UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE COUNTRY SPECIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 007243 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREL KTIA UN FR SUBJECT: UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE COUNTRY SPECIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTIONS REF: STATE 182267 Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT FOR REASO NS 1.4 (b) AND (d) Uzbekistan -------------- ¶1. (C) In a November 3 meeting, Aurelia Bouchez, MFA DAS equivalent for Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, expressed general support for the U.S.-led UNGA resolution on the human rights situation in Uzbekistan. Bouchez expressed surprise, however, that the U.S. had already sent a demarche to capitals. The French Embassy in Washington, she said, had reported November 2 that the U.S. would not pursue the resolution until after France and other EU countries held talks with the Uzbeks in Brussels on November 8. She stressed that the tabling of the resolution prior to the Brussels discussions had already tainted the atmosphere, but that demarching in capitals before EU talks could foreclose any possibility of Uzbek cooperation. France and Germany had hoped that the Brussels talks might lead to a framework for further dialogue on human rights and security issues that could then be endorsed by the UNGA resolution, making it a more constructive tool and calling international attention to possible Uzbek commitments taken in Brussels. At the very least, she said, the talks were a necessary step toward a common EU position. Bouchez asked if the U.S. was prepared to wait until after November 8 to pursue passage of the resolution, thereby signaling that it remained open to incorporating additional substantive language. Belarus -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Bouchez confirmed that the GOF has no objections to the UNGA Resolution on Belarus and anticipates fully supporting its passage. DPRK, Iran, Burma -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On November 6, Post also informed Jacques Pellet, MFA DAS equivalent for Humanitarian and Human Rights Affairs, that the U.S. was delivering demarches in support of EU and Canadian initiatives on the DPRK, Iran and Burma Third Committee resolutions. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON