EMBASSY BERLIN'S ENGAGEMENT WITH DEMOCRACY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 00052 SIPDIS, EUR/AGS, DRL/SEA, NEA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREL GM IR SY CU SUBJECT: EMBASSY BERLIN'S ENGAGEMENT WITH DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS AND DISSIDENTS REF: (A) SECSTATE 44903 (B) Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Jeffrey Rathke for reasons 1.4(b)/(d) ¶1. (C) Embassy Berlin has carried out a variety of Freedom Agenda-related activities over the last year, focusing on Cuba and the Middle East. ¶2. (C) CUBA: On December 12, 2007, Ambassador Timken gave a laudatory speech on the occasion of awarding the 2007 "Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Medal" to Cuban civil rights activists, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet Gonzalez and Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, for their courageous work promoting human rights in Cuba. The event was hosted by the Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. The Rainer Hildebrandt Medal was awarded for the first time in December 2005 in connection with International Human Rights Day (December 10). In presenting the award to Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and Normando Hernandez, Ambassador Timken said, "The United States will remain committed to the advance of freedom in Cuba by supporting in word and deed brave individuals like Oscar Elias Biscet and Normando Hernandez, who keep the hope for democracy among the Cuban people alive." Past honorees have included Chinese human rights activist Zhang Yichun, former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Suzanne Mubarak, wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Post remains engaged with NGOs supporting human rights in Cuba and is working separately on events for the May 21 Day of Solidarity with the Cuban people (ref B). ¶3. (C) IRAN: Iranian expatriates are included in Germany's Muslim Engagement activities, including those led by the Ambassador. Post's Iran Watcher meets frequently with Iranian human rights activists and dissidents throughout Germany to exchange information about and discuss current developments within Iranian civil society and the Iranian regime's violations of its citizens' human rights. Many of Post's Iranian contacts are either currently asylum applicants or former asylees who have become German citizens. They include representatives of exile political parties, journalists, human rights activists, as well as Germany-based family members of activists still inside Iran. ¶4. (C) SYRIA: Poloffs have met with Syrian activists from both Arab and Kurdish communities regarding the continuing crackdown on the Syrian pro-democracy opposition movement. We have participated at the Political Minister Counselor level as an observer at a conference of the Syrian opposition umbrella organization, the National Salvation Front. ¶5. (C) MIDDLE EAST: Post also supports NEA-managed projects that foster civil society and democratization in the Middle East. TIMKEN JR