US embassy cable - 05PARIS974

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000974 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EAID, MARR, SCUL, DJ, FR 
SUBJECT: FRENCH OFFICIAL DISCUSSES BORREL AFFAIR, WIDOW 
PRESSES CLAIMS 
 
REF: A. DJIBOUTI 106 
 
     B. DJIBOUTI 68 
     C. DJIBOUTI 135 
 
Classified By: Political-Minister Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso 
n 1.4 (b/d). 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  MFA DAS-equivalent for East Africa 
Jean-Christophe Belliard informed us on February 14 that 
Djibouti FM Farah's health was recovering following his 
stroke but that he would remain hospitalized for several 
weeks and would not be able to meet with FM Barnier on 
February 17 as earlier planned.  Belliard described the 
Borrel affair as an "irritant," said that France's military 
presence in Djibouti was not under threat, but noted Mrs. 
Borrel's skill in pressing her claims regarding her husband's 
death.  He said that DefMin Alliot-Marie planned to visit 
Djibouti and Yemen at the end of February but he could offer 
no details.  Mrs. Borrel continues to press her case 
aggressively and has initiated legal action against the MFA 
for its alleged interference in the ongoing investigation of 
her husband's death.  END SUMMARY. 
 
MFA COMMENTS 
------------ 
2.  (C)  Embassy Africa watcher met February 14 with 
Jean-Christophe Belliard, MFA DAS-equivalent for East Africa, 
to discuss the Borrel affair (refs A and B).  In response to 
Africa watcher's query about Foreign Minister Farah's health 
(ref C), Belliard noted that Farah had been scheduled to meet 
with FM Barnier February 17 to discuss the full range of 
bilateral issues.  Farah's stroke, he said, had occurred at 
an inopportune time.  Belliard said that Farah was recovering 
but was likely to be in hospital for several weeks. 
 
3.  (C)  Turning to the Borrel affair, Belliard said that 
Djiboutian President Guellah is convinced that France is 
plotting to overthrow him and refuses to understand that the 
French judiciary and media are independent.  Belliard noted 
that Borrel's widow was well-connected and knew how to press 
her claims.  Belliard described the Borrel affair as an 
"irritant."  In response to our question, Belliard said that 
the French military presence in Djibouti was not under 
threat, but allowed that during the last crisis, in April 
2004, the Djiboutians, playing a "cat and mouse" game, had 
prevented French forces from training with live rounds and 
conducting overflights. 
 
4.  (C)  Belliard informed us that Defense Minister Michele 
Alliot-Marie would be visiting Djibouti (and Yemen) at the 
end of February.  The MFA, he noted wryly, had not been 
consulted by the MOD on the trip, so he could offer no 
information regarding what Alliot-Marie might say or do while 
in Djibouti.  Belliard said that a visit to Djibouti by a 
senior French official was possible following Djibouti's 
April 8 elections, but that nothing was currently planned. 
Expressing frustration, Belliard said that the Borrel affair, 
and Djibouti generally, were of more concern to the 
Presidency than the MFA because of French military interests. 
 At the MFA, he said, many wondered why France maintained its 
military presence in Djibouti and paid "100 times" more 
attention to Djibouti than to Ethiopia. 
 
BACKGROUND AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BORREL CASE 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
5.  (SBU)  BACKGROUND:  Bernard and Elisabeth Borrel, both 
French magistrates, went to Djibouti in April 1994, when he 
was assigned to help reform Djibouti's code of criminal 
procedure.  Bernard Borrel's immolated corpse was discovered 
at the foot of a cliff 80 kms from the city of Djibouti on 
October 19, 1995, after he had withdrawn money from his 
French bank and purchased several liters of gasoline.  Two 
letters were discovered near the body, the first describing 
to Elisabeth the bank transaction and the second listing his 
creditors and explaining how best to sell his collection of 
military medals.  After a period of investigation involving 
French and Djiboutian authorities, Borrel's death was ruled a 
suicide, as outlined in a report of September 21, 1999, which 
also referred to Elisabeth's having allegedly not been 
truthful with investigators.  Investigators also noted that 
the topography of the site where the body was found made it 
impossible for a third party to have placed the body there. 
 
6.  (SBU)  BACKGROUND CONT'D:  Elisabeth Borrel has 
maintained that the death was not suicide but rather homicide 
and has pursued the case vigorously after overcoming the 
initial shock of his death.  Forensic evidence supporting her 
claim reportedly includes evidence suggesting that the 
judge's skull was fractured and that one arm was broken, 
indicating a defensive wound incurred in self-defense against 
a blow by a heavy object.  This evidence, she and her 
supporters claim, was somehow overlooked during the autopsy 
(the results of which she was not provided until much later) 
and investigations following the death.  Elisabeth has 
reportedly been harassed as she has pressed her case over the 
years, and has received anonymous and threatening letters, 
one of which contained a cigarette lighter as a reminder of 
the way her husband died. 
 
