ZIMBABWE: SURINAMESE MFA NOT FOLLOWING ISSUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARAMARIBO 000146

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

WHA/CAR FOR MATHEW BUFFINGTON AND LAURA LUFTIG, AF/S STEVE
HILL, WHA FOR PATRICK DUDDY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2017
TAGS: NS ZI UNHRC PHUM
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE: SURINAMESE MFA NOT FOLLOWING ISSUE

REF: A. SECSTATE 34009

B. 2006 PARAMARIBO 802

C. 2007 PARAMARIBO 133


1. (C) SUMMARY: PolOff spoke with three officials at the
Surinamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Zimbabwe (ref
A),all of whom admitted not following the issue. All
accepted further information on the issue, and one said that
Suriname would like to support a UN Human Rights Council
stance on this issue. This is a dodge, not agreement. END
SUMMARY

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Out of Sight, Out of Mind
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2. (C) MFA Head of the Americas Division Terence Craig
(protect),MFA Head of International Organizations Division
Nalinie Sewpersadsingh (protect),and the substitute for the
Acting Head of the Asia and Africa Division all told PolOff
they have not been following the news out of Zimbabwe. They
seemed unfamiliar with the international implications of the
issue, and readily accepted an offer of Ref A,s paragraph 7
background. Sewpersadsingh anticipated the U.S. position by
saying she felt any action on Zimbabwe should come through
the Human Rights Council (HRC) at the UN. She said in
principle Suriname would support a strong response from the
HRC, and that she would present the idea of urging the HRC to
take action on this issue to her Permanent Secretary and
Minister. She asked to be kept informed of HRC developments.


3. (C) COMMENT: Usually, Surinamese MFA officials are at
least aware of issues, and if not they will pretend to be.
The fact that three of them admitted unfamiliarity with this
issue shows how far off the radar Zimbabwe is here in
Suriname. As for Sewpersadsingh,s agreement that action
should be taken through the HRC, this is a typical dodge for
Suriname (refs B, C),and should not be taken to mean that
Suriname will take action to influence the Human Rights
Council. Rather, Suriname will likely say nothing, repeat
its "in principle" agreements if asked informally, and
perhaps sign onto a "consensus" position of CARICOM, the
NAM, or the UNHRC. Sewpersadsingh,s request to be kept
informed on the issue is code for "you do it." Then again,
one never knows how Suriname,s semi-autonomous UN Ambassador
might react. Ironically, Post often feels it would be far
more effective for us to skirt the MFA entirely and call
Suriname's Ambassador in New York directly. END COMMENT

SCHREIBER HUGHES