FINLAND: CHR RESOLUTION ON GUANTANAMO

UNCLAS HELSINKI 000463

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/NB, IO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND: CHR RESOLUTION ON GUANTANAMO

REF: SECSTATE 69823


1. (SBU) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to Johanna
Suurpaa, Director of the MFA's Human Rights Unit and
Finland's CHR Coordinator. Suurpaa said that she understood
the U.S. position and believed that under no circumstances
would any EU country support the Cuban resolution. She said
that the fact that the U.S. pledge not to call for no-action
was appreciated, since Finland would have had to oppose any
such U.S. move on principle. Suurpaa told Poloff that the EU
was working toward a common position, but that none had been
agreed as of mid-day Wednesday, April 20. She said that for
Finland, the most important issue was securing a common EU
approach.


2. (SBU) Suurpaa went on to opine that the Cubans had used
a smart approach when drafting their resolution. She said
that it was written with a view toward splitting the U.S. and
EU, and contained language about visitations, etc., that was
lifted almost verbatim from EU sources; this made it
difficult for the EU to reject the Cuban gambit outright.
Suurpaa said that she believed the EU countries might abstain
and release a statement supporting the "positive elements" in
the resolution (visitations, etc.),but pointing out that the
resolution seemed politically motivated, and that the Cuban
position was inconsistent since Cuba itself violated the very
principles it claimed to support. Finally, she said that the
Cubans in Geneva had already reserved a large room for a
press conference in anticipation of, among other things,
"blasting" EU countries for using a double standard by
refraining from criticizing the United States over
Guantanamo.
MACK