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 -------------- Out of Sight, Out of Mind -------------- ¶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