MOROCCO: UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL -- ANTICIPATED

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 001211 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2016 TAGS: PREL PHUM MO SUBJECT: MOROCCO: UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL -- ANTICIPATED OIC ASSAULT ON ISRAEL REF: A. STATE 99490 ¶B. RABAT 1151 Classified By: Charge Wayne J. Bush for reasons 1.4 (b),(d). ¶1. (C) Charge discussed ref(a) demarche regarding USG concerns and priorities for the inaugural session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on June 20 with MFA Secretary General Omar Hilale. MFA Director of UN and International Affairs Nasser Bourita accompanied Hilale. Charge emphasized the importance of establishing effective processes and procedures at the outset of the new organization for its credibility and advised the adoption of a short agenda to cover country situations, thematic issues and administrative issues. He stressed that country-specific resolutions sparking controversy would not be conducive to the work of the new Council at its inauguration and asked for Moroccan support within the OIC to ensure that highly politicized resolutions, including on Israeli and Palestinian matters, be avoided. Our interests on the issue of reform and the HRC have largely converged and as such we count on Morocco to work to ensure the image and credibility of the new mechanism is safeguarded, said the Charge. ¶2. (C) Hilale agreed that US and Moroccan interests have been largely similar in terms of UN reform and the HRC. The Moroccan objective is to have a new mechanism which tackles the issues of human rights violations without going back to the standard practices of using polemics and politicization. Hilale explained that Morocco was one of the rare Arab countries which supported the new organization and as a result worked closely with the American delegation in Geneva on the format of the new organization. It is important for the HRC's debut to ensure that the new Council is not just the old Commission under a new name. Hilale assured the Charge that Morocco will work to oppose any kind of politicization as it had when it had been the head of the Africa group for the past six months. He said, however, that the most recent information from the Moroccan mission to the UN in Geneva indicated that the agenda would focus solely on procedural issues and that no country-specific situations would be discussed. Hilale said he was glad to see how similar the USG and GOM positions were and noted that he would convey US points to the Moroccan delegation in Geneva and ask them to work closely with their American counterparts. ¶3. (C) Hilale raised the GOM concern that Algeria now chairs the Africa group and asked that the USG "do something" to sensitize Algeria and make it responsibile for its actions in this fora. He asserted that Algeria has a "very radical position" on human rights and will be inclined to go back to the agenda of the Commission. As Algeria opposed Tunisia for becoming head of the Africa group -- which an Arab Maghreb Union country never should do, according to Hilale -- the Algerians must have a "hidden agenda." Hilale asked again for US support to moderate the Algerian position. ****************************************** Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat ****************************************** BUSH