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OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBZ RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW
RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0697/01 2342345
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 222345Z AUG 07
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2504
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT IMMEDIATE 1143
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS IMMEDIATE 0360
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE IMMEDIATE 8921

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000697 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC KCRM SY LE NE
SUBJECT: OLA LEGAL COUNSEL TO TRAVEL TO THE NETHERLANDS TO 
DISCUSS SPECIAL TRIBUNAL FOR LEBANON 
 
REF: A. USUN 688 
     ¶B. WILCOX/REINEMEYER EMAIL--08-22-07 
     ¶C. WILCOX/REINEMEYER EMAIL--08-07-07 
 
¶1.  Begin Summary:  UN Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel will lead 
a high-level UN delegation to the Netherlands in the next two 
weeks to discuss practical arrangements for the Netherlands 
to host the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Michel's Special 
Assistant Mark Quarterman advised USUN August 21.  The 
Secretary-General will issue a short progress report to the 
 
SIPDIS 
Security Council on September 5, and Nicolas Michel will 
likely brief Council members on it in consultations September 
¶19.  That report will include a 
notional three-year budget for the Tribunal and report on the 
UN's other initiatives to establish the Tribunal, including 
the selection of a location, judges, prosecutors, and the 
registrar.  End Summary. 
 
OLA Plans Trip 
-------------- 
 
¶2.  UN Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) Special Assistant Mark 
Quarterman briefed USUN legal and poloffs August 21 on steps 
the OLA is taking to establish the Special Tribunal for 
Lebanon.  In response to Dutch Prime Minister Jan 
Balkenende's August 15 letter to the Secretary-General, 
advising that the Netherlands is "favorably disposed" to 
hosting the Tribunal (refs A and B), UN Legal Counsel Nicolas 
Michel is finalizing plans to travel to the Netherlands the 
week of August 27-31 or September 3-7.  Michel will be 
accompanied by his deputy, Larry Johnson; Robin Vincent, the 
former registrar of the Special Court for Sierra Leone 
(SCSL); and (possibly) a security expert.  Depending on the 
outcome, OLA expects to send a working level delegation to 
the Netherlands in September. 
 
¶3.  Quarterman seemed confident that Michel's trip would be 
fruitful, noting that the Dutch have established an 
Inter-Ministry Working Group on the Tribunal and have 
identified potential sites.  Although OLA has not yet seen a 
list of sites, Quarterman expected that Camp Zeist, the 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 
(ICTY), and the International Criminal Court (ICC) would be 
included.  In response to a question from USUN, Quarterman 
acknowledged that the ICTY's facilities are operating at 
capacity and the ICC is hosting the SCSL's Charles Taylor 
trial, but said both facilities might still have available 
office and detention space. 
 
Issues to be Resolved 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  In addition to the need to select and prepare a site for 
the Tribunal, Prime Minister Balkenende's August 15 letter 
highlights other issues that will need to be resolved.  For 
example, the Dutch want to address the establishment of the 
necessary legal basis for locating the Tribunal in the 
Netherlands (through a headquarters agreement and national 
legislation), the enforcement of sentences, and the 
relocation of witnesses to third states.  The Dutch have 
given OLA no indications that their Parliament will block any 
necessary national legislation, Quarterman said.  The key 
issue will be the Dutch request for prior assurances that 
other states will take persons convicted by the Tribunal 
"immediately" after their trials conclude.  Comment:  This 
issue also arose when the Taylor trial was transferred to The 
Hague.  End Comment. 
 
Fundraising 
----------- 
 
¶5.  Otherwise, the UN is proceeding to finalize a three-year 
budget estimate for the Tribunal, which will be included in 
the SYG's September report to the Security Council. 
Quarterman would not divulge a specific number, but said it 
would be more than the SCSL's budget (because the Tribunal 
will be housed in Europe) and less than the ICTY's. 
Quarterman stressed that security costs would likely be 
"fairly extensive" and thus increase costs. 
 
¶6.  The UN will use the final budget estimate to raise funds, 
Quarterman said, noting that the UN already has begun 
discussions with potential donors.  The Lebanese have advised 
OLA that they are interested in contributing but need the 
final budget.  In the meantime, the Lebanese have secured a 
legal opinion from their lawyers advising that no 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000697  002 OF 002 
 
 
Parliamentary approval is necessary for a one-year 
contribution, and Lebanon's constitutional experts are 
examining whether Security Council Resolution 1757 (2007) 
would obviate a need for Parliament to approve subsequent 
years' funding.  The SYG raised funding for the Tribunal in 
his recent meeting with the Saudi Foreign Minister, although 
Quarterman did not know how the Foreign Minister had 
responded.  The Germans (although not at the highest levels) 
have expressed "some interest" in funding the Tribunal, and 
OLA hopes the United States, Canada, and other European 
states would contribute. 
 
Identifying Judges, Other Personnel 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  Quarterman also said OLA has started soliciting 
nominations for judges and hopes to end the process by the 
end of the year.  In addition to Nicolas Michel's August 1 
letter inviting states to submit nominations for judges by 
September 24 (ref C), OLA has spoken informally with 
non-governmental organizations in New York and Europe to 
solicit  names.  Although OLA hopes to identify names and 
announce appointments by the end of the year at the earliest, 
Quarterman said the judges would not be in place until the 
beginning of next year at best.  Separately, Quarterman said 
the UN is "thinking hard" about the need to protect the 
judges, which could affect the timing of their appointment 
and raises legal questions for the UN since the judges will 
not be UN employees. 
 
¶8.  UNIIIC Commissioner Serge Brammertz also is advising OLA 
on the establishment of the Prosecutor's Office.  OLA is 
thinking about how to ensure a smooth transition and 
"extensive" overlap between Brammertz, whose contract expires 
in December 2007, and his successor.  Ideally, the new 
Commissioner and the Tribunal's prosecutor would be the same 
person, Quarterman said, while acknowledging that the UN 
would need to hew closely to the UN-Lebanese Agreement's 
provisions on appointing the prosecutor. 
 
¶9.  Noting Russia's insistence in 2006 that the Defense 
Office be an organ of the Tribunal, Quarterman said OLA also 
would begin work to identify a candidate to head the Defense 
Office. 
 
¶10.  Finally, Quarterman said the UN would be recruiting the 
registrar.  Unlike the judges, prosecutors, and defense 
attorneys, that position will be a UN staff post, so the UN 
will be recruiting through its own human resources system. 
 
 
KHALILZAD