UN EXPLAINS STAFFING DECISIONS AT INTERNATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 001104

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2017
TAGS: PREL PHUM KUNR GT
SUBJECT: UN EXPLAINS STAFFING DECISIONS AT INTERNATIONAL
COMMISSION AGAINST IMPUNITY IN GUATEMALA

REF: A. STATE 158829

B. DERHAM-KUMAR TELCON

Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, per 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Per ref A, Poloff spoke with UN Department of
Political Affairs (DPA) Deputy Division Director for Europe
and Latin America Martha Doggett on November 29 about
staffing at the International Commission Against Impunity in
Guatemala (CICIG). Poloff emphasized U.S. interest in
ensuring the effectiveness of CICIG and asked about the
staffing structure of the organization, including the
proposed designation of Carlos Castresana as an A/SYG.
Doggett acknowledged that Castrasana had expressed
unhappiness to her -- but not to DPA A/SYG Angela Kane or DPA
U/SYG Lynn Pascoe -- about his proposed designation as an
A/SYG instead of a U/SYG. Doggett (please protect) said Kane
decided the A/SYG designation, based on an assessment of the
job responsibilities, and U/SYG Pascoe sent a memo on
November 29 asking SYG Ban to sign off on this designation.
Doggett added that Spanish officials had raised Castresana's
designation with SYG Ban during his visit to Madrid as well
as with U/SYG Pascoe in New York, but the decision remained
unchanged.


2. (C) As for other employees of CICIG, Doggett confirmed
that they would not/not enjoy UN employment benefits or
privileges and immunities because the organization is not a
UN entity -- the same way that employees of other
treaty-based organizations set up by the UN, such as the
Special Court for Sierra Leone or the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon, are treated. However, she said that DPA is trying
to convince UNDP to hire CICIG employees as contractors, so
that they will not have to resign from UN service to accept
employment with the Commission. Doggett noted that
Guatemala's decision not to seek an UNGA resolution to create
the Commission had made it harder to afford CICIG employees
UN employment protections, but she said DPA understood the
need to get the Commission up and running quickly, and had
therefore decided to re-engage UNDP to find a way to satisfy
CICIG's concerns.


3. (C) Comment: Per guidance from the Department, USUN has
pressed the UN Secretariat to rationalize the number of
high-ranking positions in the organization, and reverse the
proliferation of U/SYG positions that has occurred over the
past several years with the reuslting financial implications
for major donors. In this case, Castresana let the SYG
announce his appointment to CICIG effective immediately in
September 2007, and has not raised the issue with DPA senior
leadership. This may indicate that he is unwilling to resign
should the A/SYG designation go through. We also note that
an A/SYG appointment represents a promotion from his current
job with the Latin America branch of the UN Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC).
Khalilzad