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Viewing cable 09PARIS264, S/WCI AMBASSADOR WILLIAMSON DISCUSSES GUANTANAMO
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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
09PARIS264 | 2009-02-20 16:04 | 2010-11-30 16:04 | SECRET//NOFORN | Embassy Paris |
VZCZCXYZ0009
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHFR #0264/01 0511653
ZNY SSSSS ZZH (CCY AD3230EB MSI1033-695)
O 201653Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5580
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
S E C R E T PARIS 000264
NOFORN
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS PTER PHUM KAWK KISL KPAO FR
SUBJECT: S/WCI AMBASSADOR WILLIAMSON DISCUSSES GUANTANAMO
BAY DETAINEES WITH FRENCH OFFICIALS
REF: A. SECSTATE 6516
¶B. PARIS 00119
¶C. PARIS 02016
¶D. VILNIUS 88
Classified By: POL MC Kathleen H. Allegrone for reasons 1.4 (B & D).
¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: S/WCI Ambassador Williamson met with
French MFA officials on February 16 to discuss detainee
issues, France's role in the EU process and possible
resettlement of Guantanamo Bay detainees in France.
Williamson noted that France has a unique role to play in
formulating a process within the European Union (EU) to
accept detainees and helping assuage the concerns of member
states that might stymie EU consensus on the issue. Foreign
Ministry Director of Communications and spokesman Eric
Chevallier reiterated France's willingness to assist the U.S.
on this issue (ref b and c), but noted that the GOF position
was "very clear": detainees would be reviewed on a
case-by-case basis; the detainee had to specifically request
resettlement in France; and France would need full
information on interested detainees to review any security
and judicial implications. Chevallier said the GOF supports
an open EU process that would allow decisions to be made on a
national basis, similar to what current EU president the
Czech Republic has proposed. The most important issue, he
said, would be addressing concerns among Schengen countries.
Williamson said the U.S. is aware of the complexities of the
Schengen issue and pledges to work with EU partners as they
address these concerns. Chevallier said the GOF was also
concerned about recent USG talks with Lithuania on detainees
(ref d). France, he cautioned, was standing firm on the
necessity of an EU process before implementation of bilateral
agreements between the USG and EU member states on the
matter. Williamson noted that recent public pledges by
Lithuania to accept Guantanamo detainees were the result of
almost two years of talks, and that Lithuania has been firm
that implementation of an agreement to accept detainees would
occur only after agreement of a common EU position.
¶2. (S/NF) SUMMARY CONTINUED: Chevallier noted French concern
that former detainees, after being released from Guantanamo,
could return to or become involved in terrorist activities.
Williamson noted that of the approximately 60 detainees for
whom the U.S. was seeking resettlement all had been
previously approved for transfer. Chevallier asked if there
were any USG plans to transfer detainees to other parts of
the U.S. without the promise of a swift trial and if the U.S.
was going to accept some of these low-risk detainees.
Chevallier claimed that the more information France had
regarding these issues the better able it would be to
persuade the French public and other EU member states by
highlighting U.S. efforts to resettle the detainees.
Williamson replied that the interagency review process headed
by the Attorney General would try to answer these and other
questions regarding the detainees. Chevallier gave his
support to help with future meetings on this issue with the
French ministries of justice and the interior. END SUMMARY.
¶3. (SBU) S/WCI Ambassador Clint Williamson met on February 16
with French MFA advisors to the foreign minister Eric
Chevallier and Sylvie Pantz, as well as with MFA Desk Officer
for Strategic Affairs Camille Petit. Charg Mark Pekala,
Embassy poloff and Shaun Coughlin (S/WCI) also participated.
Detainees: French Open to Helping U.S.
--------------------------------------
¶4. (S/NF) In response to President Obama's January 22
Executive Order to close detention facilities at Guantanamo
Bay Naval Base (ref a), French FM Kouchner publicly gave his
support to review the idea of accepting detainees deemed not
to be a security risk (ref b). S/WCI Ambassador Williamson
followed up with advisors to the French foreign minister on
February 16 to seek GOF cooperation on the resettlement of
Guantanamo detainees. Williamson noted that President Obama
and Secretary Clinton strongly believe closing the detention
center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is a critical foreign policy
issue facing the USG. Secretary Clinton asked Williamson to
meet with European partners to explain the USG position on
this matter since the change of administration. Williamson
thanked France for its help on this issue, noting that France
has a unique role to play in formulating a process within the
European Union (EU) to accept detainees and helping assuage
the concerns of member states that might stymie EU consensus
on the issue.
¶5. (S/NF) Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier
reiterated France's willingness to assist the U.S. on this
issue (ref b and c), but clarified the GOF position:
detainees would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis; the
detainee had to specifically request resettlement in France;
and France would need full information on interested
detainees in order to review any security and judicial
implications. Chevallier said the GOF was "happy, in
principal" that the prison would be closed, but noted that
any agreement by France to accept detainees could not be
centered on discussions of "numbers" (i.e., France, and other
EU members, cannot be told they have to accept a specific
number of detainees).
French Stress Importance of Common EU Position
--------------------------------------------- -
¶6. (S/NF) Chevallier said the GOF supports an open EU process
that would allow decisions to be made on a national basis,
similar to what the Czech Republic has been proposing. The
most important issue, he said, would be addressing concerns
among Schengen countries. Williamson said the U.S. was aware
of the complexities of the Schengen issue and pledged to work
with EU partners as they address these concerns. Williamson
said the USG was concerned about the potential for any EU
process to drag out, especially by EU member states that did
not want to accept detainees. The USG hopes that France
could play an important role to assuage these concerns.
