UN HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTIONS NEED SUPPORT IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 003086 SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO TRAVELING NEA/ARPI DAS PHILO DIBBLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2014 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL IR YM DEMARCHE HUMAN RIGHTS SUBJECT: UN HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTIONS NEED SUPPORT IN PLENARY DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: A. STATE 259878 ¶B. STATE 236869 ¶C. SANAA 2861 Classified By: DCM Nabeel Khoury for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (U) Pol/Econ Chief delivered ref A demarche to Deputy Foreign Minister Mustafa Noman on December 13. Ref B demarche was delivered November 9 (ref C). ¶2. (C) Noman said he received the same demarche from the Dutch December 13. The DFM confided that he agreed with the USG position on both the Canadian-sponsored Third Committee Resolution (ref B),as well as to abstain on a no action motion in the Plenary (ref A). Noman said he would lobby the ROYG to abstain, but could not promise results. ¶2. (C) Deputy FM Noman said he had fought against Yemen's decision to switch its usual Third Committee vote from abstention to a 'no' vote in the 2003 and again this year, arguing that it was inconsistent with Yemen's position on human rights. Noman claimed he did not know the reason for the change in policy, but that the decision to vote against the resolution was made jointly by Foreign Minister al-Qirbi and Prime Minister Bajammal. ¶3. (SBU) What Noman referred to as a "change in policy" from previous votes may be overstating the case. In the 56th UNGA, Yemen did not actually abstain but was 'absent' from the Third Committee vote and on the Turkmenistan and Iran votes the ROYG 'refused to vote,' stating that "politicization of human rights issues, using them as a tool to target specific States while ignoring others" is rejected by Yemen as a double standard." KRAJESKI