US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE1693

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001693 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/WCI - PROSPER/RICHARD, EUR/SCE - 
GREGORIAN/MITCHELL, L - TAFT, L/EUR - LAHNE, INR/WCAD - 
SEIDENSTRICKER/MORIN, IO - NARANJO/LEIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, BK, HR, SR, NL, ICTY 
SUBJECT: ICTY: TRIBUNAL SEEKS USG ASSISTANCE IN 
AMELIORATING BUDGET AND STAFFING CRISES 
 
REF: A. THE HAGUE 1592 
     B. THE HAGUE 1599 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified - Treat Accordingly 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  The Chief Prosecutor and Registrar of the 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 
(ICTY) urged Ambassador for War Crimes Issues Pierre Prosper 
to weigh in with UN Headquarters to help solve two emerging 
budget and personnel crises that were posing a significant 
risk to the completion strategy.  The first involves the 
rapid attrition of ICTY investigators to the International 
Criminal Court (ICC) and elsewhere because the UN has not 
authorized the Tribunal to offer them contracts beyond 
December 31, 2004.  The second involves the UN's imposition 
of a hiring freeze on the ICTY, which is based upon the 
current fiscal year shortfall due to significant member state 
arrears.  The Tribunal warns that the crisis could impact 
Completion Strategy targets and requests that the USG 
approach the UN Secretariat (in particular Under-Secretary 
General Bertini) to seek exceptions to lift the freeze and to 
allow contract extensions beyond the end of the year.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (SBU) In separate meetings with visiting Ambassador Pierre 
Prosper, accompanied by embassy legal officers, Chief 
Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte and Registrar Hans Holthuis 
emphasized two serious problems, flagged in the ICTY's 
Security Council reports last month (reftels), that are 
working against their implementation of the completion 
strategy.  First, the OTP's Investigations Division is losing 
its most experienced and skilled personnel to the ICC and 
other institutions due to the inability of the Tribunal to 
offer contracts to staff after December 31, 2004.  Although 
the completion strategy provides for all indictments to be 
issued by the end of 2004, both the OTP and the Registry 
emphasized that this does not mark the end of investigations. 
 As in the ongoing Milosevic case, the efficient running of 
trials requires the maintenance of significant investigative 
capacity.  Departures from the Division are hastened both by 
the approaching school year (forcing those with families to 
make decisions on the future now) and by the needs of the 
International Criminal Court (ICC) for experienced 
investigators and the ICC's ability to offer greater job 
security.  As Del Ponte noted, "(ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno) 
Ocampo is hiring our people away."   Deputy Registrar David 
Tolbert indicated that the ICTY is expecting "massive 
attrition soon" because of the inability to renew contracts 
beyond the end of 2004. 
 
3. (SBU) Tolbert also shared (for USG use only) a June 26, 
2004, Registry proposal made to UN Controller Halbwachs 
addressing the contract extension issue.  In it Tribunal 
Registrar Holthuis notes that the OTP confirmed its proposal 
of significant staff reductions as of January 1, 2005 -- 66 
posts will be eliminated, leaving a total OTP staff of 149 
posts.  The proposal requests authorization to extend for one 
year 75 percent of the 149 posts.  As it stands, the UN has 
not approved any extensions because the investigative budget 
has yet to be approved.  Such approval is not expected until 
late fall, by which point the damage in terms of staff 
departures will already have occurred.  The Tribunal has yet 
to receive a response from UN to its request for an 
exception. 
 
4. (SBU) The second pressing need of the Tribunal relates to 
the current hiring freeze.  Significant member state arrears 
to the organization have prompted UN headquarters to imposing 
a hiring freeze on the ICTY.  The freeze has made it 
impossible to manage attrition, fill critical positions, and 
to plan an efficient trial schedule.  The Chief of Staff to 
ICTY President Theodor Meron stated that in a joint Fifth and 
Sixth Committee briefing held by Meron at the UN last week, 
Japan spoke of its willingness to provide the ICTY with $4.5 
million and Brazil offered $2 million.  Given the possibility 
that the USG may soon be in a position to make a similar 
commitment, the original budgetary purpose for the freeze may 
have disappeared.  (Comment: In an aside, Del Ponte political 
advisor Jean-Daniel Ruch noted that in a brief visit to the 
Russian UN mission it became evident that the payment of 
their arrears was only a remote possibility.  End Comment) 
Though Meron was recently granted an exception to the 
recruitment freeze for nine associate legal officer posts 
(P-2 law clerks for the Tribunal judges), the generalized 
inability to replace departing staff has depleted the 
capacity of the Tribunal to continue functioning at its "peak 
of activity." 
5. (SBU) Comment:  The forcefulness, persistence, and 
unanimity of the concerns expressed by the OTP and the 
Registry confirm our sense that without redress the ICTY's 
ongoing budget problems will have a debilitating and lasting 
impact on their ability to meet completion strategy 
objectives.  Registrar Holthuis asked that, to the extent it 
would be appropriate, the USG urge UN Under-Secretary General 
Bertini to accede quickly to the ICTY's requests for contract 
extensions beyond the end of this year (the ICTY's number one 
budget priority) and for a lifting of the hiring freeze. 
Because the departure of investigative staff is accelerating, 
it is essential that the contract extension restriction be 
addressed first and on an urgent basis.  The ICTY recognizes 
that with the end of 2004 it will need to downsize its 
investigative staff, and it is prepared to do so in a 
substantial way.  But unless it is given authority to extend 
contracts past 2004 to the investigative staff that it will 
be retaining, the issue will be less reducing the OTP's staff 
than it will be finding qualified personnel to fill the 
burgeoning vacancies. Particularly in light of the USG's 
commitment to the completion strategy, Embassy supports such 
an approach.  Ambassador Prosper has reviewed this message 
and concurs with the recommendation that the USG deliver the 
requested demarche to the UN.  End comment. 
SOBEL