MFA COMMENTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000715 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL NSC STAFF FOR WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2017 TAGS: PHUM PREL KDEM EG SUBJECT: MFA COMMENTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT Classified by DCM Stuart Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In a March 11 meeting with visiting NEA DAS Scott Carpenter and the DCM, Assistant Foreign Minister for North American Affairs Hatem Saif El-Nasr elaborated on Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit's strident criticism of the Department's Human Rights Report. (Note: In widely reported comments to the media on March 9, Aboul Gheit asserted that the Human Rights Report failed to take into account a larger trend of increasing political freedom in Egypt; that the USG had no mandate from the United Nations to monitor other nations' human rights records; and that the Egypt shared with the United States a basic agreement about the importance of human rights. End note.) ¶2. (C) El-Nasr told DAS Carpenter that although the MFA "would like to put the report in a small box and forget it," the Minister had felt compelled to comment on the report since it had generated significant attention in the Egyptian media. El-Nasr suggested that the Egypt portion of the Human Rights Report missed the big picture, by devoting undue attention to certain high-profile cases, and to what he described as the hasty conclusions of human rights NGOs like Amnesty International. "The main thrust (of reform and improving human rights) was missed," El-Nasr said, and the FM's "measured anger was legitimate." At the same time, El-Nasr sought to reassure Carpenter that the FM did not mean to convey in his comments the idea that the State Department was making up items to include in the report. (Note: Neither El-Nasr nor the MFA's Office of Human Rights have offered any specific criticisms about the accuracy or facts presented in the HRR. The MFA's Director for Human Rights told poloff on March 12 that the FM's comments were "simply aimed at domestic public consumption." End note.) ¶3. (U) DAS Carpenter has cleared this message. RICCIARDONE