VZCZCXRO5117
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHWR #1457/01 1761508
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251508Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4638
INFO RUEHKW/AMCONSUL KRAKOW PRIORITY 1754
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 001457 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NCE, CA 
EUR/NCE FOR DKOSTELANCIK, BPUTNEY 
CA/OCS/CI FOR ECHERRY 
COMMERCE FOR 4232/ITA/MAC/EUR/OECA/MROGERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC EINV ECON PREL PL
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES HAGUE CONVENTION, MIELEC 
INVESTIGATION WITH MINISTER OF JUSTICE ZIOBRO 
 
REF: STATE 85445 AND PREVIOUS 
 
WARSAW 00001457  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU)  Summary.  Ambassador met with Minister of Justice 
Ziobro to discuss Hague Convention on International Child 
Abduction enforcement and the investigation of corruption in 
the privatization of the Mielec aircraft factory.  Minister 
Ziobro promised to look into the handling of the Szuta case 
in which a court recently awarded custody to the taking 
parent despite a Hague ruling ordering the children returned 
to the U.S.  The Minister requested information from the U.S. 
on three pending cases of Polish children in the U.S. On the 
Mielec privatization, the Minister promised that the 
investigation would be conducted fairly, although could not 
guarantee that the investigation would be concluded speedily. 
 He also promised to contact that Rzeszow prosecutor 
overseeing the case to request that information in the 
investigation be tightly controlled.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Ambassador met with Minister of Justice Ziobro and 
Undersecretary of State Duda on June 22 to discuss problems 
with implementation of the Hague Convention on International 
Child Abduction in Poland and the investigation into the 
privatization of the Mielec aircraft factory.  Also present 
were Consul General, and Econ officer (notetaker). 
 
Hague Convention 
---------------- 
¶3.  (SBU)  The Ambassador began the discussion with Minister 
Ziobro by conveying ref talking points regarding our concern 
regarding Poland's application and enforcement of the Hague 
Convention and referring in particular to the recent ruling 
in the Szuta case, in which the taking parent was granted 
custody even though there was an earlier Hague order that the 
children be returned to the U.S.  He stressed that there is 
no provision in the Hague Convention which allows for the 
reexamination of a custody order because the local 
authorities could not carry out the original return order. 
Custody issues are always difficult, especially when children 
are in different countries, but it is the USG position that 
as both Poland and the U.S. are signatories to the Hague 
Convention, its provisions should be carried out. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  It is also Poland's position that both countries 
should abide by the Hague Convention, replied Minster Ziobro. 
 Because of the special relationship between parents and 
children it is hard for authorities to enforce return orders 
if parents are determined to hide their children.  Such 
conduct is socially approved and makes it harder for the 
government to locate children and act.  Poland experiences 
the same problems when it seeks the return of children from 
other EU countries, such as Italy, to say nothing of 
countries in the Middle East.  Poland also has three cases 
from 2005 and 2006 in which it is seeking the return of 
children from the U.S.  The Minsitry is criticized by left 
behind parents and their relatives for ineffectiveness and 
would like these cases to proceed more smoothly through the 
U.S. judicial system. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  The Ambassador asked the Minister to give us the 
names and specifics of the  Polish cases in the U.S. that he 
was referring to, promising that we would ask the Department 
to look into them.  In return he requested that the GOP 
provide similar information on cases in Polish courts. 
Minister Ziobro promised to have Undersecretary Andrzej Duda, 
present at the meeting, look into our complaints regarding 
the handling of the Szuta case.  The CG added that the Szuta 
ruling is particularly disturbing to us as it awarded the 
taking parent custody, thereby rewarding her for evading ther 
original order.  It also sets a precedent for other cases in 
which parents who have abducted children and evaded return 
orders simply wait a period of time and then argue that the 
other parent has no relationship with the child.  This 
clearly overturns the Hague Convention. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  In an aside after the meeting, Ambassador and CG 
impressed on Undersecretary Duda the importance of reaching 
out to judges to educate them on the Hague Conventions. 
Duda replied that relations between the Ministry and judges 
is not good and the Ministry in any case cannot interfere in 
judicial proceedings.  CG argued that training judges to 
understand Poland's obligations under the treaty is not 
interference but education. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Comment:  Although our concerns were not directly 
 
WARSAW 00001457  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
addressed, it is encouraging that we have been invited to 
discuss Hague issues with a much higher level MOJ official. 
Poland's Central Authority at MOJ has not been enthusiastic 
about regional traiing for judicial authorities, but given 
Ziobro's reference to other EU child abduction cases, this 
could be a good time to explore again regional training 
opportunities.    One of the problems with the Hague 
Convention training for judges in Poland is that there is no 
way to predict who among the many might ever handle a Hague 
case.  Therefore, we would recommend that any such training 
emphasize how central authorities can more proactively and 
effectively reach out to judges and prosecutors before 
hearings begin and before decisions are made.  End comment. 
 
Mielec Investigation 
-------------------- 
¶8.  (SBU)  On the investigation into allegations of 
corruption in the privatization of the Mielec aircraft 
factory by the Ministry of State Treasury and the Defense 
Property Agency (ARP), the Ambassador emphasized that he is 
concerned that the investigation is unfairly tarnishing the 
name and reputation of UTC/Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, the 
new owner of the Mielec plant.  The current GOP approved the 
privatization.  The Tarnobzeg prosecutor investigating the 
case spoke openly to the press.  Sikorsky is a reputable firm 
and is being unfairly criticized for a privatization in which 
the company saved jobs and agreed to expand operations.  The 
Ambassador hoped that there would be no further leaks to the 
media and the investigation be completed quickly, no matter 
how it turns out. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Minister Ziobro, familiar with the investigation, 
explained that there is a problem with privatizations in 
Poland have important social consequences and that they must 
be conducted fairly.  Both the prosecutor and the Minister of 
Justice have an obligation to ensure that they carry out 
investigations in a fair fashion when they are alerted to 
allegations of impropriety.  So far, there have been no 
additional activities on the Mielec investigation other than 
the interrogation of the journalist making the allegations of 
impropriety in the privatization.  Under Polish law it is not 
prohibited for a witness to talk about a case, his testimony, 
or the documents he provides a prosecutor.  If other 
journalists ask the prosecutor if he's investigating a case 
he has no choice other than to tell them that he is. 
However, other developments in the case, testimony, and 
documents will not be made public.  Journalists may be able 
to obtain such information but the Ministry of Justice will 
make sure that the procedure is as fair as possible.  The 
Minister promised to contact the Rzeszow prosecutor 
overseeing the Tarnobzeg prosecutor investigating the case to 
urge him to tighten control over information.  The Minister 
could not guarantee that the journalist or other subjects 
being interviewed will not talk to journalists. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  Minister Ziobro promised that he would ensure 
that the investigation is fair.  However, he can not ensure 
that it will be speedy as Polish courts rely on technical 
experts who are subject to market forces.  The prosecutor 
might want to conclude a case but may not be able to convince 
the technical experts to provide needed analysis in a timely 
fashion.  Ziobro concluded by stating that the investigation 
is not aimed at anyone in particular, and certainly not 
against Sikorsky Aircraft. 
ASHE