LESOTHO: BELARUS - AMBASSADOR'S DISCUSSION WITH GOL'S PRIME

C O N F I D E N T I A L MASERU 000277 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT ALSO FOR IO/RHS, DRL/MLGA, EUR/PGI, AF/S E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/11/2017 TAGS: PHUM PREL UNHRC LT SUBJECT: LESOTHO: BELARUS - AMBASSADOR'S DISCUSSION WITH GOL'S PRIME MINISTER REF: (A) MASERU 273 (B) STATE 63345 AND PREVIOUS CLASSIFIED BY: JUNE CARTER PERRY, AMBASSADOR, EXEC, STATE. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) On May 11, the Ambassador raised with Prime Minister Mosisili, in the presence of Acting Foreign Minister Mothetjoa Metsing (Minister of Communications),the points concerning Belarus' bid for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. Prior to talking with the Prime Minister, Ambassador had discussed the points in detail with Acting Foreign Minister Metsing who was not familiar with the issue, per se. Fortunately, we had had a recent meeting with Metsing in his communications capacity and had touched on the importance of human rights during the electoral process. Concerning Belarus, the Acting Foreign Minister said that the government would take up the matter and things could be moved along quickly. ¶2. (C) During my conversation with the Prime Minister, in a discussion on human rights and governance focusing on Zimbabwe (septel to follow),Ambassador told the Prime Minister about the United Nations Human Rights Council and the importance of each country supporting Bosnia and Slovenia. It was critical to send a signal to the international community that the outrageous abuses by Belarus were not acceptable. The Prime Minister agreed immediately and said "we have to recognize this problem and certainly we consider it very important to be reciprocal with the United States' position" on this issue. As he said this, he turned to the Acting Foreign Minister and indicated that Lesotho should take action to support Bosnia and Slovenia. PERRY