US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE1911

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001911 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/WCI - PROSPER/RICHARD; BAGHDAD FOR 
STONE/MCGURK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, IZ, ICTY, KWIC 
SUBJECT: IRAQI JUDICIAL TRAINING 
 
Entire text sensitive but unclassified; protect accordingly. 
 
1. (SBU) In early May in The Hague, Justices Sandra Day 
O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy chaired a conference on the rule 
of law in Iraq, involving some thirty Iraqi judges and twenty 
other jurists, advisers and staff.  We understand that there 
is consideration in Baghdad of a proposed follow-on 
conference or conferences outside of Iraq. 
 
2. (SBU) Should the Department and Embassy Baghdad plan to 
hold a follow-on to the May conference, we would recommend 
including at least one session in The Netherlands, given the 
international legal institutions located here.  Ideally, this 
should be a focused program, bringing to The Hague a small 
number of Iraq Special Tribunal officials and advisers (up to 
fifteen total) early in 2005.  Although a program scheduled 
for this fall would not be practical, scheduling after 
December -- following the conclusion of the Dutch EU 
presidency, ICTY investigations and indictments, and Iraqi 
elections -- would be feasible.  Scheduling before the new 
year could be feasible if Department sees a compelling reason 
to do so and provides Embassy with sufficient resources.   We 
would also note that the participation of senior American and 
other jurists would again be crucial to a follow-on seminar's 
success. 
 
3. (U) Minimize considered. 
SOBEL