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