VZCZCXRO9345
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUCNDT #0484 1542302
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 022302Z JUN 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4362
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000484
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC SY LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON TRIBUNAL: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CONTINUES
TO DISCUSS STAFFING, FUNDING
REF: A. USUN 468
B. USUN/IO EMAIL (WILCOX/REINEMEYER)-05/27/08
C. USUN 171
D. STATE 1170 (2007)
E. USUN 1185 (2007)
F. USUN 384
1. (SBU) BEGIN SUMMARY: At its tenth meeting on May 29,
the Management Committee for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
(STL) agreed to adopt a phased approach to approving the
STL's first-year budget, briefly considered staffing for the
STL, heard more about STL Registrar Robin Vincent's plan to
assemble a ten-person advance team to handle critical set-up
tasks, and discussed whether to hold a meeting in The Hague.
The Management Committee agreed to approve an initial budget,
providing for staffing costs, by July 11, followed by a
revised budget that would reflect operational costs, which
the Committee would approve during the fall of 2008. END
SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) Committee members agreed to STL Register Vincent's
proposal to create the STL's first-year budget in two phases
(ref A). The Committee would approve Vincent's initial
budget by July 11, reflecting projected staffing needs, which
would enable Vincent to begin recruiting staff. Vincent
would then refine the budget, particularly projected costs
for operational expenses relating to witnesses, travel,
acquisition of equipment (informational technology, security,
and communications), or short-term consultancies, and submit
a revised, final budget to the Management Committee for
approval by October 31.
3. (SBU) STL Prosecutor-Designate Daniel Bellemare, who
heads the UN International Independent Investigative
Commission (UNIIIC), will brief the Committee soon on his
requests for staffing the STL's Office of the Prosecutor.
Bellemare has requested 109 staff members for his office, 100
of whom would be assigned to The Hague and nine of whom would
be assigned to Beirut.
4. (SBU) Vincent also provided details on the ten-person
advance team with whom he plans to staff the STL in the next
few months (ref B). Anticipating that the STL will not begin
operating until January 1, 2009, after the UNIIIC mandate
expires, Vincent said he would not issue permanent contracts
for staff until 2009. In the meantime, he plans to bring
only four staff members with him from UN Headquarters in New
York to The Hague (one administrative officer, one legal
officer, one associate legal officer/special assistant, and
one human resources officer). All four are currently working
on the Secretary-General's STL Task Force, and, although
their initial appointments would be for two months, Vincent
hopes some could remain longer. A building manager (seconded
from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia) and a security officer (on loan from the Sierra
Leone Special Court) would join the team in The Hague on a
temporary basis (approximately two months), and the STL would
reimburse the ICTY and the SCSL for their services. Vincent
would then hire a finance/budget officer and an information
technology and communications officer in The Hague on
short-term consultancy contracts. Finally, a liaison officer
would serve on a temporary contract in New York.
5. (SBU) The Committee Chairman solicited views on whether
the members of the Committee should travel to The Hague to
visit the building that will house the STL and then meet in
The Hague. Many members preferred to have their counterparts
in The Hague meet informally instead. Formal and informal
Committee meetings will continue to be held in New York.
6. (SBU) The Management Committee will meet again on June 6,
and the Chairman expects to meet with interested states
during the week of July 16.
Khalilzad