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