DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR UN HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 007194

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2013
TAGS: PHUM PREL OVIP DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR UN HUMAN
RIGHTS COMMISSION

REF: A. SANTO DOMINGO 6707


B. SANTO DOMINGO 4990

Classified By: ECOPOL COUNSELOR MICHAEL MEIGS FOR REASONS 1.5 (B/D)

SUMMARY


1. (U) DRL PDAS Ambassador Michael Kozak and DRL Office of
Multilateral Affairs Deputy Director Lynn Sicade visited the
Dominican Republic November 20-22 to build support for the UN
Commission on Human Rights, in which the GODR will
participate starting next year. Meetings with local
governmental and nongovernmental interlocutors provided
Ambassador Kozak with a broad sense of the Dominican
Republic's commitment to respect for human rights
internationally and domestically. The Dominican Government
pledged its support for UN human rights initiatives with a
particular emphasis on children's rights. Some Dominican
officials acknowledged the country's human rights concerns
with neighbor Haiti and asked Ambassador Kozak to communicate
those concerns to the USG. End Summary.

KOZAK VISIT: A POSITIVE FIRST STEP


2. (U) Ambassador Michael Kozak and Lynn Sicade met with
Ambassador Hertell and emboffs to reiterate close bilateral
collaboration regarding the Dominican Republic's upcoming
seat at the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR),scheduled
for March 2004. Ambassador Kozak explained how important it
will be to change UNCHR's current composition -- removing
undemocratic member governments -- and to request the GODR's
cooperation in that effort. He said region-wide support from
UNCHR members will be critical to push through resolutions
considered priority to the USG, for example on rights of the
child. Given the Dominican Republic's current emphasis on
protecting children (reftel B),the GODR could also
collaborate next year with the UN as it celebrates "The Year
of the Family."

TAKING HUMAN RIGHTS TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL


3. (SBU) Ambassador Kozak and Sicade met with President
Mejia's sister and brother-in-law, Chavela and Sergio
Grullon, to deliver the message about the Dominican
Republic's UNCHR participation at the highest levels. As
President of the National Council on Children and Adolescents
(CONANI),Chavela Grullon has been prominently promoting
children's rights. Secretary of the Presidency Sergio
Grullon serves as one of President Mejia's closest advisers.
Both said they would share USG concerns about the UNCHR with
President Mejia. Both were also proud of the GODR's recent
efforts against trafficking in persons and strengthening of
the Code on Minors. Chavela passionately recounted her
personal endeavors to protect children from trafficking and
poverty, including helping to raise street kids she had
rescued. She also seemed eager to encourage GODR sponsorship
of any UNCHR resolution on children's and family issues.
Chavela encouraged Ambassador Kozak and the Embassy to use
the good offices of her daughter, assigned recently to the
Dominican mission at the EU, to promote UNCHR objectives.

FOREIGN RELATIONS SECRETARIAT SUPPORTS UNCHR


4. (U) Senior officials at the Foreign Relations Secretariat
assured Ambassador Kozak of GODR support of USG objectives at
the UNCHR. Meeting participants included:
Ambassador Rhadys Abreu de Polanco, Deputy Director of
International Organizations Division and Human Rights Official
Ambassador Jorge Santiago, Legal Advisor and Director of
National Commission on Refugees
Ambassador Francia Sencion, Director of Americas Division
Ambassador Roger Espaillait, Director of North American
Affairs Office
Ambassador Maritza Guerrero, Trade Agreements Office


5. (U) The officials told us that the Foreign Relations
Secretariat had worked diligently to establish an

SIPDIS
inter-institutional commission on human rights, which would
be announced soon by presidential decree. Ambassador
Santiago said this initiative embodied their belief that
promoting human rights was everyone's responsibility, not
just the Secretariat's. Ambassador Kozak congratulated the
officials said he hoped other countries could follow the
Dominican Republic's example. He also thanked the GODR for
its support on the Canadian-sponsored UNGA resolution on Iran
and the US candidate for the UN Committee on the Elimination
of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) (reftel A).


6. (U) Sicade went into more detail about disputes over
technical language in certain conventions. She said, for
example, that the USG did not favor ratifying the convention
on the rights of the child because it contains the phrase
"the standard" versus "a standard." Meeting participants
appeared to understand that the USG, when it questions
linguistic technicalities in international conventions, does
not mean to jeopardize their spirit or objectives, but rather
aims to avoid conflict with pre-existing U.S. laws.
Ambassador Kozak emphasized that all signatory countries to
international conventions or resolutions should verify that
domestic compliance mechanisms are already in place.
Participants agreed that states must create the necessary
conditions in which citizens can exercise their human rights.

OFF THE RECORD WITH JOURNALISTS


7. (U) In an off-the-record briefing for prominent print and
television journalists, Ambasssdor Kozak reiterated the USG's
desire to coordinate closely with the GODR during its UNCHR
membership and reviewed our desire to streamline UNCHR
procedures to make it a more effective proponent of human
rights in undemocratic countries. The journalists asked
about USG concerns over human rights issues in the Dominican
Republic, such as murders by police. Emboffs referred to the
country report on human rights and commented on a recent
reduction of those killings. A prominent newspaper editor
asked whether President Mejia's announced intent to seek
re-election next year was undermining foreign confidence in
the GODR. Emboff replied that the USG expected the election
to be free, fair, transparent, and clean -- in line with the
past two presidential elections here -- and that
international and domestic observers would provide the
necessary confidence in the election process.

COMMENT AND RECOMMENDATION


8. (C) The GODR is open to cooperation with us in the UN
context, but also is inclined to join consensus in regional
groupings such as GRULAC or the Rio Group. To achieve the
USG goal of prior coordination on UNCHR resolutions, we will
need to go in early to discuss specific draft texts and
solicit the support of the GODR before it commits to regional
positions that might differ from ours.
KUBISKE