BELGIANS SHARE USG DISAPPOINTMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 002160 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2012 TAGS: PHUM SUBJECT: BELGIANS SHARE USG DISAPPOINTMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, BUT BELIEVE SITUATION NOT ENTIRELY HOPELESS REF: SECSTATE 91539 Classified By: Political Counselor Theodore H Andrews, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) The Belgian government shares U.S. disappointment with the results of the recently concluded session of the UN Human Rights Council. That said, the situation would have been much worse without the work of the various EU delegations, according to Francine Chainaye, the Belgian MFA's Director for Human Rights Affairs. Responding to reftel demarche, she told polcouns that the Belgian government would continue its close monitoring of the council and would, working with other like-minded delegations, aim to recoup some of the "losses" sustained at the Council in the next 3rd Committee meeting. ¶2. (C) Chainaye noted that Belgium had been skeptical of the Council from the start, but was determined now to make the most of it. In that connection, she urged the USG to remain engaged and to find ways to counteract the negative impact of issues like Guantanamo and the extraordinary renditions controversy. "The EU cannot do it alone," Chainaye said. U.S. efforts were especially important in lobbying capitols; the EU's work in this area had been responsible for securing Senegalese and Angolan support for the Council's work on Darfur. ¶3. (C) Although Chainaye and her colleague Nathalie Rondeaux, who was present in Geneva during the Council's sessions, understood the U.S. attitude on Darfur, they do not believe the situation was as bleak as our demarche suggested. Sudan would be a priority issue during the next two sessions, they argued, and an important subject at the 3rd Committee meeting also. In addition, the Panel of Experts created during the meeting offered an opening for future work. Polcouns replied that these actions, however useful they might be in the future, should not be seen as a substitute for concerted action against the tragedy now unfolding in Darfur. Fox .