VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0977/01 2381638
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261638Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4277
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000977 
 
G/TIP for Stephanie Kronenburg and Marisa Ferri 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KTIP SNAR PTER EFIN KCRM KFRD ASEC ELAB
KJUS, EAID, AR 
 
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: PROSECUTOR GENERAL SEEKS TO DEEPEN LAW 
ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In a productive meeting with CDA on August 20, 
Argentine Prosecutor General Esteban Righi expressed interest in 
expanding and deepening bilateral law enforcement cooperation on a 
wide range of areas including extradition, human trafficking, money 
laundering, terrorism finance and corruption.  The Charge stressed 
the USG's commitment to working in collaboration with the Argentine 
government in these areas as well as terrorism and drug trafficking. 
 He invited the Prosecutor General's (PG) office to participate in 
future USG training aimed at developing law enforcement and 
prosecutorial capacity to combat complex and organized crime.  An 
amiable interlocutor with a professional demeanor, Righi appeared 
genuinely interested in working with us to deepen bilateral law 
enforcement cooperation.  End Summary. 
 
Participants 
------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Prosecutor General Righi was joined in his office by 
Secretary for Institutional Coordination Dr. Adrian Marchisio, 
Director for Criminal Policy Mary Beloff, and Marcelo Colombo, 
Director for the Specialized Unit to Investigate Kidnapping, 
Extortion and Trafficking in Persons Crimes (UFASE).  The CDA was 
accompanied by A/Polcouns Heidi Gomez (notetaker). 
 
PG Proposes Reforms to Adopt Inquisitorial System 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Righi began by noting that the Prosecutor General's office 
(PG) had previously worked with the U.S. Embassy on extradition 
requests, intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement, and oral 
advocacy training.  He asserted that a year earlier, he had proposed 
to then-Minister of Justice Anibal Fernandez reforms to Argentina's 
criminal procedural code that would implement the 1994 
constitutional mandate to transition the country's judicial system 
from the inquisitive to the accusatorial system.  Righi indicated 
that he had raised the proposal with new Justice Minister Julio Alak 
and expressed hope that Alak would not only support reform but also 
request additional resources for implementation.  In making a case 
for greater funding, he said that it would be useful to know what 
percentage of the U.S. budget is allocated to the Attorney General's 
office. 
 
Plea Bargaining and Extradition Issues 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Righi also expressed interest in learning from the U.S. 
experience with plea bargaining.  Introducing such a system in 
Argentina could help reduce the judicial system's backlog of 
criminal cases, he said.  He acknowledged, however, that the 
benefits of such reforms would have to be carefully explained, since 
the Argentine public might otherwise view plea bargaining as a means 
to circumvent justice.  He also indicated that more Argentine 
prosecutors needed to strengthen their understanding of U.S. 
requirements for extradition requests.  The Charge suggested that it 
would be beneficial for the Embassy and the PG's office to explore 
ways to improve the information-sharing process in extradition cases 
to speed up communications.  Righi said that he was open to looking 
at options to do so. 
 
TIP 
--- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Righi also expressed interest in learning U.S. best 
practices in prosecuting trafficking in persons (TIP) crimes and 
protecting trafficking victims.  He said that passage of anti-TIP 
legislation in 2007 had given prosecutors a new tool to go after 
trafficking rings.  The CDA stated that the USG is deeply committed 
to working with the GOA on fighting TIP and noted that Argentina's 
anti-TIP law was a notable step forward.  He stressed that TIP was a 
global problem that all countries, including the United States, 
face.  He praised the PG's specialized Kidnapping, Extortion, and 
TIP unit (UFASE) for its excellent and high-profile work 
investigating TIP cases around the country and forwarding a number 
of cases to the courts for further judicial investigation and 
prosecution.  The CDA also relayed Washington interest in seeing 
these investigations result in convictions, and offered USG 
assistance in strengthening the PG's capacity to prosecute such 
crimes. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Charge invited UFASE to participate in future anti-TIP 
training, including an upcoming September seminar the Embassy is 
funding through a local NGO partner "Unidos por la Justicia."  He 
reiterated the Embassy's invitation to Righi to attend the opening 
ceremony of the event.  Righi welcomed the opportunity for enhanced 
cooperation and training in this area, but indicated that he 
preferred working directly with the USG on a bilateral basis at 
first.  "Once an institutional working relationship in this area is 
established, we can explore the possibility of working with an NGO," 
he explained.  A/Polcouns suggested that working level officials 
attend, a possibility Righi said he would consider.  (Note:  Unidos 
representatives subsequently told us that an UFASE prosecutor has 
agreed to serve as a trainer for the program.) 
 
¶7. (U) Note:  On August 24, Righi signed a resolution instructing 
federal prosecutors to seek the closure of brothels operating with a 
license for commercial activities, such as pubs or discos.  The 
resolution also instructs prosecutors to ask investigative judges to 
authorize at the initial stage of an investigation the seizure of 
these venues to be used as property bond until the case is decided 
by the courts.  Righi also ordered prosecutors to identify and press 
charges against officials that may have participated or covered up 
TIP crimes.  According to pro-government daily "Pagina 12," which 
arguably has the best press coverage of TIP issues, UFASE has 
discovered that several municipalities have local ordinances that 
regulate prostitution, in open violation of federal law.  To address 
this, Righi has also urged Justice Minister Alak and Interior 
Minister Randazzo to ensure that provincial and municipal 
legislation complies with national law and Argentina's international 
obligations to abolish "houses of tolerance" that engage in 
commercial sexual exploitation. 
Counterterrorism 
---------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Charge noted that the U.S. Embassy's Office of the 
Legal Attache had worked very closely with the PG's Specialized Unit 
charged with exclusively investigating the 1994 terrorist bombing on 
the Argentine-Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA).  He asked whether 
the GOA had considered transitioning the unit into a 
counter-terrorism unit with broader investigative authority.  Righi 
said that the GOA would have to think about this possibility, and 
said that if the GOA were to have a specialized Counterterrorism 
unit, it would have to create a new office.  To do otherwise would 
divert resources from the AMIA investigation, he stated. 
 
