UN THIRD COMMITTEE: ITALY SUPPORTIVE OF USG

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 002241 SIPDIS SIPDIS DRL/MLGA LYNN SICADE, SYLVIA HAMMOND IO/RHS AMY OSTERMEIER, DEEPA GHOSH E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2017 TAGS: PHUM PREL UNGA UN KTIA IT SUBJECT: UN THIRD COMMITTEE: ITALY SUPPORTIVE OF USG PRIORITIES REF: SECSTATE 145641 Classified By: A/Pol M/C Jonathan R. Cohen, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) . ¶1. (C) Poloff met October 22 with MFA Office Director for Human Rights Laura Carpini to discuss USG priorities in the UN Third Committee as outlined reftel. ¶2. (C) Carpini said the EU position on "no-action" motions remained unchanged, and Italy supported open debate in the UN as a matter of principle. As evidenced by EU sponsorship of country-specific resolutions on Burma and the DPRK, she said Italy and the EU as a whole recognize it is appropriate to pursue our common human rights goals in the Third Committee, given the flaws of the UN Human Rights Council. ¶3. (C) Carpini said that EU consultations were underway in New York in an effort to achieve common positions on a number of issues, including the U.S.-sponsored resolution against state-sanctioned rape. She said she understood our concern over amendments to the resolution but that it may be difficult for Italy and other EU members to avoid referring to conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as the EU considers them important points of reference and sources of "common language." ¶4. (C) Given the difficulty she foresaw in passing the Religious Intolerance resolution, Carpini thought it made sense to see if the OIC would be tabling a Defamation of Religion resolution first. If that happened, she thought Brussels would be more inclined to move forward with the Religious Intolerance resolution. SPOGLI