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DE RUEHMV #0254/01 0570828
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260827Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0082
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MONROVIA 000254 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR AF/W/DL, INL/CIV/DL, INL/AAE/DL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KJUS PREL SL LI
SUBJECT: WEST AFRICA COAST INITIATIVE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE IN 
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE 
 
REF: 10 FREETOWN 61; KOUTSIS-CHESHES E-MAIL DATED 2/10/10 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) sponsored 
a round of meetings February 17-19 designed to assist participant 
countries (Guinea-Bissau, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone) 
with the implementation of the Economic Community of West African 
States (ECOWAS) Regional Action Plan on Drug Trafficking, Organized 
Crime and Drug Abuse.   The result was the West Africa Coast 
Initiative (WACI) Freetown Commitment on Combating Illicit 
Trafficking of Drugs and Transnational Organized Crime in West 
Africa.  Participants complained that neither ECOWAS nor UNODC were 
providing funding to implement the action plan.  Despite hours of 
discussion on minutiae of language and substantial disagreement on 
how legalistic and specific the commitment should be, the final 
document was ratified by all four participating countries. The real 
value added was the offline discussion and opportunity for these 
four neighbor states to meet and discuss real-world cross border 
coordination on the ground. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
WACI CONFERENCE 
 
--------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) From February 17 to 19, representatives from the four West 
African nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, and Cote 
d'Ivoire met in Freetown to finalize the West Africa Coast 
Initiative (WACI) Commitment On Combating Illicit Trafficking of 
Drugs And Transnational Organized Crime In West Africa, in support 
of the implementation of the Economic Community of West African 
States (ECOWAS) Regional Action Plan To Address The Growing Problem 
Of Illicit Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime And Drug Abuse In West 
Africa 2008 - 2011. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) The round of meetings was hosted by the UN Office of Drugs 
and Crime (UNODC) and chaired by Brig. (ret) Kellie Conteh, head of 
the Sierra Leonean Office of National Security. Also in attendance 
were a host of international organizations (ECOWAS, various UN 
offices, the European Union, Interpol) and the diplomatic corps 
(U.S., China, France, the UK, Spain). The U.S. had the largest 
diplomatic delegation, led by the Charge d'Affaires to Sierra 
Leone, and included the regional security officer for Sierra Leone, 
the FBI Legatt in Sierra Leone, the Civilian Police and Judicial 
Affairs Officer from Monrovia, Liberia, and a counternarcotics 
program officer from the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). 
 
 
 
LIBERIA BEGINS IMPLEMENTATION OF WACI 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) The Liberian delegation was headed by the Director/Inspector 
General of Police Marc Amblard, and included the Commissioner of 
Customs and Excise Decontee T. King-Sackie, the newly appointed 
head of the Liberia National Police (LNP) Transnational Crime Unit 
(TCU) Wallas Dennis, and newly appointed head of the LNP Police 
Support Unit (PSU) John Kemoh.  The Liberian delegation quickly 
engaged in the days' discussions. 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) UNODC representatives stated their eagerness to work with 
Liberia on implementing their transnational crime unit or "TCU," 
the concept being that the TCU will be an interagency task force 
against all transnational crime, not just drug trafficking.  UNODC 
stated in their presentation of TCU assessment results that they 
were impressed by the proactive nature of Director/IGP Amblard who 
was developing his own plan for a TCU at the time of the assessment 
visit to Liberia and has since built upon it. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) The first day's presentation of the joint assessment results 
of the four countries, designed to evaluate TCU compatibility, 
showed that the four are very similar with regard to transnational 
crime interdiction: political will and knowledge of the WACI is 
present at the highest levels but lacking within mid- and lower 
 
MONROVIA 00000254  002 OF 003 
 
 
management; resources and training for law enforcement 
practitioners are insufficient; salary levels are low; national 
information sharing capabilities are poor to nonexistent. 
 
 
 
ASSESSMENT HIGHLIGHTS 
 
--------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) All four countries were lauded for being committed to 
ongoing reform within their security agencies, a must for TCU 
success.  Sierra Leone is well advanced in its ability to combat 
drug crime with the development of the Joint Drug Interdiction Task 
Force that will hopefully be expanded into a full blown TCU.  The 
assessment team praised Liberia's embryonic TCU and training 
support for its new director.  For Cote d'Ivoire, two major 
agencies, the Gendarmerie and the National Police, are well set up 
to deal with transnational crime; and Guinea-Bissau is in the midst 
of developing a new security framework with the development of a 
TCU in mind. 
 
 
 
A NOTE ABOUT CORRUPTION 
 
------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) Presenters made clear that the TCU will be a target for 
corruption, especially as it develops into an effective deterrent, 
and that paying a good salary and incentives for TCU agents will be 
needed. UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone 
(UNIPSIL) Senior Police Advisor Rudy Landeros commented that even 
in the best-paid law enforcement agencies in the U.S. corruption 
still exists, that we have to acknowledge that it will happen, and 
instead focus on enhancing the capacity of professional standards 
and internal affairs within the separate agencies and the TCU to 
make examples of those who fall prey to temptation. 
 
 
 
 
YES, WE HAVE NO MONEY 
 
---------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (U)  On day two, reality set in as participants learned that 
neither ECOWAS nor UNODC has any funding available to help set up 
TCUs or for any other action supporting the WACI commitment. 
Liberia's Director/IGP pushed back on language included in the 
first draft of the WACI that called for legal reform, arguing that 
such legislative changes are not within the power of those present, 
and how it was a lot to ask of the representative nations that they 
pursue such far sweeping changes without any financial support. 
This started a spirited discussion about timeframe and lack of 
funding - three years projected for TCUs to get up and running, 
according to the joint assessment work plans - and how that will 
simply give the organized crime groups the time they need to dig 
in.  UNODC representatives responded that donors will be more 
likely to support their action plans if UNODC can show that all the 
countries have documented their commitments. 
 
 
 
YOU SAY "TUH-MAY-TOE" I SAY "TOH-MAH-TOH" 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) Most of day two was taken up with discussions about 
pronunciation and syntax.  French and Portuguese translations of 
"West Africa Coast Initiative" and the gender of their respective 
acronyms were raised, as well as whether it should be referred to 
as "the wacky" or "the wassy" commitment, with many of those on the 
sidelines preferring the former as a good descriptor for the amount 
of time spent pursuing the issue.  Further, the question of whether 
the term "prosecution" or "trial" should be used to describe court 
proceedings needed much time to be resolved.  Even on the last day, 
one VIP not present for the full conference raised concerns with 
 
MONROVIA 00000254  003 OF 003 
 
 
the French translation of the final document and was answered with 
befuddled looks and audible sighs from the attendees. 
 
 
 
¶11. (U) Ultimately, a final commitment document was produced, 
incorporating all the agreed changes and signed by the four country 
representatives.  The document contained both more general language 
keeping to the spirit of support for combating drug trafficking and 
other transnational crimes, and more specific assurances of 
implementing laws on money laundering, strengthening legal 
procedures, and establishing TCUs and Financial Intelligence Units 
(FIU). 
 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) COMMENT: The implementation of the WACI principles and 
establishment of the TCU in Liberia is an important step in 
creating a modern LNP that can cooperate effectively with its 
neighbors on transnational crime.  We feel strongly that under the 
current leadership the LNP has started down the path to success. 
However, it is clear that the LNP lags far behind its neighbors in 
its law enforcement architecture, and continued focus on developing 
police capacity is necessary before any real cross-border 
cooperation can begin. END COMMENT. 
 
 
 
¶13. (U) This cable has been cleared by Embassy Freetown. 
THOMAS-GREENFIELD