FRENCH MFA AGREES ON NEED FOR GREATER EU

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001700 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR EUR, NEA, AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/06/2016 TAGS: PREL PHUM LE SY FR SUBJECT: FRENCH MFA AGREES ON NEED FOR GREATER EU OUTSPOKENNESS ON SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS REF: A. STATE 41395 ¶B. PARIS 1296 ¶C. STATE 29048 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: MFA officials share U.S. concerns on the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria, and have recommended that the GoF seek an EU presidency statement and joint EU demarche in Damascus to address the issue. MFA officials did not see much prospect for addressing Syria human rights at the March 20-21 EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC),which they hope will focus instead on Lebanon, to coincide with Lebanese PM Siniora's planned meeting with the GAERC March 20. MFA officials also stressed the GoF preference for EU, vice bilateral public statements on human rights in Syria, and concluded that EU statements carried greater weight. End summary. ¶2. (C) Poloff discussed ref A points on the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria with MFA DAS-equivalent for Egypt/Levant affairs Herve Besancenot and MFA desk officer for Syria/Lebanon Remy Bouallegue March 16. Besancenot confirmed the GoF's shared concern on the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria. He noted that the U.S. analysis of recent events largely corresponded with that of the French embassy in Damascus, though he added that the EC-funded Civil Society Training Center's failure to obtain the proper permits had given the SARG a convenient pretext to shut down the operation. Besancenot agreed that the training center closure and recent arrests of civil society activists warranted a public EU response, and he confirmed that his office was awaiting approval from the FM's office to seek support for an EU presidency public statement on the issue. Bouallegue added that such a statement was especially warranted given the Austrian EU presidency's January 2006 statement welcoming the release of Riad Seif and other "Damascus Spring" detainees, which the GoF had felt was overly positive. Bouallegue confirmed that he was also awaiting MFA cabinet approval to seek a joint EU demarche (current and future EU presidents, plus EC) in Damascus; for both the EU presidency statement and joint EU demarche, obtaining UK and Austrian support would be critical. ¶3. (C) Besancenot demurred when poloff raised prospects for addressing Syria human rights at the upcoming EU GAERC. Besancenot stressed the GoF's preference that the GAERC focus instead on reaffirming support for Lebanon, given Lebanese PM Siniora's expected attendance at the GAERC March 20 for a working lunch with EU FM's. Besancenot reiterated the need for EU FM's to support PM Siniora's government as well as the ongoing national dialogue in Lebanon, and added that we should not "mix messages" on Syria human rights with Lebanon-related issues. (In an aside on Sa'ad Hariri's aspirations to replace PM Siniora, Besancenot quipped that while the Elysee continued to favor Sa'ad Hariri based on President Chirac's personal ties with the Hariri family, the MFA, in his view, preferred Siniora, given his more consensual approach.) ¶4. (C) When pressed by poloff on the need for more GoF public statements on Syria human rights, Besancenot stressed the GoF's preference for issuing such messages from the EU, which he viewed as carrying greater weight. He also pointed to a MFA statement of March 13, in which the spokesman, when asked about the arrest of Dr. Ammar Qurabbi, reiterated the GoF's call of liberation of all political prisoners in Syria. Poloff commended the March 13 statement as a step in the right direction, but reiterated the need for more such public statements on the part of the GoF. ¶5. (C) Comment: Besancenot's reaction is consistent with the earlier MFA reaction to our white paper on measures to pressure Syria (refs B-C),in which greater outspokenness on human rights was one of the few actions which MFA contacts were willing to consider in the absence of a UNIIIC finding of Syrian non-cooperation. At the same time, it is clear that there is continued GoF reluctance to make bilateral statements on the Syrian human rights situation, and that GoF statements are likely to be much more cautious and infrequent than those issued with regularity by the U.S. The March 13 MFA spokesman's statement which Besancenot cited was just two sentences long and refrained from even confirming Qurabbi's arrest, noting that the GoF was still seeking to verify his status. Nevertheless, we will continue to seek a more outspoken French stance on human rights in Syria and will intervene with the MFA cabinet to seek approval of the suggested EU presidency statement and joint demarche in Damascus. End comment. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm Stapleton