7.  (SBU)  BACKGROUND CONT'D:  Elisabeth Borrel's concerns 
about the case and her determination have led to formal 
judicial proceedings to investigate her husband's death, with 
support from a magistrate (Sophie Clement) and Elisabeth's 
attorneys and advisors.  The most recent court decision, 
which appears to be the immediate cause of the current 
controversy over the case, took place on January 10, when the 
court in Versailles ordered that Djibouti's secret service 
chief, Hassan Said, testify as part of the court's 
investigation.  The investigation is now reportedly focused 
on Hassan Said, chief prosecutor Djama Suleiman, and other 
senior Djiboutian officials, involving the suborning of 
perjury during earlier investigations.  The perjury 
accusation concerns the testimony of a former chief of 
Djibouti's presidential guard unit and another witness, who 
are said to be in hiding in Belgium. 
8.  (SBU)  DJIBOUTIAN EXPULSIONS/MFA's JAN 29 STATEMENT:  In 
possible retaliation for the judicial order that Hassan Said 
testify in the case, the Djiboutian government expelled six 
French aid workers in January and on January 21 closed Radio 
France Internationale's broadcast facility in Djibouti.  The 
MFA spokesman responded on January 29 to these events, 
stating that France "noted with regret" Djibouti's decision 
to expel the aid workers, who were active in the health, 
education, public security, and rural development sectors. 
The spokesman commented on the "excellent cooperation" 
provided by Djibouti's authorities and its judicial system, 
which had always demonstrated "all necessary transparency" in 
working with French authorities investigating Borrel's death. 
 
9.  (SBU)  MFA'S JAN 29 STATEMENT CONT'D:  The spokesman 
continued:  "French magistrates have gone to Djibouti several 
times . . . and had always benefited from the entire 
cooperation of Djibouti's authorities, who had assured them 
access to the necessary sites, documents, and witnesses." 
Addressing speculation by the press, the spokesman added 
that, regarding certain documents that had been declassified, 
"contrary to what may have been written recently in certain 
newspapers, nothing in these documents leads one to conclude 
that there was any involvement on the part of Djiboutian 
authorities."  The spokesman said that "in response to the 
request of Djiboutian authorities, a copy of the file 
concerning the death of Judge Borrel will be provided in due 
course to the justice authorities of Djibouti, in order to 
permit competent authorities of that country to decide 
whether to open a judicial process on this subject." 
(Djiboutian justice officials on October 20, 2004, had 
requested a copy of the entire French file on the case.) 
 
10.  (SBU)  SYMPATHETIC PRESS:  The result of the expulsions 
and the MFA's statement led to several prominent and 
sympathetic press reports reviving and reviewing the case and 
detailing Elisabeth Borrel's efforts to have it investigated 
and to overturn the ruling that her husband's death was a 
suicide.  The press notes that Elisabeth is now suffering 
from cancer and raising the couple's two children on her own. 
 
11.  (SBU)  ACTION AGAINST MFA:  Apparently not satisfied 
with the MFA's January 29 statement, Elisabeth Borrel filed a 
judicial complaint against the MFA on February 7, accusing 
the ministry of applying pressure on the judge (Sophie 
Clement) overseeing the case when the MFA spokesman said that 
the Borrel file would be provided to Djiboutian authorities, 
in effect "short circuiting" the judicial process.  A Paris 
court on February 1 said that it was "evaluating the 
feasibility of responding to the Djiboutian request."  One of 
Borrel's lawyers said that the MFA statement was 
"intolerable," and the magistrate's union stated that "the 
Quai d'Orsay wants to preserve good relations with Djibouti 
and is striking a blow at the independence of the justice 
system."  The MFA did not respond directly to Borrel's 
February 7 legal action but indicated that it would stand 
behind its January 29 statement. 
 
12.  (SBU)  JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE:  On February 8, the Paris 
court reviewing Djibouti's request for the Borrel case file 
indicated that it would not agree to transmit the file to 
Djiboutian authorities, stating that it would "evaluate what 
may follow this refusal." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
13.  (C)  Based on Elisabeth Borrel's commitment to this 
case, the favorable attention the press is giving her, and 
the French judiciary's eagerness to preserve its 
independence, we do not expect that this matter will 
disappear soon, however much MFA and other GOF officials may 
want to downplay it and suggest that it is an "irritant" with 
little effect on France's military presence in Djibouti. 
While Belliard notes the Djiboutians' inability to recognize 
the independent nature of the French judiciary, it would seem 
that the MFA, in its January 29 statement, also did not fully 
take into account the judiciary's interests and independence 
when it promised to provide the Borrel file to Djibouti.  Now 
that the case has reached into the upper levels of the 
Djiboutian government, it could, depending on Elisabeth 
Borrel's and the French judiciary's next actions, begin to 
become more than an "irritant."  END COMMENT. 
Leach