VZCZCXRO9270
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0220/01 0672326
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 072326Z MAR 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3877
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE IMMEDIATE 9000

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC LE SY
SUBJECT: LEBANON TRIBUNAL:  MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE TACKLES 
KEY ISSUES 
 
REF: A. USUN 198 
     ¶B. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/REINEMEYER) 03/06/08 
     ¶C. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/REINEMEYER) 03/07/08 
     ¶D. USUN 171 
     ¶E. STATE 1070 
     ¶F. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/REINEMEYER) 12/11/07 
     ¶G. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/REINEMEYER) 12/07/07 
 
¶1.  (SBU) BEGIN SUMMARY:  The UN's efforts to make the 
Special Tribunal for Lebanon operational continue to move 
forward, with the Management Committee's adoption of terms 
and conditions of service for the judges of the Tribunal and 
decision in principle on the terms and conditions of service 
for staff at its March 6 meeting.  (Committee members' 
discussions concerning other issues relating to the judges 
will be reported septel.)  The UN provided the Committee with 
additional details on proposed costs associated with building 
a courtroom and ten holding cells, installing additional 
security measures, equipping the courtroom with information 
technology, and otherwise refurbishing the building the Dutch 
government is providing for the Tribunal.  Assistant 
Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Larry Johnson also 
 
SIPDIS 
reported that the Secretary-General's appointment of the 
Registrar is "imminent," and, on the margins of the meeting, 
the UN updated USUN on contributions to the Tribunal.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
Terms and Conditions of Service for Judges, Staff 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On March 6, the Management Committee for the 
Special Tribunal for Lebanon adopted terms and conditions of 
service for the judges of the Tribunal (refs A and B).  Among 
other things, the judges' salaries would take into account 
decisions of the UN General Assembly relating to other 
international tribunals and courts.  As such, in line with 
the revised annual salary system established by GA resolution 
61/262 (2005), applicable to permanent judges of the 
International Court of Justice and International Criminal 
Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) who will begin new terms of 
office after January 1, 2007, the judges would receive base 
salaries of USD 136,130 per year (or USD 220,939 with the 
post adjustment).  The judges also would be entitled to 
benefits including an education grant equivalent to that of 
UN officials, payment of travel expenses and subsistence 
allowance, and annual and sick leave.  For more on the 
appointment of judges, see septel. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Committee members also agreed in principle that the 
terms and conditions of staff would follow the third of four 
models the UN had proposed (refs D-G), but sought additional 
information on the costs of providing pension benefits to 
staff, as Dutch law requires.  UN Office of Legal Affairs 
consultant Robin Vincent and UN human resources experts said 
the UN is proposing to satisfy the Dutch social security 
requirements by having the Tribunal join the UN Joint Staff 
Pension Fund (ref D).  Doing so would have the advantage of 
facilitating the Tribunal's absorption of staff members of 
the International Independent Investigation Commission 
(UNIIIC), who are already covered by the UN Joint Staff 
Pension Fund.  Although the Tribunal could satisfy Dutch law 
in another way, such as by contracting with a company to set 
up a comparable system, UN representatives noted that doing 
so was unlikely to reduce costs.  For instance, the 
Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons has used 
an outside company to satisfy Dutch legal requirements, but 
has found that mechanism to be costly and cumbersome. 
 
Registrar 
--------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Johnson advised the Committee that the 
Secretary-General's appointment of the Registrar is 
 
SIPDIS 
"imminent" and should be announced in the next few days. 
Comment:  Appointment of the Registrar will mark a 
significant milestone, since among the Registrar's 
responsibilities will be tasks such as opening up a separate 
Tribunal account and directing the construction/refurbishment 
work on the building that will house the Tribunal.  End 
Comment. 
 
Building 
-------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Vincent reported that Committee members' 
representatives in The Hague had toured the future Tribunal 
building on March 6.  The Legal Adviser and Management 
Counselor from Embassy The Hague toured the premises and will 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000220  002 OF 002 
 
 
be reporting on the visit separately.  Vincent has arranged 
for German construction/budgetary experts to tour the 
building next week so they can assess the proposals for 
refurbishing the building.  Vincent also provided updated 
cost breakdowns on the construction/refurbishment package 
(ref C). 
 
Contributions 
------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) OLA has advised USUN that its records show that the 
UN has received new contributions to the Tribunal from France 
(USD 1,925,300) and Hungary (USD 10,000) and that Sweden has 
pledged USD 156,494.  As of March 6, OLA's figures indicate 
that the UN has USD 29.4 million in hand and USD 16.3 million 
in pledges.  That figure is almost equal to the USD 50 
million that the UN estimates the Tribunal will need for its 
first year and start-up costs.  Separately, OLA has advised 
that it has received indications from "sources outside New 
York" that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would contribute 
USD 5 million (ref C), and the UN Office of the Controller 
advised USUN that it received a letter from Kuwait earlier 
this week, pledging to contribute USD 5 million.  The UN is 
following up with the missions of Kuwait and the UAE 
concerning their planned contributions. 
 
Next Meeting 
------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The Committee will meet on March 13 to make a final 
decision on the terms and conditions of service for staff. 
USUN expects the Committee will decide upon the proposed 
package for refurbishing the Tribunal building and installing 
security equipment and information technology for the 
courtroom.  The package is estimated to cost USD 13.5 million. 
KHALILZAD