TRIPARTITE DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON UN DECLARATION ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 002844 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2031 TAGS: PHUM AS NZ JA SUBJECT: TRIPARTITE DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES REF: STATE 078740 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor W. Michael Meserve. Reason s:1.4(b/d). ¶1. (U) On May 23, Embassy Tokyo political officer joined Embassy of New Zealand Deputy Head of Mission Michelle Slade and Embassy of Australia First Secretary Catherine Wallace in delivering a joint demarche to MOFA Global Issues Department Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Division Director Tetsuya Kimura concerning the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Led, as instructed, by New Zealand's Slade, the tripartite delegation conveyed reftel talking points and provided Kimura with copies of relevant documents. ¶2. (U) Kimura undertook to study the issue and to relay U.S., Australian and New Zealand concerns to appropriate MOFA and other agency officials. He promised shortly to provide a Japanese government response. Kimura offered his opinion that the subject text should be adopted on a consensus basis and that the concerned governments should proceed cautiously. ¶3. (C) Taking advantage of the opportunity to discuss the Human Rights Council, Kimura stated that while Japan wanted to begin substantive discussions as soon as possible, the Japanese government also believed there should be a concrete discussion on the Council's working methods in order to establish a "road map" for the organization's deliberations. Japan is particularly interested in beginning discussions of serious violations of human rights, especially North Korean violations, at an early date. In that context, Kimura noted that Japan would also use other fora, such as the Third Committee in New York, for discussing North Korean and other serious human rights violations. ¶4. (C) Kimura highlighted the need to discuss in the Human Rights Council the issue of extending the mandates of Special Rapporteurs. He stressed that "continuity" was an important consideration for Japan. SCHIEFFER