HRC: SPECIAL SESSION ON PALESTINE \

2006-07-07 09:27:00 06GENEVA1673 US Mission Geneva CONFIDENTIAL 06BERN1253 VZCZCXRO1654\ PP RUEHSR\ DE RUEHGV #1673/01 1880927\ ZNY CCCCC ZZH\ P 070927Z JUL 06\ FM USMISSION GENEVA\ TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0318\ RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1478\ INFO RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY\ RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA PRIORITY 0475\ RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 1379\ RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 0951\ RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0185\ RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU PRIORITY 0151\ RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO PRIORITY 0053\ RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR PRIORITY 0516\ RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0382\ RUEHDJ/AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI PRIORITY 0202\ RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 4669\ RUEHLS/AMEMBASSY LUSAKA PRIORITY 0295\ RUEHMK/AMEMBASSY MANAMA PRIORITY 0121\ RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 0524\ RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 2340\ RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO PRIORITY 0281\ RUEHPL/AMEMBASSY PORT LOUIS PRIORITY 0210\ RUEHPG/AMEMBASSY PRAGUE PRIORITY 0687\ RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 4195\ RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 0370\ RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 0537\ RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 0659\ RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 3457\ RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 0459\ RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW PRIORITY 1189\ RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PRIORITY 0056 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GENEVA 001673 \ \ SIPDIS \ \ SIPDIS \ \ STATE FOR IO/RHS, DRL/MLA, L/HRR \ \ E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2016 \ TAGS: PHUM UNHRC SUBJECT: HRC: SPECIAL SESSION ON PALESTINE \ \ REF: A. A) BERN 1253 \ \ ¶B. B) GENEVA 1633 \ \ Classified By: Political Counselor Velia De Pirro. For reasons \ E.O. 12958, 1.4(b)(d). \ \ ¶1. (U) Summary: The Human Rights Council concluded its first \ Special Session on July 6 with the passage of a resolution \ entitled "Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian \ Territory" by a vote of 29-11-5. The resolution demands that \ Israel end its military operations in the OPT, abide by \ international humanitarian law and human rights law, and \ refrain from imposing collective punishment on Palestinian \ civilians. It also urges Israel to release arrested \ Palestinian ministers, members of the Palestinian Legislative \ Council, and all other arrested Palestinian civilians. It \ decides to dispatch an urgent fact-finding mission led by the \ Special Rapporteur on the situation in the human rights in \ the OPT, John Dugard. Swiss amendments intended to inject more \ balance into the resolution by calling on Palestinian armed \�0A;groups to respect IHL and observe the Geneva Conventions were \ in turn watered down by the OIC to refer to "all concerned \ parties" rather than "Palestinian armed groups," and were \ superceded by the passage of an OIC amendment by a vote of \ 28-0-17. End Summary. \ \ ¶2. (U) On July 6, the Human Rights Council concluded its \ Special Session on Palestine. The session, which started \ July 5 and had been scheduled to run only a few hours, was \ extended when Swiss Ambassador Blaise Godet, apparently on \ direct orders of FM Micheline Calmy-Rey, introduced at the \ last moment three amendments to the OIC draft resolution \ (ref B). \ \ ¶3. (U) The session opened with the presentation of the \ report by John Dugard, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights \ Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Dugard's \ statement blasted Israel's conduct as "morally indefensible," \ attacked the "economic sanctions" on the Palestinian people \ "imposed by the U.S.-controlled international banking system," \ and called for the withdrawal of the EU and the UN from the \ Quartet so that they could serve as "honest brokers" in a \ possible resumption of peace talks. The full text of Mr. \ Dugard's statement has been e-mailed to the Department. \ (Note: At a briefing June 22 by the International \ Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC),Dugard noted that his \ reports on developments in the OPT had been well-received, except by \ Israel and the U.S. He also commented that in the Third \ Committee, the U.S. typically complained that his reports \ were unbalanced, but when he asked the U.S. how, "the Americans \ have no further comment." End note.) \ \ ¶4. (SBU) The general debate opened with Pakistani Ambassador \ Masood