DEMARCHE REQUEST: URGING THE CZECH REPUBLIC TO

UNCLAS STATE 027000

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL UNGA UNSC BM
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST: URGING THE CZECH REPUBLIC TO
LEAD EFFORTS FOR A BURMA SPECIAL SESSION AT THE UN HUMAN
RIGHTS COUNCIL


1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraphs 3-5.

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SUMMARY
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2. (U) On February 26, Assistant Secretary Lowenkron and
Assistant Secretary
Silverberg attended an event on Burma hosted by the Czech
Republic Embassy
with former President Vaclav Havel, at which they asked the
Czechs to lead the
effort to sponsor a Human Rights Council (HRC) Special
Session on Burma.
The session would ideally take place immediately following
the March 12-30
fourth regular session of the Council. Through
consultations, the Department
has established that the UK and Mexico would support a
Special Session on
Burma. Sixteen signatures of HRC members are needed to get a
Special
Session. The Czech Embassy expressed initial support, but
noted that
the decision would have to be taken by the Foreign Ministry.
(Note: Current
discussions within the EU are sympathetic but preference is
for a country
outside the EU to sponsor the resolution. End Note.) With
the Czech
Republic's lead effort confirmed, the Department will
demarche other HRC
countries asking for their support. We do not anticipate any
major difficulties
in obtaining the needed signatures. However, to pass a
resolution at the
Special Session, we will need 24 votes which will take a more
intensive lobbying
effort. As we will have a large observer delegation in
Geneva for the three
weeks of the regular HRC session just prior to a Special
Session, we will
concentrate our efforts there. We are considering a
resolution that would:
call attention to the situation on the ground and denounce
the regime's lack
of response to the request by the SYG for changes to Burmese
policies, and stress
the need for a political opening in Burma; call for
appointment of a successor
for former Special Envoy to Burma Razali (if SYG Ban has not
yet appointed one by
then); and create a follow-up investigative mission to visit
Burma and the border
to prepare a report on the human rights and humanitarian
situation. End
Summary.

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OBJECTIVES
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3. (U) Department requests Embassy to urge the Czech
government to lead
efforts during the March session of the HRC in Geneva to
sponsor a Special
Session on Burma to take place immediately after the regular
fourth session.
Post should also appeal to the Czech government to take
advantage of its
remaining few months on the Council, before its term expires
in June, to
demonstrate internationally the GOCR's commitment to promote
human rights.
The U.S. further requests that the Czech Government introduce
a strongly-
worded resolution on the human rights situation in Burma
during the Special
Session that would accomplish several goals:

A) Focus international attention on the appalling
situation on the ground
in Burma;

B) Call on the UNSYG to appoint a strong Special Envoy
with the mandate
to facilitate a transition to democratic rule, better
respect for human
rights, and improved humanitarian conditions inside
Burma through
discussions with the Burmese regime, and to work with
key countries in the
region and beyond to develop concerted international
pressure to promote
national reconciliation in Burma. (Note: If a Special
Envoy has already
been appointed by the time of this resolution's
introduction, the HRC
could welcome that appointment. End Note.)

C) Establish an assessment team or Commission of
Inquiry to assess
current conditions in Burma. This Commission of
Inquiry would report its
findings to the Council's fifth regular session in June

2007. In addition,
holding a Special Session on Burma at the HRC would
challenge the Council to
fulfill its intended purpose and help improve the
trajectory of that body,
which with its near exclusive focus on Israel to date,
has proven to be a
serious disappointment.


4. (U) Embassy may pass to host government the following
proposed draft language
calling for the Special Session on Burma, to be circulated
for signatures in the
first week of the fourth session:

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Fourth Session
28 February 2007

Letter dated 28 February 2007 from the Permanent
Representative of the Czech
Republic to the United Nations Office at Geneva, addressed to
the President of the
Human Rights Council

I hereby request, on behalf of the signatories listed
in the enclosed document,
that you convene, as provided for by the General Assembly
resolution 60/251, a special
session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights
situation in Myanmar, to be
held immediately after the fourth session of the Human Rights
Council, preferably on
the 2nd Day, April 2007.

(Signed): Name
Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic


5. (U) Embassy may also share the following possible draft
resolution for adoption
during the Special Session on Burma:

The Human Rights Situation in Myanmar

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling that the General Assembly by its resolution
60/251 of 15 March 2006,
decided that the Council should address situations of
violations of human rights,
including gross and systematic violations, and make
recommendations thereon,

Recalling all General Assembly and Commission on Human
Rights resolutions
on Burma, and relevant Security Council resolutions, such as
1674 (2006) on protection
of civilians in armed conflict, 1325 (2000) on women in armed
conflict, 1612 (2005)
on children in armed conflict, and 1308 (2000) on HIV/AIDS.

