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P 231157Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4819
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI PRIORITY 0037
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA PRIORITY 0010
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 0036
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR PRIORITY 0138
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA PRIORITY 0008
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH PRIORITY 0019
RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE PRIORITY 0021
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM PRIORITY 0126
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 0098
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0247
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 3437

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 MADRID 000571 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
S/WCI FOR MATTHEW LAVINE 
AF/C FOR FOX, CASEY 
L/LEI FOR BUCHHOLZ, PROPP, JOHNSON 
L-EUR FOR PETER OLSON, KAREN JOHNSON 
L-AN FOR ONA HAHS 
KIGALI FOR KAMINSKI 
THE HAGUE FOR SCHILDGE 
PARIS FOR KANEDA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2018 
TAGS: PREL PHUM MASS KLIG KAWC OFDP RW SP
SUBJECT: S/WCI AMB. WILLIAMSON PRESSES SPAIN ON RWANDA 
 
REF: MADRID 504 AND PREVIOUS 
 
MADRID 00000571  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  In consultations with Spanish interlocutors 
in Madrid May 19-20, Ambassador Williamson (S/WCI) urged the 
Spanish government to reach out to the Rwandan government at 
the political level to try to ease tensions over the Spanish 
judiciary's indictment of 40 Rwandan officials in connection 
with the deaths of nine Spanish citizens between 1994 and 
2000 (reftel).  The general Spanish response was positive but 
noncommittal, although several contacts acknowledged that the 
overreach of the indictment was inappropriate and potentially 
problematic for Spain.  There was agreement in principle to 
talking with the Rwandans, although we believe the Spanish 
will require strong encouragement.  A possible scenario for a 
meeting could be between the Spanish PermRep in New York and 
Rwandan Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga, when Ngoga 
represents Rwanda at the UNSC session on the ICTR on June 4. 
Amb. Williamson also asked the GOS to consider future 
contributions to several international judicial bodies that 
may be coming online in Africa in the medium term.  The GOS 
expressed interest in possible participation in the 
Democratic Republic of Congo and in Senegal.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U)  Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint 
Williamson consulted May 19-20 with Spanish international 
judicial experts and MFA contacts, opening a dialogue with 
Spain on an issue in which it has not been particularly 
active heretofore.  Amb. Williamson met with MFA Legal 
Advisor Concepcion Escobar, Deputy Director General for 
Africa Antonio Sanchez-Benedito, Deputy Director General for 
the Balkans Ramon Abaroa, Special Ambassador for Human Rights 
Silvia Escobar, MOJ Director General for International 
Judicial Cooperation Aurora Mejia, and Director of 
International Relations for the General Council of the 
Judiciary Francisco de Jorge. 
 
//RWANDA INDICTMENTS// 
 
¶3. (C)  Amb. Williamson urged the GOS to actively engage the 
Rwandan government on the issue of the indictments, noting 
the GOR's concern that the indictments, and more specifically 
the historical background contained therein, enjoy the full 
support of the Spanish government.  Deputy DG for Africa 
Sanchez-Benedito told Williamson May 19 that the family and 
associates of the nine Spanish victims had convinced the 
Spanish judge to take on the case and that all of the 
testimony and evidence gathered pointed to forces within the 
RPF as responsible.  He said the judge therefore decided to 
expand the prosecution to include nearly the entire Rwandan 
military and senior government apparatus with the exception 
of Kagame, noting that he was exempted solely because of his 
immunity as head of state.  Sanchez-Benedio acknowledged that 
such overreach by the Spanish judiciary did impact Spanish 
foreign relations, also naming an ongoing investigation into 
the persecution of Falun Gong in China as a case of concern. 
Sanchez-Benedito said that the GOS does not share the 
assumptions of the indictment, which seem to rewrite the 
genocide from an exclusive perspective of Hutu victimhood and 
Tutsi brutality while ignoring the premeditated Hutu 
slaughter of Tutsis in 1994. 
 
