DRL ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRAMER'S CALL ON FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 001747

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PK PREL
SUBJECT: DRL ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRAMER'S CALL ON FOREIGN
SECRETARY KHAN

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Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary. On April 21, DRL Assistant Secretary Kramer
urged a conservative Foreign Secretary Khan to be proactive
in supporting human rights initiatives at the UN and
encouraged higher levels of commitment with Broader Middle
East and North Africa Initiative (BMENA). Khan suggested
that correcting the economic problems of Pakistan was a
higher concern than human rights violations and that too much
focus was being placed on women's rights. In addition, Khan
stated emphatically that foreign governments needed to be
held accountable when their citizens knowingly abuse freedoms
of expression and insult others' religious beliefs, such as
in the Dutch cartoon case. End Summary.

Human Rights v. the Economy
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2. (C) Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) Assistant
Secretary David Kramer and DCM met April 21 with Foreign

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Secretary Riaz Khan. (Note. Khan left this position on April

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28.) Stressing the importance of working together in various
democracy/human rights fora, A/S Kramer noted that Pakistan
had not been consistent in its support for human
rights-related resolutions at the United Nations and asked
Khan to encourage better support at the UN. Khan agreed that
both the U.S. and Pakistan have similar desires regarding
human rights; however, he quickly noted that it was
misleading to couch the problems of Pakistan entirely in the
human rights context. Khan suggested that a stable economy
is more important currently to the people of Pakistan than
whether human rights were being consistently violated.

Gender Issues
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3. (C) A/S Kramer asked about the recent, notable increase in
female leaders in the Pakistan government; Khan agreed,
saying that forty years ago, Pakistani women did not work at
all. However, Khan denied there was discrimination against
women in Pakistan and said that they have to abide by the
same rules and regulations that the men do for government
service. A/S Kramer asked if Khan could explain the
prevalence of honor killings and other known abuses against
women in the more tribal or rural areas. Khan noted, "Men
are killed as well." He opined that in his experience, it
cannot be the government that institutes change because then
the people will not support it. If the government were to
step in and work to improve the lives of Pakistani women,
asserted Khan, no one, including the women, would willingly
support the initiative.

Israel
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4. (C) Kramer commented that Pakistan seemed too willing to
go along with the "unhealthy fixation" on Israel in the Human
Rights Council and other UN fora, in contrast to its
reluctance to vote for sanctions against Burma and Iran. The
Foreign Secretary quickly defended Pakistan, saying that his
government has a good relationship with Israel and has
recognized its existence. Khan also opined that the
situation with the "Occupied Territories" was a "major
problem that no one can solve" and with all of the support
that the world has given to Israel, he "expects better."

BMENA Encouragement
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5. (C) With the Broader Middle East and North Africa
Initiative (BMENA),A/S Kramer encouraged Khan to engage in a
higher level of commitment and urged Pakistan to participate
at appropriately high levels at the June subministerial level
for the BMENA October meeting of the Forum for the Future.
Using Secretary Rice as an example, Kramer noted that
stronger engagement in BMENA could be a good opportunity for
Pakistan to become a leader in the region.

Freedom of Expression
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6. (C) Commenting on what he viewed as a lack of oversight by

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other governments over their citizens, Khan questioned those
who abused freedom of expression by insulting others'
religions. Pointing to the Danish cartoon and Dutch film
episodes, Khan noted that he did not believe that freedom of
expression was a license to offend others, and he agreed, for
example, with foreign government actions making it a crime to
deny the Holocaust. A/S Kramer pointed out that just because
someone's statements might offend others does not make them
wrong or illegal. Drawing lines on this kind of speech, said
A/S Kramer, was a risky precedent to set.


7. (U) This message has been cleared by A/S Kramer.
PATTERSON