Recognizing the need of the Council to continue to be
provided with clear,
accurate and substantiated information on the human rights
situation in Myanmar,

(1). Deploring the seriousness of the human rights and
humanitarian situation
in Burma, including the continued detention of over 1,100
political prisoners,
the prolonged house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, continued
attacks
by members of the Myanmar military in ethnic minority regions
against civilians,
including women and children, as well as torture, arbitrary
execution,
forced labor, forced displacement, torture, rape and sexual
violence against
women, and the widespread recruitment and use of child
soldiers;

(2.) Expresses its grave concern that the restrictions by
the Government of Myanmar
placed on international humanitarian organizations contribute
to increased
hardship for the civilian population and calls on the
Government of Myanmar to
remove those restrictions;

(3). Urgently calls upon the Government of Myanmar to
release unconditionally all
political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, abolish
forced labor, allow free
access for international and humanitarian organizations to
all parts of the
country, and engage in a genuine political dialogue with all
parties on a transition
to democratic rule and respect for human rights;

(4). Calls upon the Government of Myanmar to fully adhere to
the Memorandum of
Understanding of February 26 between the International Labor
Organization and the
Government of Myanmar that provides a mechanism to enable
victims of forced labor to
seek redress;

(5). Expresses its grave concern regarding the decision by
the Government of Myanmar
not to permit the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights
in Myanmar and the former Special Envoy of the
Secretary-General to Myanmar to visit

SIPDIS
the country for almost three years, despite repeated requests;

(6). Calls upon the Secretary General to appoint a Special
Envoy to implement
the Secretary General's good offices mission to facilitate a
transition to democratic
rule, better respect for human rights, and improved
humanitarian conditions in Myanmar.
(Alternative language: Welcomes the Secretary General's
appointment of X as Special
Envoy for Myanmar and expresses its strong support for the
Special Envoy to promote
national reconciliation in Myanmar. End alternative language.)

(7). Decides to establish an assessment mission to examine
current conditions
in Myanmar, to be urgently dispatched to Myanmar and
neighboring countries, and
requests the mission to report to the Council at its fifth
session.

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REPORTING DEADLINE
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6. (U) Post should report the results of their efforts by
cable slugged for DRL/MLGA
Laura Jordan, EAP/MLS Aaron Cope, and IO/RHS Deepa Ghosh by
March 9.

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BACKGROUND
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7. (U) On January 12, the UN Security Council voted on a
resolution on
Burma tabled by the U.S. and UK. The vote was 9-3-3.
Indonesia, Qatar, and
the DRC abstained, while Russia, China, and South Africa
voted against. The
"no" votes of China and Russia blocked the resolution.
Despite the veto of
this resolution, all Council members, even those that
abstained or opposed,
expressed their deep concern about the situation in Burma.
Several countries
that abstained or opposed, including China, Russia, South
Africa, and
Indonesia, also expressed strong support for the appointment
of a Special
Envoy and for consideration of Burma in the HRC.


8. (SBU) Since Special Envoy Razali Ismail's resignation in
January 2006,
UN Under Secretary General Gambari had taken the lead in
implementing the good
offices mission. With the end of Gambari's appointment as
Under Secretary
General, Secretary General Ban is now considering the
appointment of a new
Special Envoy. We have urged the Secretary General to
appoint an individual
with suitable international stature and a willingness to deal
firmly yet
creatively with the Burmese generals. It is critical that
the Special Envoy
have a mandate that allows him or her to work with key actors
in the region to
promote national reconciliation in Burma rather than engage
solely with the
Burmese regime. We understand that Secretary General Ban
plans to name a
Special Envoy soon.


9. (SBU) Several UNSC members (including South Africa,
Russia, and Indonesia),
in their explanations of vote on the Security Council
resolution, asserted that
the UN should best deal with Burma in the HRC. Given the
Burmese regime's serious
and internationally recognized human rights problems, it
clearly is appropriate
for the HRC to address Burma. Although not a member of the
HRC, the Department
considered with allies the possible ways in which the HRC
could most effectively raise
this issue, and determined that a special session on Burma
would be the best response.
In addition, the United States remains committed to working
through other UN bodies,
such as ECOSOC and the ILO, to maintain international
attention on the regime's
repressive polices, including the use of forced labor, child
soldiers, and sexual
violence as a weapon against ethnic minorities.


10. (U) It is important that the regime receive a consistent
message from the
international community. Based on the extensive discussions
on Burma at the UN
Security Council and General Assembly, there is consensus on
some fundamental steps the
regime needs to take; these steps have also constituted the
main message of UN U/SYG
Gambari to the Burmese regime over the past year. These
include the unconditional
release of all political prisoners (including Aung San Suu
Kyi),engagement in a
genuine dialogue process that includes the National League
for Democracy, an end
to attacks on civilians in ethnic minority regions, and an
end to restrictions
on the international humanitarian organizations working in
Burma.
RICE