¶4. (C)  Sanchez-Benedito said that Foreign Minister Moratinos 
had spoken some time ago with the previous Rwandan Foreign 
Minister, but no one had talked with FM Museminali. 
Williamson urged that Moratinos call Museminali to explain 
the Spanish government's position as distinct from its 
judiciary.  He noted difficult conversations with GOR 
officials during his recent travel to Rwanda, along with 
concerns by British and German diplomats that the indictments 
 
MADRID 00000571  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
made travel by Rwandan officials to Europe extremely 
difficult.  Williamson stressed that it is important for the 
Spanish to engage the Rwandans at senior political levels, 
not just to rely on technical working-level discussions 
between their respective police officials.  Sanchez-Benedito 
expressed his understanding but responded that if the Rwandan 
judiciary had investigated these deaths, the Spanish court 
would have had no jurisdiction, due to the principle of 
subsidiarity.  (NOTE: Williamson later heard the same 
argument from Director General for the Mideast, Mediterranean 
and Maghreb Alvaro Iranzo during a brief conversation May 20. 
END NOTE.)  Sanchez-Benedito said the GOS would make contact 
with the GOR to explain the situation, but he cautioned that 
the government has very little room to maneuver, given the 
separation of powers and the inflammatory issue of the 
Spaniards' deaths.  Williamson noted that the USG is hoping 
to increase capacity in the Rwandan judiciary, and he 
suggested that the GOS might take an active interest in this 
process once the current tensions subside as a way of 
balancing out the damage done by the indictments. 
 
¶5. (C)  MFA Legal Advisor Concepcion Escobar said that she 
was not so much concerned about jurisdictional issues in the 
case but on the wildly inaccurate description of 
circumstances surrounding the deaths.  She said that the MFA, 
and to her knowledge, other ministries had not undertaken any 
steps to seek international arrests, but she added her 
understanding that ICTR officials had looked at the cases to 
see if prosecutions could be undertaken in Arusha. 
Nevertheless, she pled ignorance on how aggressive the 
judiciary would be in pursuing the indictments. 
 
¶6. (C)  Director of International Relations for the General 
Council of the Judiciary Francisco de Jorge at first claimed 
he was only vaguely familiar with the Rwanda indictment case, 
but his memory quickly returned as the discussion progressed 
in a meeting on May 20.  He offered to explain the case to 
Rwandan officials on behalf of the judiciary, saying that it 
would be inappropriate to have any direct contact with Judge 
Andreu, but that he could in his capacity explain the 
indictments and details about the Spanish process to 
interested parties.  He said that he would first have to 
secure the blessing of the General Council, but believed they 
would be receptive as long as they received a formal request 
from the MFA along with reimbursements for travel. 
 
¶7. (C)  Amb. Williamson and Charge Llorens agreed May 20 to 
explore the possibility of setting up a meeting between the 
Spanish PermRep and Prosecutor General Ngoga in New York on 
the margins of the UNSC session in early June to discuss the 
issue, although neither government appears willing to take 
the lead in setting such a meeting.  Amb. Williamson also 
asked Post to contact British and German colleagues in Madrid 
to see whether expressions of concern by a broader audience 
might motivate the GOS to action. 
 
¶8. (C)  COMMENT:  While the Spanish Government recognizes 
that this issue is creating tension in a broader arena, they 
do not seem to feel directly impacted by it and, thus, are 
not seized with a sense of urgency to resolve it.  They were 
generally receptive to the idea that enhanced dialogue with 
the Rwandans might be beneficial, but having the point 
reinforced by other EU governments (e.g., UK, Germany) might 
prompt them to act more expeditiously.  END COMMENT. 
 
//SENEGAL TRIBUNAL OF HISSENE HABRE// 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Spanish interlocutors expressed interest in 
potentially providing support for the proposed trial of 
Chadian dictator Hissene Habre in Senegal and requested more 
details on specific needs.  All officials acknowledged 
 
MADRID 00000571  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
Senegal as a country of priority for Spain and agreed with 
Ambassador Williamson on the importance of the African 
Union's support for such a trial.  Concepcion Escobar agreed 
to propose greater Spanish judicial cooperation on Senegal 
and in other areas with Deputy Foreign Minister Lossada.  MOJ 
Director General for Int'l Judicial Cooperation Aurora Mejia 
expressed strong interest in this idea and said that her 
office would be the appropriate point of contact for 
requesting seconded legal officers and experts. 
 
