BANGLADESH NON-COMMITTAL ON 2008 UNGA HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000961 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREL UN BG SUBJECT: BANGLADESH NON-COMMITTAL ON 2008 UNGA HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTIONS REF: STATE 93981 Classified By: Amb. James Moriarty for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Pol/Econ Officer September 8 delivered reftel demarche to Masudur Rahman, Director of the Americas Wing at Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rahman stated his government prefers to address human rights issues in other countries bilaterally rather than in a multilateral forum, particularly with regard to neighboring countries such as Burma, hinting that Bangladesh would not support a resolution on Human Rights in Burma. He said he was unable to comment on Bangladesh's expected voting stance on the other resolutions outlined reftel, but he expressed respect for U.S. concerns about these issues. NOTE: In both 2006 and 2007 Bangladesh voted "no" on similar resolutions regarding Burma and Iran respectively. In 2006 Bangladesh abstained on a resolution regarding Human Rights in North Korea, but voted "yes" on a similar resolution in 2007. END NOTE Moriarty