DAS BARKS-RUGGLES' MEETINGS WITH FRENCH

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004420

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/MLGA LYNN SICADE AND SYLVIA HAMMOND

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2017

TAGS: PHUM PREL KTIA UN FR
SUBJECT: DAS BARKS-RUGGLES' MEETINGS WITH FRENCH
INTELOCUTORS ON UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE RESOLUTIONS

REF: STATE 14620

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Andrew Young. Reasons 1.4b,d


1. (C) Summary. On October 24-25 in Paris, DRL DAS Erica
Barks-Ruggles and Embassy staff advanced U.S. positions
regarding thematic and country-specific resolutions proposed
for the upcoming UN Third Committee with DAS-equivalent for
Human Rights, Humanitarian and Social Affairs Jacques Pellet,
Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade,s Chief of

SIPDIS
Staff Brigitte Collet, Yade,s International Affairs Advisor
Pierre Thenard and desk officers covering Kazakhstan and
central Asia. Barks-Ruggles also reviewed priorities with
Jean-Marie Fardeau, head of the newly established Human
Rights Watch office in Paris. Government interlocutors
expressed support for the U.S. resolutions on elections,
Belarus and state-sanctioned rape and interest in U.S. ideas
on how to deal with Cuba, notably suggesting expanding some
of the targeted initiatives. End summary.

--------------
UNHRC
--------------


2. (C) In her meetings with Pellet and others, DAS
Barks-Ruggles reiterated the USG,s overall disappointment
with the United Nations Human Rights Committee's (HRC)
performance and lack of balance while noting that it had
managed to act in denouncing the situations in Sudan and
Burma. Several of Barks-Ruggles, interlocutors, eager to
cast the HRC in as positive a light as possible, also
emphasized the HRC,s denunciation of events in Sudan and
Burma as proof that the HRC is capable of playing a positive
role in reinforcing respect for human rights. Pellet
acknowledged that the HRC had a long way to go but stressed
the familiar theme of the importance of maintaining channels
for open dialogue and noted that the HRC had been hurt by the
unlucky timing of having been established shortly before the
crisis in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Pellet asserted
that the HRC suffered from a lack of publicity that further
reduced the body,s potential positive influence. Pellet
also noted that, in the more than sixty years since the
founding of the United Nations, the number of member
countries had nearly trebled and claimed difficulty in
enforcing universal norms derived from the challenge of
reconciling much wider diversity than when the norms
themselves were established. Pellet stated that, in spite of
this wider cultural diversity, there were certain human
rights abuse "red lines" for France, but when Barks-Ruggles
pressed Pellet to state them more explicitly, Pellet
equivocated.

--------------
Middle East
--------------


3. (C) In general discussion, Pellet agreed with
Barks-Ruggles that Egypt continued to be resistant to
efforts to establish and empower civil society. Among North
African neighbors, Pellet said that Algeria presented a
particular challenge for France owing to its colonial history
there. By contrast, Pellet said that Morocco and Senegal
were much more open to dialogue and efforts at reinforcing
women,s rights.

--------------
Central Asia
--------------


4. (C) In a subsequent conversation, Central Asia desk
officers informed Barks-Ruggles that their regional director
was currently visiting central Asia and related several
conclusions about countries in the region. In Kyrgyzstan,
French officials noted that there had been ups and downs in
regional human rights progress, that there had been some
heartening recent signs of democratization, but that national
authorities must have international help in dealing with a
serious narcotics trafficking problem. French officials
expressed openness to expanded cooperation on in-country
projects and mentioned efforts to aid Kyrgyzstan in training
judges and security officials to respect civil society. They
also said they were in no hurry to see legislative elections
held if additional time would increase the chances that they
would carried out more transparently. On Kazakhstan, MFA
officials stressed the importance of continued U.S. and
European engagement, largely because Russia was likely to

seek to expand its own influence in the country in the
absence of ongoing Western efforts. On Turkmenistan, French
officials agreed with Barks-Ruggles, assessment that the
country is still so isolated and leery of reform from outside
that the current challenge lies in communicating effectively
and in proceeding at a pace that will establish a basis of
trust on which to build future efforts. French officials
noted a particular interest in establishing international
support structures for agriculture and health initiatives.

--------------
UNGA Third Committee - THEMATIC RESOLUTIONS
--------------


5. (C) DAS Barks-Ruggles discussed thematic resolutions on
State-sanctioned rape and the death penalty with
interlocutors. In reference to the U.S.-sponsored resolution
on state-sanctioned rape, Pellet noted that Secretary of
State for Human Rights Yade supports the initiative strongly.
Collet said that her office also hoped to see the UN
Security Council focus more on gender-based violence and said
that the French government would strongly support annual
reporting from peacekeeping missions, including establishing
annual reporting requirements. Barks-Ruggles raised a point
that had been raised in Berlin, namely that some EU countries
- Sweden in particular - kept pushing for unhelpful
references to CEDAW. French interlocutors noted the problem
and said they would work with us in New York. In response to
Barks-Ruggles, explanation of U.S. opposition to the
EU-sponsored resolution on the death penalty (due to its call
for abolishment of the death penalty),Pellet noted that
France was "slower than many EU countries" in outlawing the
death penalty and expressed his own observation that there
are strong connections between the ongoing use of the death
penalty and generally higher levels of societal violence.
Within the United States, he cited Texas as an example.
Pellet said that France would support the U.S. resolution on
UN election mechanisms as well.