Chevallier noted that while there would not be complete
consensus within the EU on whether to accept detainees the
GOF would push other EU member states to be more open. There
was room for EU evolution in a common position, he said.
Williamson also noted that EU members Ireland and Portugal
were wary of an EU process that did not allow for
flexibility, as what happened when both of these countries
were directed by the EU to take Palestinian militants
involved in the 2002 siege of the Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem. Chevallier said that Church of the Nativity
scenario was unlikely to happen again. Rather, a solution
such as what the Czechs were now proposing seemed more likely
as it hinged on flexibility.
¶7. (S/NF) Chevallier said the GOF was also concerned about
recent USG talks with Lithuania on the matter (ref d); he
hoped Williamson could provide him with more details on those
discussions. Regarding Lithuania, Williamson noted that
recent public statements by that government to accept
Guantanamo detainees were the result of almost two years of
talks. He said that Lithuania was interested in accepting
some of the Uzbek detainees because these detainees -- as was
deemed by the GOL -- could best fit into Lithuanian society
due to a common language and the presence of a large Uzbek
population in the country. Williamson clarified that the GOL
intended to implement a decision to accept these detainees
only once an EU framework had been agreed on. Williamson
also explained that the U.S. would continue to pursue
bilateral discussions with interested states as the EU
process progressed. He said that it would create inordinate
delays if bilateral discussions had to be put on hold until
the EU process was completed, and stressed that this was
entirely consistent with the preferred Czech approach of
creating a "permissive EU environment in which member states
could decide to accept detainees." Chevallier agreed that
this was a logical way forward.
Detainees: French Concerns about Security
-----------------------------------------
¶8. (S/NF) Sylvie Pantz said the GOF was concerned about the
reliability of information now available on detainees. She
said that the GOF would need as much case information as
possible in order to make a proper assessment. Pantz noted
that recent requests by the NGO community -- Reprieve and
Human Rights Watch -- to the GOF to accept detainees lacked
details, which made it difficult to verify claims of abuse
and assess security concerns. She was hoping the U.S. could
help fill these gaps. Williamson noted that a major change
within the Obama administration's approach was moving lead
responsibility for detainee status reviews from the
Department of Defense to the Department of Justice. The
Attorney General would now lead the interagency process.
Williamson said the process would ensure that all information
pertaining to a detainee was compiled in one place, that
fresh reviews of the material would take place in order to
determine prosecutability and that renewed threat assessments
would be undertaken. He said the USG was happy to facilitate
visits to Guantanamo to interview detainees who might be
resettled, as well as share medical and case records. So
far, he noted, there were 60 low-risk detainees who had been
previously approved for transfer and it was unlikely the
security assessment for these individuals would be raised,
although it was possible.
¶9. (S/NF) Pantz and Chevallier asked about recent reports of
detainees who, after being released, return to or become
involved in terrorist activities. Chevallier said there were
concerns in France that detainees determined to be low-risk
before entering Guantanamo could, depending on their
experiences in the detention center, pose serious risks to
security once released. Williamson said that out of the 525
detainees already released, over 500 returned to their home
countries. Forty to 60 of these individuals were thought to
have engaged in some sort of terrorist actions, ranging from
minor to larger acts, such as reports of detainees returning
to the battlefield in Iraq or Afghanistan. However, he
noted, all of these cases had been previously assessed as
higher risk, which was very different from the detainees for
whom the U.S. was now seeking to resettle. Williamson said
threat level assessments were based on the present state of
the detainee, taking into account interviews, psychiatric
evaluations and other reviews. He indicated that the one
other case of low-threat detainee resettlements, to Albania,
had gone well and that the eight former detainees had
assimilated to varying degrees into life there. Further,
France could be assured that the U.S. would share any
security concerns regarding the detainees with its friends
and allies.
French Questions about U.S. Plans to Resettle Detainees
--------------------------------------------- ----------
¶10. (S/NF) Chevallier asked if there were any USG plans to
transfer high-risk detainees to the U.S. without the promise
of a swift trial. He also asked if the U.S. was going to
accept some of the low-risk detainees. Chevallier noted that
more information France had regarding these issues the better
able it would be to persuade the French public and other EU
member states by highlighting U.S. efforts to find a solution
to the detainee issue. Williamson replied that the
interagency review process would try to answer these and
other questions regarding the detainees. That aside, he said
the Obama administration realizes it would be a bad idea to
simply move detainees from one place to another as it would
not adequately address the problem. Pantz asked whether
detainees who could not return home but were seeking to be
resettled would simply receive a wish list of potential
accepting countries. Williamson said the U.S. was looking
into options to establish links with potential accepting
nations and the detainee, such as what was recently done with
the Uzbeks and Lithuania, but clarified that the USG was
reluctant to simply ask detainees where they would like to go
as it could complicate the resettlement process.
Future Talks: Offer to Help
---------------------------
¶11. (S/NF) Chevallier suggested that for future visits
Williamson should also speak to representatives from the
French ministries of justice and the interior. He said the
MFA would take the lead on setting up these meetings for
Williamson,s next visit to France.
¶12. (U) SWCI Williamson has cleared this message.
PEKALA