JORDAN RED CRESCENT PROPOSES STRATEGY TO ADOPT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001199 SIPDIS DEPT FOR PRM, EUR AND NEA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2015 TAGS: PREL KPAL IS JO SUBJECT: JORDAN RED CRESCENT PROPOSES STRATEGY TO ADOPT ADDITIONAL THIRD PROTOCOL TO THE GENEVA CONVENTION REF: A. STATE 20826 (NOTAL) ¶B. STATE 15184 ¶C. BERN 183 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David Hale per 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The President of the Jordanian Red Crescent Society, currently Chair of the Standing Commission of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, Dr. Mohammed Al Hadid, remains committed to solving the issue of Israeli National Society membership during his current term of office. He supports the proposal to reconvene the aborted diplomatic conference originally scheduled for October 2000 that would have established a new "red crystal" protective emblem, but he cautioned that the Swiss would be unwilling to commit to a new date unless they are satisfied that strong support exists among stakeholders. Dr. Al Hadid believes that Switzerland may be inadvertently downgrading the issue by failing to appoint a Commissioner to explore the diplomatic conference idea in capitals. He also suggested a series of specific confidence-building measures that the Standing Commission and the American Red Cross could take, starting with his own effort at an upcoming March meeting of the Arab Assembly of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) As instructed ref. A, A/DCM and Amman-based regional refcoord met Jordan Red Crescent Society President Dr. Mohammed Al Hadid February 9 to solicit his views on our renewed effort to persuade Switzerland to convene a diplomatic conference to conclude negotiations on the draft Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions. Dr. Al Hadid stressed at the outset that he has remained committed to solving the long-standing issue of Israeli National Society membership, explaining that he took three steps after he was elected President of the Standing Commission in late 2003 to send a strong signal that the issue "remained alive in spite of the fact the Commission was headed by a Muslim": -- In January 2004 Al Hadid created the ad hoc subsidiary Standing Commission "Emblem Working Group," ensuring that a range of National Societies from the region (i.e., Egypt, Syria and Iran) were members and that the working group itself was chaired by an individual with strong knowledge of the region (i.e., retired French Ambassador to Cairo Phillip Couvilier); -- Al Hadid also pushed the Commission to change its constitution to enable Israel's National Society, the Magen David Adom Movement (MDA),to immediately join its substantive subsidiary bodies (the Israeli National Society is now a member of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement's Health Commission); -- Finally Al Hadid has been meeting with MDA "four to five" times a year in Jerusalem and Amman to help ensure it is in full conformity with the international Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement's statutes so that there is no additional obstacle to its formal inclusion once the issue of the Additional Third Protocol is finally resolved. ¶3. (C) Turning to the issue of the proposed diplomatic conference, Al Hadid predicted that the Swiss would not agree to convene it unless they were first convinced that "everyone is interested." He stressed that the Swiss "have a phobia about failure," and noted that they only agreed to the October 2000 conference because they had first held a pre-meeting in Geneva to discuss the draft third protocol in depth. (NOTE: Al Hadid suggested adopting that same two-stage format because there are "many new players unfamiliar with the draft after four years" who could create "surprises" if a conference was held without preparatory work. END NOTE.) Al Hadid also thought that ground work would have to be done to build the level of support the Swiss are likely seeking. ¶4. (C) Al Hadid suggested pursuing confidence-building measures simultaneously with States Parties and with National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies. For the former, Al Hadid urged the USG to press Switzerland to appoint a Commissioner to discuss the draft Additional Third Protocol in capitals, as it had done back in the run-up to the 2000 conference. Al Hadid argued that Switzerland's decision to hand the emblem portfolio to a desk level official at its MFA was sending a negative signal to governments that need to be engaged directly given that the Additional Third Protocol is a "political" issue. ¶5. (C) For the latter, Al Hadid thought the Arab National Societies (but not Iran) might actively oppose the conference. He suggested that the best means to secure their support would be to hold a joint meeting of the Arab Assembly of the Red Cross/Red Crescent and the Arab League in advance of any meeting in Geneva. Al Hadid told us that he was already working to build consensus among regional National Societies ahead of the annual meeting of the Arab Assembly of the Red Cross/Red Crescent which will convene March 21-22 in Riyadh. He explained that he had asked Phillip Couvilier and the Egyptian and Syrian Emblem Working Group representatives to meet in Amman at the end of the month to urge them to use the results of the Sharm el Sheik Conference to revive the third protocol issue. Al Hadid thought that the current prospects for Arab support were positive; he promised to share the results of his small Emblem Group meeting with post at the end of the month. ¶6. (SBU) Al Hadid also argued that the American Red Cross (ARC) could build significant support for MDA membership by establishing direct contact between Arab National Socities and MDA representatives. He explained that through his personal contact MDA had offered to conduct capacity building programs in Jordan, changing the attitude of some of his own Jordan Red Crescent doctors by equipping 40 Red Crescent hospitals in Jordan with new intensive care units in 2004. Given the current focus on building systems to address international disasters, Al Hadid suggested that ARC host a Red Cross/Red Crescent conference on earthquake relief in Turkey and invite Arab National Societies, as well as MDA, to participate. HALE