-------------- --------------
UNGA Third Committee - COUNTRY-SPECIFIC RESOLUTIONS
-------------- --------------


6. (C) With respect to the EU-sponsored resolutions on Burma
and the DPRK, Barks-Ruggles told Pellet that the USG strongly
supports both and is ready to be assist in any way useful.
On the Canadian sponsored resolution on Iran, Barks-Ruggles
said that the USG is seeking a particularly strong statement
on Iran, and noted the increased suppression of freedoms in
Iran, such as heightened restrictions on, assembly, media and
access to the internet. She pressed for strong EU support
for the Canadian text, especially on defeating no-action
motions. Pellet, who himself served for four years in Iran,
said that France supports and is ready to co-sponsor the
resolution but expressed an interest in "correcting minor
errors in the text" having to do with how minorities are
depicted (particularly France does not want to single out the
Baha'is nor to cite the Azeri minority) which, according to
Pellet, could serve as a convenient pretext for opponents of
the resolution acting in bad faith to label it a "political
document."


7. (C) On Belarus, Barks-Ruggles noted that the USG has not
yet received formal comments from the EU on this resolution,
and underscored that the USG would like the EU to co-table
this resolution, and therefore, had delayed informals while
awaiting a response. Pellet said that France completely
supported the resolution and was interested in co-authoring
and promised to press the Portuguese to get comments back to
the USG. (Note: Comments were received later that evening.
End Note.)


8. (C) On Cuba, Barks-Ruggles outlined the imbalance that
has resulted from the elimination of the Special
Representative and the UNHRC's inability to take action on
Cuba, while Cuba continues to run its anti-U.S. embargo
resolution at UNGA 3rd Committee. She explained that, after
consulting with EU partner states and others, the USG had
decided not to run a country-specific resolution but, in view
of the lop-sided view of Cuba now existing in UN human rights
bodies, the USG would like EU support on several new
initiatives as outlined in Ref A. Barks-Ruggles explained
the initiatives, goals: to advance dialogue on the island
about the future through release of political prisoners and
efforts to press for a dialogue with opposition. They would
also send a signal to Cuba from the international community

expressing its ongoing concern over the human rights
situation there, and create an opportunity for Cuba to send a
signal to the international community about its willingness
to engage in genuine dialogue.


9. (C) Pellet said he would review the proposals and
expressed the view that Cuba has shown itself to be more open
to engagement since the disappearance of the Cuba mandate
holder, as evinced by its co-sponsorship of the resolution at
the UNHRC renewing the Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary
Detention . Pellet speculated that Cuba might now be open to
receiving some thematic rapporteurs. Pellet also emphasized
the importance of avoiding a Guantanamo resolution because
the EU might then be obliged to support it. In a subsequent
meeting, Collet agreed that "there needs to be more pressure
on Cuba" and informally expressed support for the idea of a
Rapporteur on Political Prisoners "and Prisoners of
Conscience," but voiced the opinion that International Human
Rights Day (December 10) actions should not single out the
Castro Regime. While Collet expressed openness to making a
stronger statement against human rights abuses in Cuba, she
said there was "little chance" that France would not again
vote in favor of the embargo resolution.


10. (C) On Uzbekistan, Barks-Ruggles said the USG would
rather have the EU co-table a resolution on Belarus rather
than fracturing over Uzbekistan. In the interest of
pragmatism, Barks-Ruggles said the USG is interested in
"winning everything we put on the table." She noted,
however, the ongoing USG concern about the grave human rights
situation in Uzbekistan, which has shut down well over 200
NGOs, and expressed USG disappointment over the recent
decision by the EU to soften its sanctions there. The
Central Asia desk officers expressed grave concern for the
security and human rights situation in Uzbekistan but argued
that they had seen recent minor progress, which had prompted
the EU to decided to renew, but not to apply its visa ban.
"A particularly EU decision," they noted, shrugging their
shoulders affirmatively when asked if Germany's pushing were
what lay behind this. According to the desk officers, after
a communication impasse in fall 2006, the Uzbekistan
government had become more open to ongoing dialogue and, in
May 2007, had allowed an EU experts group limited access to
the country's prisons to determine the state of respect for
human rights there. Further, in June the Uzbekistan
government adopted legislation abolishing the death penalty.
The desk officers stressed that sanctions were inherently
hard to manage and that they had been instituted to press for
an independent international inquiry on Andijon, not for a
general improvement of human rights in Uzbekistan.
Barks-Ruggles noted that no independent international inquiry
had occurred, and there had been no real improvement in human
rights either. France would likely have supported an
Uzbekistan resolution at UNGA Third Committee by the U.S.,
this year and agreed that we should consult early next year
(they suggested late June or early July) to make a decision
"in good time" on whether to run a resolution next year.


11. (SBU) Barks-Ruggles also expressed appreciation for
France's pro-active efforts to put in place a multi-pronged
strategy to defeat no-action motions at the UNGA Third
Committee through cooperative and targeted pressure on
developing and NAM countries that are committed to human
rights issues.


12. (SBU) This cable has been cleared by DAS Barks-Ruggles.

Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm


PEKALA