TANZANIA: COUNTRY SPECIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 001822 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT AF/E FOR B YODER ALSO FOR IO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM UNGA TZ SUBJECT: TANZANIA: COUNTRY SPECIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTIONS AT UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE REF: STATE 182267 ¶1. (U) Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, Director of the Multilateral Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told PolCouns November 8 that Tanzania would consider each of the Third Committee country specific resolutions on Iran, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Burma and North Korea on its own merits. Mulamula indicated that on the Iran, Uzbekistan, and North Korean resolutions, Tanzania might follow its 2005 voting pattern. (Note: In 2005, Tanzania abstained on these resolutions.) However, she said the GOT would not make its decision until completing a thorough study of each resolution's draft language. ¶2. (SBU) Regarding the Belarus and Burma resolutions, Mulamula did not indicate how Tanzania might vote. PolCouns reiterated that President Kikwete had told Ambassador Retzer in their September 11 meeting that the treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy activists in Burma amounted to "torture." In addition, since that date the human rights situation had further deteriorated with the prison death of Thet Wing Aung on October 16. ¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Mulamula remarked that the GOT believes that the new Human Rights Council rather than the UNGA Third Committee is the proper forum to address country specific human rights violations. Mulamula stressed that any resolution the new Council endorsed would "also have the teeth to implement change" and encouraged the United States to give the Human Rights Council "a chance to do its work." PolCouns noted that to date the Council has been reluctant to respond to ongoing human rights violations, making it all more urgent that the UNGA maintain its long-standing practice to issue such resolutions. RETZER