
the ministry to create a five-year plan, before moving 
forward with yet another action plan. 
 
Kidnappers Sentenced 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7.  (U) Magloire confirmed press reports that the public 
prosecutor's office in Port-au-Prince (parquet) has tried and 
sentenced almost 20 kidnappers over the past month.  This is 
a direct result of Minister Magloire's kidnapping task force 
created to speed up the process between arrest and trial for 
Haiti's most serious criminals (ref B).  The minister said 
that he hoped to initiate more task forces for 
drug-trafficking, money-laundering and organized crime in the 
coming months.  The Justice Minister also addressed his plan 
to create a commission on pre-trial detention times.  The 
prisons, which were already overcrowded, have reportedly been 
overflowing with pre-trial detainees as the Haitian Police 
(HNP) step up their arrests. 
 
¶8.  (C) Comment: As reported in reftel, the key elements 
contained in the reform legislation remain the establishment 
of a separate administration to ensure judicial independence 
and a mechanism to sanction and remove corrupt judges.  Many 
Haitian and international observers are optimistic that 
Lambert and Jean-Jacques will keep their promises and the 
legislation will pass, though parliament's unpredictability 
and Youri Latortue's machinations are cause for concern.  The 
overall viability of the reform effort under Magloire's 
leadership remains questionable however.  While the 
establishment of his anti-kidnapping task forces is an 
undeniable success, broader success will depend on initiative 
and coordination skills that he has yet to demonstrate. 
SANDERSON