VZCZCXRO7922
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #0204/01 0830923
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240923Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8854
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0691
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0091

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000204 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
JUSTICE FOR DAVID CORA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM PTER KNNP KCRM KGIC US UP AM
SUBJECT: WORKSHOP ON NUCLEAR SMUGGLING LAW-MAKING IN 
ARMENIA 
 
REF: 07 YEREVAN 1420 
 
 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  With experts from the United Nations Office 
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Department's Nuclear 
Smuggling Outreach Initiative (NSOI), the Department of 
Justice (DOJ), and Embassy Yerevan held a "Legislative 
Drafting Expert Workshop on the Criminal Law Aspects of the 
Universal Legal Framework Against Nuclear Terrorism" with the 
Government of Armenia (GOAM) on February 18-19.  This 
workshop produced recommendations to amend the Armenian 
Criminal Code to improve the GOAM's capability to prosecute 
all types of nuclear smuggling cases, including scams and 
hoaxes, and proposed ways for the GOAM to enhance 
international legal cooperation against nuclear terrorism. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) BACKGROUND:  On July 14, 2008, Secretary of State 
Condoleeza Rice and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward 
Nalbandian signed the "Joint Action Plan between the 
Government of the United States of America and the Government 
of the Republic of Armenia on Combating Smuggling of Nuclear 
and Radioactive Materials."  This political agreement 
specifies twenty-eight steps that the two governments intend 
to take to improve the GOAM's capabilities to prevent, 
detect, and respond effectively to attempts to smuggle 
nuclear or radioactive materials. 
 
¶3. (U) One of the priority steps included in the joint action 
plan is to ensure that Armenia possesses the requisite laws 
to enable its government to prosecute all cases of nuclear 
smuggling, including scams and hoaxes.  Effective prosecution 
of criminals involved in illicit trafficking is vital to 
deter what is primarily an opportunistic, profit-driven 
crime.  To this end, NSOI and the GOAM agreed to seek the 
assistance of legal experts to review Armenian laws and, if 
they were deemed insufficient, to advise on appropriate 
revisions.  (NOTE: NSOI is an interagency effort, coordinated 
by ISN/WMDT, to enhance international assistance to combat 
smuggling of nuclear and radioactive materials.  NSOI focuses 
intensively and comprehensively on those countries identified 
by the U.S. intelligence community as being at greatest risk 
for having illicit smuggling of nuclear or radioactive 
materials occur on or through their territories.  END NOTE) 
 
¶4. (U) THE WORKSHOP:  To prepare for the workshop, David 
Cora, a trial attorney from the National Security Division of 
DOJ, with assistance from Steve Kessler, the Resident Legal 
Advisor at Embassy Yerevan, drafted a legal analysis to 
determine whether relevant articles of the Armenian Criminal 
Code were sufficient to prosecute the nuclear smuggling cases 
of particular concern.  Walter Gehr and Admirela Ancion, 
experts from UNODC's Terrorism Prevention Branch, prepared a 
similar analysis to determine if the Armenian Criminal Code 
was compliant with the nuclear-related provisions of the 
Universal Counter-Terrorism Conventions.  Both analyses, 
which were passed to the GOAM prior to the workshop, included 
recommendations to strengthen the Armenian Criminal Code. 
 
¶5. (U) HOW TO BETTER CRIMINALIZE NUCLEAR TERRORISM:  During 
the two-day workshop, the 25-30 GOAM participants considered 
how Armenian legislation could be amended to implement fully 
Armenia's obligations to criminalize nuclear terrorism that 
arise from UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) and 
international conventions.  The UNODC experts emphasized the 
importance of harmonizing definitions in Armenian legislation 
with the definitions used in international agreements.  In 
addition, UNODC urged the GOAM to ratify by the end of 2009 
the following relevant treaties: "International Convention 
for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism;" "Protocol 
of 2005 to the Convention for the Suppression on Unlawful 
Acts against the Safety of Maritime Convention;" "Protocol of 
2005 to the Protocol for the Suppression on Unlawful Acts 
against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the 
Continental Shelf;" and the "Amendment to the Convention on 
the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material."  Finally, UNODC 
recommended strongly that the GOAM amend and supplement 
accordingly Articles 217, 233, 234, 235, and 303 of the 
Armenian Criminal Code. 
 
