NORWAY ON UNHRC - AGREEMENT ACROSS THE BOARD, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 001185 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREL UN NO SUBJECT: NORWAY ON UNHRC - AGREEMENT ACROSS THE BOARD, BUT ENGAGEMENT NOT IN THE CARDS. REF: STATE 157283 Classified By: DCM Kevin Johnson, reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Director of the Human Rights Department in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tormod Endresen, stated that Norway is in strong agreement with the US on the areas of concern in reftel and the Government of Norway welcomes US engagement on the Human Rights Council (HRC). Pol/Econ counselor met with him on 25 September to share the USG's concerns about the HRC and stress that we hope to see more focus on Burma and Korea. In addition to discussing condemnatory country resolutions, she raised country mandates, Special Rapporteurs, and positive technical assistance programs. Endresen agreed that the HRC would not be credible if it continues to focus solely on Israel, but he was not optimistic that there will be a change in the HRC's focus in the short term. He fully agreed on the importance of country mandates, Special Rapporteurs and a credible Universal Periodic Review focused on promoting positive technical assistance programs. ¶2. (C) Despite 'strongly agreeing' with the US position on all points, Endresen made it clear that Norway will not engage on these issues outside of Geneva or multilateral organizations such as the Nordic Consultations. In response to Pol/Econ counselor's encouragement to be more proactive, Endresen said that they will not reach out to others on a bilateral basis because demarches from Norway are unlikely to have much influence. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: The GON is very focused on helping to create a successful HRC and clearly is in sync with our thinking on priority issues. However, they do not seem comfortable pursuing active engagement other parties to ensure aggressive condemnations of Burma or Korea. Instead, they seem to accept a focus on procedures or 'small victories' in the beginning. END COMMENT. WHITNEY