ARGENTINA: NGO PARTICIPATION IN UNHRC REVIEW MIXED

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000249 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DRL/MLGA FOR SYLVIA HAMMOND AND LAURA JORDAN IO/RHS FOR AMY OSTERMEIER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL AR SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: NGO PARTICIPATION IN UNHRC REVIEW MIXED REF: A. SECSTATE 15507 ¶B. 07 GENEVA 2541 ¶C. GENEVA 96 ¶D. GENEVA 107 ¶1. (SBU) Per Ref A instructions, poloff contacted two leading human rights organizations (HROs) in Argentina, Poder Ciudadano, (Citizen Power) and the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS),to see if they participated in the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review for Argentina. Poder Ciudadano indicated that they did not know about the Universal Periodic Review, and would have participated in the review had they known about it. CELS stated that they participated in the review, and had even met with the MFA to discuss the process. Nevertheless, they outlined a number of concerns about the process: -- the deadline was too tight to allow for a proper and coordinated response from the NGO community; -- the Council only allowed NGOs to provide a 5-page report outlining a country's human rights problems; and -- the process calls for the NGO community to submit their report before the state under review, and does not seem to allow the NGO community to respond to the state's submission. ¶2. (SBU) To address these issues, CELS claimed that it asked the UNHRC for an extension of the deadline for NGO submissions, but the request was denied. In order to avoid redundancy and maximize the breadth of human rights challenges Argentina faces, CELS organized a roundtable with other HROs to ensure that each HRO tackled a different human rights problem. (Comment: Apparently, CELS did not invite Poder Ciudadano to this roundtable. This is unusual because both organizations have a tradition of strong collaboration, and their offices are housed in the same building. End Comment.) Finally, CELS indicated that it would submit a brief letter to the UNHRC in response to the GOA's submission which it hopes the UNHRC will take into consideration in drafting its evaluation. KELLY