NETHERLANDS/EU/ASEM: EU CONDEMNS BURMESE HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 002676

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR AND EAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2014
TAGS: PREL EU PHUM BM VM NL ARF
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/EU/ASEM: EU CONDEMNS BURMESE HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AT ASEM

REF: HANOI 2795

Classified By: POL Counselor Andrew Schofer for reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (SBU) Summary: Dutch MFA contacts have expressed relief
that the October 7-9 ASEM summit in Hanoi proceeded smoothly.
After months of negotiating the related issues of Burmese
participation and EU sanctions, the summit itself was
relatively "boring," according to one interlocutor. Only EU
remarks condemning the human rights situation in Burma and
the Burmese response were not pre-choreographed, and the fact
that Luxembourg PM Juncker stepped in for the ailing Dutch PM
Balkenende had no apparent impact on the substance or tone of
the event. End Summary.


2. (C) MFA Director of Asian Affairs Robert Milders told
poloff October 14 that the Dutch were satisfied with the
results of the October 7-9 ASEM summit in Hanoi. He said
that FM Bot had gone to ASEM with a primary intention of
speaking out about the Burmese political and human rights
situation, and that the delegation had been satisfied with
the paragraph about Burma that ultimately appeared in the
ASEM Chairman's Statement (see reftel). Beyond that, he
said, the meetings had been mostly "boring" as everything
other than the exchange about Burma the whole meeting had
been pre-negotiated. Separately, Milders told POLCOUNS that
his biggest worry in the leadup to the ASEM Summit had been
how to handle the last-minute substitution of Luxembourg PM
Juncker for Dutch PM Balkenende in the EU Presidency seat.
Milders said that he had had to draw on his 30-plus years of
diplomatic experience to convince FM Bot and others in the
ministry that this development would not undermine their
position or disrupt the carefully choreographed Dutch
strategy for the meetings. In the end, however, the
substitution worked without a hitch.


3. (C) On October 13, MFA Asia Department officer Bernard
Kelkas provided additional details of the Burma discussions
at the summit. Kelkas said that Juncker made a statement in
the opening session of the summit condemning Burma's internal
political and human rights situation, which was "followed on"
by Dutch FM Bot and then representatives from the EC, Sweden,
UK, Czech Republic, Latvia, and Ireland. Participants
condemned Burmese handling of the National Convention and
treatment of National League for Democracy, called for the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners,
and pushed the Burmese to allow entry to the Special
Representative of the Secretary General and NGOs. While the
majority of Asian members did not comment on the issue, the
Japanese Prime Minister reportedly asked Burma to make a
"more serious effort" as a member of ASEM to deal with human
rights concerns. Burmese representative U Tin Winn responded
that Burma is following its "Seven Step Roadmap to Democracy"
but argued that it is a "delicate process." He asked other
states not to "rock the boat" by applying sanctions. Winn
further commented that the NLD "was invited" to participate
in the reconciliation process, but had chosen not to
participate and instead "had chosen to live in a cocoon."


4. (C) According to Kelkas, during the same trip's
Ministerial meeting with China, FM Bot asked the Chinese FM
to continue pressuring Burma. China reportedly responded
that it was prepared to do so, and also felt that ASEAN
should continue to press Burma for change.


5. (C) In a separate meeting with POLCOUNS on October 14,
Jaap Werner, Director of the MFA's Political Affairs
Department, expressed satisfaction that the October 11 GAERC
meeting had moved quickly to impose additional sanctions on
Burma in response to the Burmese government's failure to make
any progress on human rights. Werner stressed that the Dutch
Presidency had worked hard to ensure that the EU presented a
united front at the ASEM summit, and had then pushed the
GAERC to adopt the new measures "automatically" rather than
leaving the issue open to additional discussion.
SOBEL