//SIERRA LEONE// 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Concepcion Escobar and Sanchez-Benedito confirmed 
that Spain would maintain roughly the same financial 
contribution to the Sierra Leone Court in 2008 (approximately 
265,000 euros) and that the funds could be released as early 
as late June.  The Spanish will also consider requests for 
legal officers and judicial personnel, but cautioned that 
Sierra Leone is not a priority country for Spain.  Spain will 
not accept transferees for execution of sentences.  Escobar 
offered that Spain might investigate providing technical 
assistance similar to UK programs, but she cautioned that the 
Spanish development budget was very inflexible and did not 
include Sierra Leone at this time.  Ambassador Williamson 
expressed U.S. concern over the slow pace of progress by the 
court, but reiterated the importance of its success for West 
Africa and for the international judicial process writ large. 
 He noted that the court needs secondees as well, if Spain 
were in a position to provide those. 
 
//GENOCIDE PREVENTION AND EARLY WARNING// 
 
¶11. (SBU)  Concepcion Escobar and Special Ambassador for 
Human Rights Silvia Escobar expressed Spain's interest in 
additional information on the Justice Rapid Response and 
Global Futures Forum initiatives, as well as Spain's 
willingness to participate in future meetings. 
 
//ICTR AND ICTY CLOSURE// 
 
¶12. (SBU)  Ambassador Williamson conveyed that the United 
States is beginning to look seriously at the processes by 
which both the ICTR and ICTY can conclude their cases and be 
dismantled.  For the ICTR, a main obstacle is the incapacity 
of the Rwandan judicial system to effectively absorb the 
caseload, while there is a more general reluctance in both 
tribunals to speed work to a close.  He described the ongoing 
process with the UNSC working group on tribunals but noted 
that other governments and NGO's have been offering input. 
He encouraged Spain to support and participate in this 
effort.  Concepcion Escobar took this on board.  Deputy DG 
for the Balkans Ramon Abaroa acknowledged that Serbia is not 
cooperating at all with the ICTY and knows perfectly well 
where Mladic is.  With the apparent inability of Tadic's 
party to form a government, future cooperation from Serbia 
seemed unlikely. 
 
//BOSNIA// 
 
¶13. (SBU)  Amb. Williamson discussed the need to prolong the 
presence of international jurists at the Bosnia State Court 
past the statutory limit of 2009 and informed Spanish 
contacts of the need to begin work immediately on changing 
the Bosnian law.  He further noted that the United States 
would hope to enjoy strong cooperation with Spain once Spain 
took the EU lead on judicial issues in Bosnia upon the 
departure of the High Representative.  Deputy DG for the 
Balkans Abaroa noted that not only would Spain be in charge 
of judicial affairs but also of the overall archives, which 
would be an important challenge for the Spanish.  Concepcion 
Escobar noted that in addition to judicial cooperation, the 
 
MADRID 00000571  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
Spanish were concerned with the institutionalization and 
stabilization of judicial authority in Bosnia. 
 
//INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT// 
 
¶14. (C)  Concepcion Escobar asked Amb. Williamson whether the 
USG was not perhaps more accommodating in its recent approach 
to the ICC.  She said that the United States appeared to 
support ICC involvement in prosecuting war crimes in Darfur, 
and she noted that Spain would be leading the upcoming review 
conference of the Rome Statute of the ICC, asking if the 
United States might consider participation in the conference. 
 Amb. Williamson said that U.S. participation might indeed be 
counterproductive given our lack of involvement up to this 
point, and might even prompt other participants to 
reflexively oppose U.S.-supported provisions that they might 
otherwise approve.  Escobar acknowledged that the "Crime of 
Aggression" debate would certainly be part of the conference, 
but that it would not be the only issue raised and European 
members certainly understand the U.S. position.  Spain hoped 
the conference could be a lessons learned exercise and 
expressed certainty that the U.S. perspective would be useful 
in such a context.  Regardless of whether the United States 
becomes a State party, she said it is clear that the United 
States is not obstructing the work of the ICC, and she said 
that statements by senior U.S. officials make clear that the 
ICC can be another jurisdiction for international war crimes, 
though not the only U.S. option. 
 