Financial Crimes 
---------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Turning to the issue of financial crimes, the CDA noted 
that the Embassy's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Attache 
and Drug Enforcement Administration office have worked to assist the 
GOA in strengthening its Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Finance 
regime.  He noted that ICE provided training in July 2009 to 
Argentine law enforcement agencies including Gendarmeria, 
Prefectura, Federal Police, and Customs on how to investigate money 
laundering, bulk cash smuggling, and terrorist finance cases.  He 
invited the PG's office to participate in future training courses as 
participants and presenters.  Righi welcomed the opportunity for 
training in these areas, noting that federal prosecutors have had 
difficulties in investigating such cases.  He noted that prosecutors 
need to learn what is money laundering and what is not.  He pointed 
out that Argentina's legal framework does not define what 
constitutes cover-up in money laundering crimes.  He added that the 
GOA needed to develop protocols on how to investigate complex crimes 
such as money laundering, terrorism finance, TIP, and corruption. 
 
¶10. (SBU) A/PolCouns noted ICE's interest in offering support for 
any GOA initiative to create an integrated Money Laundering 
taskforce that would include members of the PG's office, Customs, 
Gendarmeria, and National Police.  Righi said the proposal was 
interesting, but indicated that prosecutors have a greater role in 
investigating money laundering cases, claiming that the federal 
security forces did not really follow these kinds of cases. 
 
IPR 
--- 
 
¶11. (SBU) On IPR, A/Polcouns noted Embassy efforts to produce an IPR 
investigative manual, which was written entirely by Argentine 
 
judicial and law enforcement officials.  Secretary Marchisio noted 
that the PG's office was currently evaluating the manual for 
possible use by federal prosecutors, adding that it was "quite 
good." 
 
Speaker Program 
--------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) A/PolCouns invited the PG's office to participate in two 
 
speaker programs this fall on the topics of juvenile delinquency and 
Magistrate Judges.  She also indicated that through the Speaker 
program the Embassy could bring U.S. legal experts on topics of 
interest to the PG's office.  Beloff indicated her interest in the 
program and promised to follow up with concrete proposals.  She also 
indicated that she would participate in the Embassy's fall program 
and encourage federal prosecutors to attend. 
 
The Future of Specialized Investigative Units 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Righi told the Charge that his office is now working to 
strengthen the PG's ten Specialized Investigative Units by giving 
them the authority to follow up on cases they initiated and 
transferred to the courts for further investigation.  (Note:  At 
present, specialized investigative units conduct preliminary 
investigations in their area of expertise under the guidance and 
order of an investigative judge.  If these specialized units develop 
sufficient evidence to proceed with a formal investigation, they 
must then transfer the case to a federal investigating judge with 
the appropriate jurisdiction.  Although judges may continue to rely 
on the specialized units for technical assistance during the 
investigation, they rarely do.) 
 
Bio Note 
-------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) President Nestor Kirchner appointed Esteban Righi as 
General Prosecutor of the Republic of Argentina in 2004.  When 
Kirchner's wife Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner4s (CFK) was elected 
President in 2007, she opted to keep Righi in the same position. 
Argentina's Constitution establishes a system in which the General 
Prosecutor is both the chief of all prosecutors in the national 
(i.e., Buenos Aires city) justice system and is head of all federal 
prosecutors who intervene in Supreme Court cases.  Nevertheless, 
Righi insists that "it is a myth" that he is chief of all federal 
prosecutors since they are independent and do not report to him. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Mr. Righi was born in Resistencia, in the province of 
Chaco, on September 4, 1938.  A lawyer by training, he earned his 
Doctorate in Criminal Law and Criminology from the University of 
Buenos Aires.   He is a long-time Peronist, with strong links to the 
party's left flank.  From May to July 1973, Righi served as Minister 
of the Interior in the transitional Peronist government of Hector 
Campora.  During this time, he was the author of a controversial 
decree liberating more than 300 prisoners who had been accused of 
perpetrating acts of domestic terrorism.  Prior to and during the 
1976-83 military dictatorship, Righi lived in exile in Mexico with 
his family for ten years. (During that period, as he recounted to 
the CDA, he turned to American football after becoming disenchanted 
with the "poor quality" of Mexican soccer, eventually becoming an 
avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan.)  He returned to Argentina when it 
returned to democracy in 1983.  Prior to his appointment, Mr. Righi 
had his own law firm (Estudio Righi) where he and his partners 
reportedly represented a number of current government officials 
accused of corruption. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶16. (SBU) An amiable interlocutor with a professional demeanor, 
Righi appeared genuinely interested in working with us and learning 
from USG best practices on a wide range of issues. (He requested the 
meeting.)  Post will actively explore additional opportunities to 
work with the PG's office to offer experts and programs that can 
build its prosecutorial capacity to investigate and prosecute 
organized and complex crime. 
 
KELLY