VZCZCXRO8983
PP RUEHAO
DE RUEHPO #0609 3331508
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 291508Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9823
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1504
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 1625
RUEHAO/AMCONSUL CURACAO PRIORITY 1201

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARAMARIBO 000609 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CAR FOR JACKIE ROSHOLT, INR FOR BOB CARHART, WHA/PDA 
FOR AUDREY PRUITT AND CHARLOTTE PETERSON, USEMBASSY 
BRASILIA FOR BRIAN BUTCHER, LEGATT FOR K KURRIER, POL-MIL 
FOR MIKE BORDERS, DRL FOR JENNIE MUNOZ AND THERESE TRACY, 
DOJ FOR ROBERT LIPMAN, OSD FOR ASHLEY RICHARDSON, SOUTHCOM 
FOR STEVEN WETZEL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2017 
TAGS: PGOV ASIC SNAR NS
SUBJECT: SUGGESTED INFO MEMO ON BOUTERSE TRIAL 
 
Classified By: PolOff in accordance with EO 12958 
 
¶1.  (U)  The following is suggested text for an info memo on 
the "December Process" (Bouterse trial) in Suriname. 
 
¶2.  (C)  The trial of Desi Bouterse and 24 co-defendants for 
the December 1982 murder of fifteen political opponents will 
begin on Friday, November 30.  Bouterse is expected by many 
to attempt to derail the trial through fomenting unrest and 
violence.  President Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan and Minister of 
Justice and Police Chandrikapersad Santokhi, staunch 
political and personal enemies of Bouterse, say they are 
committed to ensuring that the process moves forward 
peacefully and without the taint of politics. 
 
Bouterse, coup leader in 1980, military strongman from 1980 
to 1992, and current opposition leader and parliamentarian, 
remains a prominent figure in Surinamese politics, whether 
delivering bombastic speeches or goading his National 
Democratic Party (NDP) to try to force the government,s 
resignation.  Often disappearing into the unpatrolled, 
forested interior of the country, Bouterse is the subject of 
rumors ranging from likely true: drug trafficking and 
alliances with the FARC -- to speculative: contracting 
Guyanese assassination squads, organizing Amerindian 
uprisings, and planning arson attacks on the Surinamese 
judiciary,s homes. 
 
While Bouterse has admitted "political responsibility" for 
the 1982 killings of fifteen opponents of his then-military 
government and offered a public apology, he continues to deny 
personal involvement.  Eyewitness reports place him at the 
site of the killings, and one rumor circulates that Bouterse 
castrated one victim before killing him. 
 
"I,m not paying attention to the trial" remains the Bouterse 
line, and as the process moves forward, he may test the 
government,s will by daring them to compel him to appear. 
He may appear for trial to deride the government, the 
process, and the politics of putting him on trial.  Or, he 
may choose to flee. 
 
There is little clarity on what form the trial will take. 
Hans Lim A Po, Surinamese legal expert and policy advisor to 
the government, does not know how the trial will be 
structured -- including if defendants will be tried together 
or individually.  Much will depend on the will and health of 
the aging, independent-minded judiciary.  At the quickest, 
the trial will last for months, and at the slowest, for 
years.  It could be followed by an amnesty process in 
Parliament, which Speaker Paul Somohardjo favors. 
 
Ordinary Surinamers regard the trial, machinations and rumors 
surrounding it with alienated cynicism.  They appear less 
worried about whether Bouterse will be convicted, or start 
riots and fires, and more about whether this government, or a 
subsequent Bouterse-led one, will move forward decisively to 
address inefficiencies created by a corrupt, bloated state 
sector.  For most, the trial promises to be business as 
usual: incremental steps forward in the midst of speculation 
and rumors reported by a less-than-responsible press, and 
attempts by both political sides to get the public on their 
bandwagons.  In the end, the only side ordinary Surinamers 
are likely to take is their own, which bodes ill for 
Bouterse,s plans for popular revolt -- as well as the 
government,s plans for public approval of its procedures, 
policies, and the trial itself. 
SCHREIBER HUGHES