VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0081/01 0341436
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031436Z FEB 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5749
INFO RUEHFN/AMEMBASSY FREETOWN 1366
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 9092

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000081 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KAWC NL PGOV PREL SL
SUBJECT: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OF SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA 
LEONE MEETS WITH PRESIDENT WINTER 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  On January 29, the President of the Special 
Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), Justice Renate Winter, met 
with the Management Committee to discuss the completion of 
the Charles Taylor case, residual issues such as location of 
the archives, future use of the Freetown facility, and other 
issues related to the administration of the court. End 
summary. 
 
Delays in Completion of Charles Taylor Case Likely 
 
¶2. (U) According to President Winter, the completion of the 
Charles Taylor case will likely be delayed.  The biggest 
problem is that, beginning in September, the International 
Criminal Court (ICC) will not be able to provide the SCSL 
with unfettered use of ICC courtroom 2 for the Charles Taylor 
trial.  Given information technology issues, it is not 
possible to hold an ICC case in the morning and an SCSL case 
in the afternoon.  At best, the ICC and SCSL may be able to 
rotate use of the courtroom on a monthly basis.  Winter has 
persuaded the judges hearing the Charles Taylor case (Trial 
Chamber 2) to make progress by sitting in July and August, 
and taking vacations in September, but the Taylor case will 
almost certainly continue beyond September. 
 
¶3.  (U) In addition, there are eighteen motions pending in 
the Taylor case, one of which challenges the Prosecutor,s 
&joint criminal enterprise8 theory.  Without a decision on 
that motion, the Prosecutor cannot close his case.  President 
Winter has urged Trial Chamber 2 to take action on all 
pending motions. 
 
¶4. (U) The defense may ask for more than four months to 
prepare its case and to prepare a motion for an acquittal. 
President Winter said that there is an &equality of arms8 
agreement giving the defense a lump sum amount, without any 
commitment to allocate to the defense any additional time to 
prepare its case.  If Trial Chamber 2 grants the defense more 
time, President Winter will not authorize any additional 
funds to go to the defense. 
 
¶5. (U) The defense has announced that Charles Taylor will 
testify, and that his testimony may last as long as six 
months.  This would significantly delay the completion of the 
case, pushing it well into 2010. 
 
¶6. (U) The Dutch and British Management Committee members 
said that the SCSL must finish all of its work by the end of 
2010, and that their countries would not fund the court 
beyond that date. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The President stressed the importance of the 
Secretary General filling the vacant seat on the Appeals 
Chamber as soon as possible, so that there would be no delays 
at the appellate level.  She suggested that she would prefer 
that a woman fill the seat.  (Note.  The United States has 
nominated a woman, Vermont Judge Shireen Fisher, to fill the 
vacancy.  A UN Office of Legal Affairs panel will interview 
her on February 5. End note.) 
 
¶8. (U) President Winter said that after the Appeals Chamber 
decides any appeal in the RUF case, it would be more cost 
effective to move the Appeals Chamber to The Hague, with a 
cost-saving of over 30 percent.  Thus, President Winter,s 
preference is to hear the possible Charles Taylor appeal in 
The Hague, not in Freetown. 
 
Future Use of Freetown Facility 
 
¶9. (SBU) President Winter described a plan for the future use 
of the SCSL facility in Freetown that she said she and the 
Registrar have discussed, as follows:  (1) The old court 
house should become a museum on the history of the conflict 
in Sierra Leone.  (2) The detention facility should be 
transferred to the Government of Sierra Leone.  (3) The court 
house and administrative facilities should be a training 
center for West African judges, in addition to office space 
for UN agencies or a center for international law.  She said 
that Justice Ayoola of Nigeria,s idea of housing an ECOWAS 
court in the facility could be compatible with this option, 
as it only meets on an occasional basis.  President Winter 
said that the Ford Foundation has expressed an interest in 
possibly providing funding for future use of the SCSL 
facilities. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The UK pointed out that the Government of Sierra 
Leone, not the Management Committee, must take ownership of 
the site issue. The Sierra Leone representative noted that, 
while the issue is not within the mandate of the Management 
Committee, Sierra Leone will need the Committee,s 
&support8 and would like to work as a team. 
 
 
Residual Mechanism 
 
¶11. (SBU) President Winter said that the Yugoslavia and 
Rwanda Tribunals should share a residual mechanism with the 
Sierra Leone Court, ideally located in The Hague. Winter said 
that the archives should be located in The Hague together 
with other Tribunals, archives, with an electronic copy 
available for the public in Freetown. The UK pointed out that 
the Security Council working group on the Tribunals will not 
have to make decisions on residual mechanism issues until 
after the SCSL has already acted, given the differing 
scheduled completion dates. 
 
Enforcement of Sentences 
 
¶12. (U) Benin has agreed to take custody of eight SCSL 
prisoners, provided that Benin receives from USD 30,000 to 
USD 50,000 per prisoner per year.  President Winter is 
seeking five-year commitments from individual European 
countries to fund each prisoner,s costs.  So far, Austria 
has agreed in principle to this approach. 
 
¶13. (U) The Sierra Leone representative said that it would be 
better for the sentences to be served in the same country, so 
that relatives and wives in particular could visit. 
President Winter noted that the receiving country,s rules 
would apply to visits, and pointed out that one prisoner has 
seventeen wives and forty children. 
 
Funding 
 
¶14. (U) President Winter is concerned that the SCSL will run 
out of funds later this year.  She noted that Germany and 
Ireland are unsure whether they will make a contribution this 
year, as they are planning to contribute to the Special 
Tribunal for Lebanon. 
 
Site Visit 
 
¶15. (U) The Management Committee discussed the agenda for the 
upcoming site visit to The Hague and Freetown.  USUN,s 
Legoff informed colleagues that a State Department 
representative would likely attend, but that Legoff,s 
attendance was still uncertain given funding issues. 
Rice