DEMARCHE DELIVERED FOR HRC SPECIAL SESSION ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L MEXICO 004482 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2011 TAGS: PHUM PREL KPAO UNRCR PGOV MX SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED FOR HRC SPECIAL SESSION ON LEBANON REF: A. A) SECSTATE 130904 ¶B. B) MEXICO 4472 Classified By: ACTING POLITICAL COUNSELOR ALAN MELTZER, REASONS: 1.4(B/ D). ¶1. (C) Acting MCPA and Poloff delivered ref A talking points to Dr. Luis Angel Benavides, acting head of the Office of Human RIGHTS and Democracy at the Secretariat for Foreign Relations (SRE),as well as to Mariana Salazar Albornoz, Director of International Policy for Economic, Social, Cultural and Minority Rights. Benavides maintained that Mexico holds a different position than the U.S. regarding the appropriateness for the HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (HRC) to call a special session on Lebanon (ref B). Concerning Article 12, Benavides reiterated Mexico's stand that HUMAN RIGHTS are differentiated from issues of peace and security. While interpretations of Article 12 vary, he asserted that precedents have been set supporting Mexico's position that UN human RIGHTS bodies can consider resolutions relating to human RIGHTS issues arising out of conflicts that have been brought before the UNSC. Benavides remarked that HUMAN rights and international humanitarian law are so intertwined that he questions the logic suggesting the HRC is not qualified to evaluate matters involving international humanitarian law. ¶2. (C) Benavides and Salazar agreed that the current draft of the resolution is one-sided and remarked that negotiations over the text are currently underway. They pointed to the difficulty of the negotiations due to the polarized views that exist on the HRC on this issue, particularly represented by the drafters of the text. They expect the special session to be similar to discussions on the Middle East during the first session of the HRC in June. Salazar emphasized that Mexico's representative serving as president of the HRC, Luis Alfonso de Alba, is taking seriously his role as an objective and neutral facilitator on the council. Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity GARZA