¶15. (C)  Amb. Williamson noted that the United States and the 
ICC share the same basic approach toward war crimes issues, 
and that our preference, when feasible, would be a domestic 
prosecution of war crimes.  If that proves impossible, 
because of lack of capacity or because of ethnic or political 
bias, the second option should be some sort of hybrid 
domestic tribunal with international assistance.  The third 
and last option should be a full-blown international 
tribunal.  Beyond the obvious reasons of delivering justice 
close to where the crimes occurred and where victims and 
witnesses are located, a practical reality is that in its 
current capacity the ICC is not capable of absorbing a large 
number of new cases, certainly not as many as are currently 
active or contemplated in other tribunals.  Williamson said 
that while the United States still has significant 
differences with the ICC, we recognize that it has an 
important role in the sphere of international justice and 
that there will be appropriate circumstances for it to handle 
certain cases.  Escobar agreed but noted that Spain still 
believe the ICC should be the "jurisdiction of reference" in 
these issues, while not excluding the need for other 
tribunals where appropriate. 
 
¶16. (C)  Escobar asked Williamson whether the United States 
might be interested in creating a permanent informal U.S.-EU 
dialogue on ICC issues on the margins of COJUR to discuss a 
variety of procedural and technical considerations of mutual 
interest.  Amb. Williamson acknowledged the potential utility 
of such a venue and took the idea on board, agreeing to 
consult others in the USG before responding definitively. 
 
//DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO// 
 
¶17. (SBU)  Amb. Williamson detailed the "war crimes mapping 
mission" being launched by the UN Office of the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights and asked Spanish contacts to 
consider involvement in the effort.  He noted that plans for 
the mission are still evolving but that the project will 
focus on what atrocities occurred where and when, not on 
identification of specific individual perpetrators.  The next 
step, upon completion of the mapping, as currently envisaged, 
would be formulation of recommendations to ensure a viable 
 
MADRID 00000571  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
accountability process.  Antonio Sanchez-Benedito and 
Francisco de Jorge asked for additional information when 
available and expressed Spain's increased commitment to 
development assistance for the DRC. 
 
//SOMALIA// 
 
¶18. (C)  Sanchez-Benedito expressed Spain's strong support 
for UNSC action on piracy off the Horn of Africa and said 
that the EU tide has turned toward the need for a more active 
approach to this subject.  He further assured Amb. Williamson 
that the TSG, which he said was helpful in the resolution of 
the seizure of a Spanish fishing vessel by Somali pirates, 
was very supportive of the proposal and had even written a 
statement of support to the UNSC. 
 
//GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE JUDICIARY// 
 
¶19. (SBU)  Francisco de Jorge, head of International 
Relations at the General Council of the Spanish Judiciary 
(CGPJ), said that the Council is willing to provide secondees 
and experts for the various tribunals in Africa and elsewhere 
so long as participation enjoys the blessing of the 
government.  He said that the judiciary generally tries not 
to act internationally out of line with GOS policy where 
possible.  He further cautioned that sending a Spanish judge 
to work in Congo required certain financial incentives to 
make such a hardship attractive.  As such, he suggested that 
any requests for Spain to provide international assistance of 
a judicial nature be made both through the MFA and MOJ and 
concurrently with the CGPJ. 
 
//COMMENT// 
 
¶20. (C)  The undercurrent throughout the visit was 
acknowledgment of Spain's increasing interest in Africa and 
concurrent responsibility to act on these issues. 
Sanchez-Benedito said that Spanish assistance to Africa will 
top one billion euros next year.  Spanish interlocutors were 
most interested in Senegal and the DRC as potential avenues 
for further cooperation.  Other useful points of contact for 
additional discussions on these issues include Special 
Ambassador for Humanitarian Affairs Maria Bassols and Special 
Ambassador for Peacekeeping Operations Arturo Spiegelberg and 
Special Ambassador for Humanitarian Affairs Maria Bassols. 
END COMMENT. 
 
¶21. (U)  Ambassador Williamson has cleared this cable. 
Aguirre