Khan, on behalf of the OIC, criticizing the \ "disproportionate" Israeli attacks in Gaza and Israeli \ targeting of Palestinian institutions and infrastructure. \ Algeria, on behalf of the African Group, condemned Israeli \ \ GENEVA 00001673 002 OF 003 \ \ \ violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, \ and the arbitrary arrest and detention of Palestinian \ officials. The African Group also expressed its solidarity \ with the Palestinian people in the exercise of "its right to \ self-determination, to return to its lands, to recover its \ belongings, and to live in peace and dignity in an independent \ Palestinian State having Jerusalem as its capital." Mohammad \ Abu-Koash, Ambassador of the Palestine Observer Mission, \ rhetorically asked "is it self-defense to make an entire \ population suffer for one Israeli soldier, who was captured \ from a military base firing missiles against Palestinian \ civilians?" We later learned that the July 5 African Group \ meeting had been extremely contentious, with Nigeria, Kenya \ and other southern African delegations angered by what they \ perceived to be the insensitivity of the northern African \ delegations to the group's vulnerability on the question of \ Sudan and insistence on focusing on the Israel/OPT question \ at the expense of all others. \ \ ¶5. (U) The EU, Canadian and Japanese statements all called \ for balance in the resolution, the end of terrorist \ activities by Palestinian actors, and the safe return of \ the abducted Israeli soldier. Ambassador Tichenor delivered \ the U.S. statement (available at \ geneva.usmission.gov/Press2006/0705TichenorPa lestine \ Statement.html),which emphasized Hamas's role in the \ current crisis and the need for the Human Rights Council to \ promote and protect human rights in an even-handed, fair \ and equitable way. \ \ ¶6. (U) The general debate was cut off by HRC President de \ Alba before all speakers had been allowed to speak, in order \ to allow time for a vote. However, late on the afternoon of \ July 5, Switzerland angered most of its Western Group \ colleagues by introducing, with little advance notice and no \ consultation, three proposed amendments to the OIC \ resolution text. The amendments highlighted the \ responsibilities of "Palestinian armed groups" with regard \ to respect of international humanitarian law and the need \ to treat detained combatants and civilians in accordance \ with the Geneva Conventions. When the session resumed \ July 6, the OIC introduced a Palestinian-drafted \ sub-amendment to the Swiss amendments, which merged them \ into one and changed the term "Palestinian armed groups" \ to "all concerned parties." As that sub-amendment was \ introduced last, it was voted on first, and passed by a \ vote of 28-0-17, obviating the need for a vote on the \ more pointed Swiss amendments. (Note: Switzerland called \ for the vote on the OIC amendment, saying it believed its \ amendments were better. It abstained, however, on the vote. \ End note.) The full amended OIC resolution was then put to \ a vote and passed by a vote of 29-11-5. "No" votes were \ cast by Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, \ Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and the UK. \ The five abstentions were cast by Nigeria, Cameroon, \ Switzerland, South Korea and Mexico. Both Djibouti and \ Gabon were absent for the vote. \ \ ¶7. (U) After final voting had concluded on the Palestine \ resolution text, Pakistani Ambassador Khan was given the \ floor one final time on an exceptional basis by President \ de Alba for a general comment. Khan then proceed to lambast \ \ GENEVA 00001673 003 OF 003 \ \ \ and taunt delegations that had lost the vote, claiming that \ he could not see what those delegations, who had either \ voted no or abstained, had found objectionable in the \ resolution text. Khan exceeded his speaking time limit, \ and would not yield the floor when President de Alba gavelled \ him to stop. Khan then argued with de Alba, taking the floor \ again to argue that he was perfectly within his right to \ give a final statement, although no such rule of procedure \ appears to exist granting the right to a final comment. \ \ ¶8. (C) Western Group members were angered by the way in which \ Switzerland, who serves as Bureau Vice Chair for the Western \ Group, introduced its amendments despite the very real risk \ of splitting the Western Group and weakening Western \ opposition to the unbalanced OIC resolution. Although we \ understand from reftel (a) that the Swiss delegation in \ Geneva was following instructions directly from FM Calmy-Rey, \ WHRG partners are questioning whether the Swiss desire to be \ a "bridge-builder" at the Council may be incompatible with \ its obligations to work closely with its WHRG partners. \ Several Western delegations in Geneva intend to raise this \ point with the Swiss delegation here over the coming days. \ CASSEL \