SIERRA LEONE: AMBASSADOR'S ASSESSMENT ON UN HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L FREETOWN 000290 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDING SIPDIS CAPTION) SIPDIS FOR UNDERSECRETARY NICHOLAS BURNS FROM AMBASSADOR THOMAS HULL; DEPT ALSO FOR IO/RHS, DRL/MLGA, EUR/PGI E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM UNHRC SL SUBJECT: SIERRA LEONE: AMBASSADOR'S ASSESSMENT ON UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (UNHRC) ELECTION REF: A. (A) SECSTATE 63345 ¶B. (B) FREETOWN 289 (C) SECSTATE 58056 Classified By: Ambassador Thomas N. Hull, Reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (C) We received an assurance from the Sierra Leone MFA Director General, Ambassador Umaru Wurie, that he would send instructions to the Sierra Leone UN PermRep not to vote for Belarus in the upcoming HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL election. Per Ref B, this assurance was provided at the time of the demarche during a meeting with the DCM. Subsequently, Ambassador Wurie sent an e-mail confirming that this action had been taken, specifically, "I have passed the instructions to New York on the HUMAN RIGHTS voting." At the time of the demarche, Slovenia was suggested as an alternate candidate, and the DCM emphasized the importance of a positive HUMAN rights record for any potential candidate. DCM also delivered a non-paper with these points as specified in Ref C. ¶2. (C) Given the assurances by the Director General of the MFA that instructions have been delivered to New York, it would be most productive to approach the Sierra Leone PermRep to sound him out on whether he intends to follow instructions concerning the candidacy of Belarus and seek his views on the candidacies of Slovenia and Bosnia. HULL