UNGA 59: DUTCH CAUTION ON CLONING, DEMOCRACY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001799

SIPDIS

IO FOR LAGON; DRL FOR KOZAK; GENEVA FOR DELAURENTIS; USUN
FOR SIV, TAMLYN, SPIRNAK, ZACK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2014
TAGS: ECON PHUM KDEM AORC NL UNGA UN
SUBJECT: UNGA 59: DUTCH CAUTION ON CLONING, DEMOCRACY
CAUCUS, MIDDLE EAST

REF: A. STATE 152009

B. THE HAGUE 1737

Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY ANDREW SCHOFER, POLCOUNS, FOR
REASONS 1.4 B AND D


1. (U) SUMMARY: IO DAS Lagon shared Reftel A points with
Karel van Kesteren, Director of UN affairs at the MFA, on
July 12. Poloff followed up on July 14 to get additional
reactions and to receive a review of the EU's own paper
(reported septel).


2. (C) The Dutch would support a ban on reproductive cloning
but oppose the USG's sweeping opposition to all types of
cloning. The Dutch support the theories behind the Democracy
Caucus and are cautiously willing to learn more about how it
might work in practice. Reducing Middle East resolutions in
the current climate, however welcome, will not happen.
Despite its merits, a stand-alone Anti-Semitism Resolution
would conflict with the broader, established resolution on
Religious Intolerance, according to the Dutch. Trafficking
in persons is an area for collaboration, particularly
relating to children. So is "advancing economic freedom," a
politically-charged formulation the Dutch prefer rendering as
"private sector development." End Summary.

SUPPORTIVE ON ADVANCING ECONOMIC FREEDOM


3. (SBU) Van Kesteren agreed completely with reftel points
on Advancing Economic Freedom, although he preferred the
title "private sector development." The latter seemed less
threatening or politically charged to those we are trying to
convince, he said. UN diplomats from some major developing
countries seem stuck in a time warp, he noted, arguing
against reftel points using old political theories discounted
by finance and foreign ministers at home. Now that there was
consensus around reftel points, as demonstrated by the
Monterrey Consensus and other agreements, van Kesteren said
we needed to find ways to help such Ministeries get the word
to their UN diplomats in New York.

SUPPORT FOR COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS


4. (U) DAS Lagon emphasized that this year, the USG would
focus on stopping the exploitation of children and work for a
resolution in addition to the Philippines resolution on
trafficking. Van Kesteren said that focusing on children
would be useful and would pose no problem for the Dutch since
it fell outside our differences regarding the sex business
for adults.

SKEPTICAL ABOUT PROMOTING THE DEMOCRACY CAUCUS


5. (SBU) As reported Ref B, the Dutch are warily
interested, albeit with a "degree of skepticism" in the
Democracy Caucus DC) and are considering if and how to be
engaged in New York. Van Kesteren told Poloff he was
somewhat relieved by our explanation that the DC would
augment, not replace, established UN groups.

NO SUPPORT FOR BANNING ALL HUMAN CLONING


6. (C) The Dutch regret that our effort (supporting the
Costa Rican text) covers both reproductive and therapeutic
cloning. Van Kesteren said he was certain the UN could get
action banning human cloning if it were taken up separately.
He predicted UNGA deadlock again this year, prompting the
suggestion that a subsequent move to UNESCO's Bioethics
Committee might be a way to get it off the UNGA agenda. A
measure that might be passed by a only narrow majority would
not be useful, he said. The Dutch see merit in delaying
discussions until after the US elections, he added.

NO REDUCTION IN MIDDLE EAST RESOLUTIONS AND ANTISEMITISM
RESOLUTION UNLIKELY


7. (C) The USG would "run into our own wall at the UN this
year" on Middle East resolutions, van Kesteren said. The
Dutch have consulted with the Palestinians in New York, who
refuse to go along with consolidation since multiple actions
"were one of their only ways of getting back at Israel." It
might be possible to look at the UNRWA resolutions, however.
A dedicated Resolution on Anti-Semitism in the Third
Committee would be too hard to pull off, he said, and the EU
wants to ensure passage of the Religious Intolerance
Resolution which has anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and
Christianophobia references in it. A stand-alone resolution
would accrete references to other forms of intolerance,
duplicating the other resolution, he concluded.

COMMENT


8. (C) The Dutch support half our UNGA proposals this year
and characterized all of them as drawn with a broad brush,
designed for politics and public consumption. We have good
friends in the Dutch who will tell us the truth as they see
it this year in New York, even if it is not always what we
want to hear.
RUSSEL