DEMARCHE ON UN REFORM

UNCLAS KINGSTON 000396 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP, WHA/CAR (BENT) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KUNR PHUM UN ADCO JM SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON UN REFORM REF: A. STATE 4746 ¶B. STATE 4745 This message is Sensitive but Unclassified. Please handle accordingly. ¶1. This message is also an Action Request. Please see Paragraph 5. ¶2. On February 23, P/ECouns called on Ambassador Vilma McNish, Director of the International Organizations Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT),to convey reftel points on the way forward on UN Reform. McNish was keenly interested in the subject, particularly the points on the Human Rights Council (HRC) and the Peacebuilding Commission. She agreed that improved accountability and transparency were necessary at the UN in general, but disagreed with significant aspects of the U.S. position on the HRC and Peacebuilding Commission. After cautioning that she was offering her "personal views" to the demarche being presented, she made the following points: --- HRC --- -- There should be no criteria (regarding a prospective member's human rights record, for example) because "all countries have a sovereign right to seek election" to the HRC, "whether or not they get elected." Reminded that one of the reasons that the old Human Rights Commission became discredited was because of its repeated practice of indulging known human rights violators, McNish acknowledged the point. -- The new HRC should be no smaller than the old Human Rights Commission - 53 states. When P/ECouns cited that a smaller body would be more agile and efficient, McNish replied that reducing the HRC to between 22 and 30 members would increase the competition for seats, thereby excluding many interested states and decreasing the representativeness of the body; -- Without explicitly saying so, McNish suggested that the USG had also politicized the deliberations of the Commission. -------------- Peacebuilding Commission -------------- ¶3. (SBU) According to McNish, negotiations regarding the Peacebuilding Commission continue to be affected by "membership problems." Asked to explain, McNish described the five categories of membership on the Peacebuilding Commission as: 7 UNSC countries, including the Permament 5; 5 troop contributor nations; 5 financial contributor nations; 7 ECOSOC nations; and 7 General Assembly countries. (Jamaica is a candidate under the latter group, she added.) ¶4. (SBU) According to McNish, P-5 and WEOG (relatively affluent Western European and Other) countries are over-represented in the first three groups, with P-5 each taking a seat, leaving only two seats for others. Three of the top five troop contributors are India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, she said, heavily skewing that category's representation to South Asia. Selecting the top five financial contributors meant further WEOG representation at the expense of smaller/poorer countries, who were still left to compete with WEOG countries for the seven ECOSOC and seven GA seats. ¶5. (SBU) Action Request: If Department deems it appropriate, Post would appreciate clarification of current state of the Peacebuilding Commission discussions beyond that contained in Ref B points, and, if appropriate, additional points with which to engage the GOJ on this subject. JOHNSON