MFA ON HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 006306 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREL RS SUBJECT: MFA ON HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL REF: A) STATE 94561 B) MOSCOW 5760 Classified By: Political-Minister Counselor Kirk Augustine. Reasons 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (C) Deputy Political Minister-Counselor delivered ref A points to Mikhail Lebedev, Acting Director of the MFA Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights, on June 13. Lebedev said the GOR's position on the agenda for the first meeting of the UN Human Rights Council was close to that of the U.S. The GOR and U.S. differed slightly on the elimination of the Sub-Commission for Human Rights, but Lebedev said the GOR was open to consultations through its mission in Geneva. ¶2. (C) Deputy Poltical Minister-Counselor stressed that the U.S. opposed adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, especially as there was no consensus. Lebedev said the GOR agreed, and it did not want to see the Council act "impulsively" in creating new obligations for member states. Some clauses in the document were far beyond what the GOR was prepared to support and could undermine efforts it was already taking to address some of the most pressing issues facing its indigenous peoples. BURNS