Colombo Plan: Action Request on proposed

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002016

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, IO/T

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR AORC CE IO
SUBJECT: Colombo Plan: Action Request on proposed
amendment

Refs: (A) Colombo-SA/INS 11-20-03 class email

- (B) Colombo 1991
- (C) SA/INS-Colombo 11-18-03 class email
- (D) State 314650
- (E) Colombo 1850 (All Notal)

(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (U) This is an Action Request -- Please see Para 4.


2. (C) BACKGROUND: Ambassador and poloff attended a
special session of the Colombo Plan Council held on
November 18 to address pressing matters in the wake of
the postponed 39th Consultative Committee Meeting (CCM).
(Ref B provides a readout of decisions made on key
issues at the November 18 meeting.) One item on the
agenda pertained to a proposed amendment to the Colombo
Plan constitution, which involves withholding training
opportunities from member states who are four or more
years in arrears of membership dues. A November 17
request to the Department for guidance yielded a
response of non-support for the proposed amendment (Ref
C).


3. (C) The somewhat convoluted history of this proposed
amendment is as follows:

-- When the 38th CCM met in July 2001, the Colombo Plan
Council submitted the initial iteration of the proposed
amendment in an effort to emphasize the fiscal
responsibility of each state and the vital contribution
that the annual dues (14,500 USD/member) make to the
administration of the Secretariat. (N.B., these dues
cover only Secretariat costs; all programs are funded by
voluntary contributions.) At that time, the draft
amendment proposed the suspension of membership for
states with membership payments in arrears of four or
more years. The suspension would continue until the
arrears were fully or partially paid. (Note: At
present, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and
Indonesia are each in arrears for four or more years,
and would be subject to any penalties.)

-- At the July 2001 meeting, member states, including
the U.S., deemed the suspension of membership too strict
a penalty and referred the matter back to the Council
for further consultation.

-- A Working Group of Council members was subsequently
convened, meeting in November 2001 and February 2002 to
address member states' concerns with the proposed
amendment. The Working Group's conclusion was that the
proposed suspension of membership penalty should be
reduced to a ban from training opportunities until the
arrears were paid in full or partially. At the April
2002 Council meeting, the Council, without U.S.
objection, decided to present the revised amendment to
the 39th CCM, scheduled for April 2003. (Note: A copy
of the proposed amendment was sent to SA/INS in Ref A.)

-- At the November 18 special session, the majority of
member states were in support of the revised amendment
revoking access to training opportunities as the only
penalty. (Note: The 39th CCM for April 2003 was
postponed -- see Ref B -- and its agenda items were
discussed at the November 18 meeting.) The members
further supported a request by Indonesia that the
penalty not be implemented until March 2004, thus giving
states in arrears time to pay. In discussions on the
subject, the Secretary-General stressed that training
privileges would be restored as soon as a partial
payment ("even 10 USD") of arrears was received by the
Secretariat. The U.S., per Ref (C),indicated that it

SIPDIS
could not support the proposed amendment. It advised
the Council, however, that in light of the Secretary-
General's comments and the strong expression of support
by other member states for the proposal, that it would
consult further with Washington. The Colombo Plan
President then tabled the item, pending the U.S. review.

-- In a conversation after the November 18 meeting, the
Indonesian representative told us that his government
was prepared to pay some of its arrears by the
March 2004 implementation date. END BACKGROUND.


4. ACTION REQUEST: The Council has spent extensive
time and effort to address the issue of non-paying
members in a way that the majority of member states now
supports. The U.S. had not previously objected to the
proposed action. The Colombo Plan Secretary-General, in
his remarks, underscored that member states should face
the consequence of not paying dues and the proposed
amendment represented the most flexible penalty option.
Given this, Mission requests that the Department
reevaluate its position of non-support for the proposed
Colombo Plan amendment. END ACTION REQUEST.


5. (U) Minimize considered.

LUNSTEAD