¶6.  (U) HOW TO CRIMINALIZE NUCLEAR SMUGGLING/HOAXES: 
Workshop participants also considered how the GOAM could 
criminalize various types of nuclear smuggling cases, 
including scams and hoaxes.  Ms. Jennifer Mastros, an analyst 
representing NSOI, provided an overview of the common types 
 
YEREVAN 00000204  002 OF 002 
 
 
of nuclear smuggling cases that in the past have been 
difficult for some countries to prosecute.  David Cora 
expanded on this overview, presenting the USG's experience in 
prosecuting such cases.  On the second day of the workshop, 
in a follow-up session on the same topic, Cora and Steve 
Kessler led a discussion on how various law enforcement tools 
could be used to investigate nuclear smuggling scams in 
Armenia.  As a result of these discussions, Cora suggested 
two ways in which the GOAM could amend Article 259 of its 
criminal code to improve its effectiveness in prosecuting 
each of the types of nuclear smuggling cases. 
 
¶7.  (U) WORKSHOP'S PLAN OF ACTION:  To conclude the workshop, 
GOAM representatives worked with UNODC and the USG to draft a 
Plan of Action, which specifies all of the agreed measures 
the GOAM should take to strengthen its Criminal Code.  In 
addition, UNODC and the GOAM agreed to hold two video 
conferences with experts present at this workshop and other 
relevant Armenian officials to discuss any outstanding issues 
relating to UNODC's recommendations.  Furthermore, the GOAM, 
UNODC, and the USG agreed tentatively to hold in 2010 a 
training workshop for judges and prosecutors on international 
cooperation in criminal matters to prevent and suppress 
biological, chemical, and nuclear terrorism. 
 
¶8. (SBU) SIGNIFICANT FOLLOW-UP REQUIRED:  While the U.S. and 
UNODC experts recommended amendments for a half dozen of 
Armenia's Criminal Code, only one article was substantively 
discussed during the workshop (Article 259).  A contentious 
discussion amongst GOAM participants over the proposed 
wording to amend Article 259 prevented addressing the five 
other articles identified by UNODC and the DOJ as needing 
amending. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Another hurdle that surfaced during the workshop was 
the inability of GOAM participants to designate a lead agency 
that will be responsible for overseeing the amendments to the 
Criminal Code.  The Embassy thought the Ministry of Justice 
would be the logical choice, but MOJ representatives said it 
should be Armenia's National Security Service (NSS), which is 
responsible for protecting Armenia's borders.  The Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs representatives were not able to persuade 
the NSS participants to assume this role, however. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Davit Harutiunian, Member of Parliament and 
Chairman of the Parliament's State and Legal Affairs 
Committee, recommended to UNODC and USG experts that a small 
legislative drafting group be established within the GOAM to 
work on the amendments in a smaller, more congenial setting. 
He added that the Parliament would be willing to finance the 
hiring of an independent legal expert to advise the group on 
conforming the amendments to existing Armenian law. 
Harutiunian did not specify, however, how to establish such a 
drafting group, nor what kind of authority it would have. 
George Kocharian, the lead MFA representative at the 
workshop, proposed that the USG help his Ministry establish 
the drafting group by submitting an official request to the 
Armenian Government.  According to Kocharian, an order by the 
Government, signed by the Prime Minister, would be the most 
direct and effective way to establish the group.  RLA and 
PolOff agreed to meet with Kocharian to discuss his proposal 
more fully. 
 
¶11. (SBU) COMMENT: One of the major successes of the workshop 
was the robust number of Armenian participants from various 
agencies who showed up and actively participated. 
Unfortunately, the ambitious agenda to address a number of 
amendments to Armenia's Criminal Code got bogged down in an 
energetic debate over the wording and substance of the 
proposed amendments.  With the support of NSOI, DOJ, and 
UNODC, the Embassy will continue to work with the MFA and 
others in the GOAM to ensure the action plan recommendations 
are implemented and the drafting group is formed.  The UNODC 
and US experts realize that amending Armenia's Criminal Code 
is going to be a multi-year process. 
PENNINGTON