FRANCE PROMISES A "MORE VOCAL" EU PRESIDENCY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 PARIS 001446

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2017
TAGS: PREL FR EUN NGO PHUM UN
SUBJECT: FRANCE PROMISES A "MORE VOCAL" EU PRESIDENCY
DURING THE 63RD UNGA; URGES USG TO REMAIN ENGAGED IN HUMAN
RIGHTS COUNCIL

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Classified By: PolMC Kathleen Allegrone for reasons 1.4 (B & D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: State DRL and IO officials met with French
MFA International Organizations and Human Rights officials on
July 17 to discuss upcoming resolutions, declarations and
strategy for the 63rd UN General Assembly in New York.
French International Organizations A/S-equivalent Sylvie
Bermann promised a "more vocal" French-led EU presidency
during this year's UNGA. She urged the USG not to disengage
from the Human Rights Council (HRC) as doing so would only
play into the hands of the worst offenders of human rights
who remained on the Council. The two sides outlined
strategies to build successful coalitions to secure adoption
of resolutions on Iran, Belarus, DPRK, Burma and Zimbabwe.
The French did not support resolutions on Uzbekistan and
Sudan in the 63rd UNGA. The GOF said it would support an
effort to pull together a cross-regional group to support a
freedom of expression resolution. They were skeptical about
the ability of the EU to reach consensus on a prisoners of
conscience resolution if the text differs much from that of
the June EU-co-sponsored UN Declaration. The EU also plans
to propose a declaration on sexual orientation, which the
U.S. side urged be tabled after all the resolutions are
voted. The EU also may table a resolution on the death
penalty again this year, pending clarification on timing of
an expected UN report. The two delegations also reviewed the
status of action on Eritrea and Uzbekistan, as well as
thematic issues such as religious intolerance, violence
against women, migrants, and the rights of the child.
Additional issues discussed included UN special rapporteurs,
UNGA presidency, burden-sharing, the appointment of a new
OHCHR, EU posting at the HRC, and the UN Democracy Fund. END
SUMMARY.


Background
--------------


2. (SBU) DRL DAS Barks-Ruggles, IO DAS Rees and IO/RHS
Director Keshap met with French MFA International
Organizations Director Sylvie Bermann, Human Rights Director
Jacques Pellet, and MFA Human Rights officers Emmanuel
Pineda, Raphael Trapp, Cecile Vigneau, and Bernard
Regnauld-Fabre at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Paris on July 17.


GOF: "More Vocal" EU Presidency; U.S. should remain in HRC
-------------- --------------


3. (C) French MFA Director Bermann promised a "more vocal"
French-led European Union (EU) presidency during the 63rd
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA),especially on issues
of human rights. Bermann agreed with USG officials that
while the atmosphere in the UN had been regressing on these
issues, most notably after the recent Chinese and Russian
vetoes of a UN Security Council (SC) decision on Zimbabwe,
she believed the "time was now" to build a like-minded
coalition with EU, USG, Group of Latin America and Caribbean
Countries (GRULAC) and Francophone countries (particularly in
Africa) to counter Russia, China and their allies. Bermann
noted that the EU strongly believed the UN Human Rights
Council (HRC),while not perfect, needs to be a primary focus
for human rights in the UN system, not just the UNGA Third
Committee. She warned that by disengaging from the HRC, the
USG would be "playing into the hands" of the most egregious
offenders of human rights who sat on the Council. Another
benefit of the HRC, said Bermann, was the important role that
international civil society and NGOs played in the human
rights process in Geneva, which was not as strong as in the
UNGA Third Committee. She pointed to the UPR process as one
place where this dynamic forced governments to work more
closely with NGOs. She believed the EU, USG and other allies
would continue to benefit by this process in Geneva. The
U.S. delegation made the case for the U.S. decision to

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disengage from the HRC.


4. (C) Bermann and Pellet agreed with the USG that more
should be done to bring in certain African countries which
historically side with their "block," towards more productive
human rights policies. Burkina Faso was cited as an example
of country that took an important step on the UNSC vote to
isolate Zimbabwe. "Spoilers" of a more robust human rights
agenda, such as Pakistan, Algeria and Egypt, continued to
oppose USG and EU positions and to enlist counter-productive
support from others. Pellet and Bermann suggested that
Washington use its influence on Pakistan to mitigate this
problem. In addition to UNGA issues, Berman confirmed that
two Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60th anniversary
celebrations have been planned in Paris to be held in October
and December of this year. The October UN-sponsored event is
slated to be a major NGO meeting planned at UNESCO with
participation of approximately 2,000 NGOs. The December
anniversary celebration will also take place in Paris and
will be sponsored by the Government of France, but the French
MFA said details of the event are still being sorted out by
President Sarkozy,s office. UN Secretary General (SYG) Ban
was planning to attend the December event. Bermann also said
the EU would appreciate USG attendance pre-UNGA for
consultations in Brussels on September 1, as well as for a
follow-on session in New York on September 4.


UNGA Third Committee: Country Specific Issues
-------------- -


5. (C) State DRL and IO and French MFA officials discussed
several country-specific issues on July 17. While the EU
COHOM believes pushing new resolutions on new countries would
be extremely difficult, Pellet proposed the EU and USG
concentrate on taking on one (rather than multiple)
additional resolutions focused on crisis countries. The
following are GOF positions and/or responses on the issues:

-- IRAN: Pellet affirmed that ensuring passage of the
Canadian-sponsored Iran remained the most important priority
for the EU at the 63rd UNGA. The U.S. participants, while
making clear that there is not yet a final USG decision on
this or any other resolution, agreed that Iran is the top
priority.

-- BELARUS: Pellet said the EU backs the USG position on the
issue, and could agree to present the resolution to the Third
Committee if the U.S. does not. The U.S. participants, while
making clear that there is not yet a final USG decision on
this or any other resolution, agreed that Iran is the top
priority.

-- BURMA: Pellet said the EU would run its resolution on
Burma again this year. If the EU were to run a resolution on
Zimbabwe, it might ask the U.S. to take on the sponsorship of
the Burma resolution -- something the U.S. participants said
would be considered pending a decision on Zimbabwe.

-- DPRK: Pellet said the EU had also decided to run its
resolution on DPRK, and hoped for U.S. support, which the
U.S. delegation assured him the U.S. would do.

-- SUDAN: The GOF and EU acknowledged that the first
UNHRC-mandated experts group (December 2006, 4th Special
Session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights
situation in Darfur, "Decision S-4/101 adopted by the Human
Rights Council") failed due to lack of cooperation by the
Sudanese government. The second UNHRC-mandated group
composed of Special Rapporteurs (March 2007, 4th Session of
the UNHRC, "Follow-up to decision S-4/101 of 13 December 2006
adopted by the Human Rights Council at its fourth special
session entitled 'Situation of human rights in Darfur'")
likewise was unable to gain access to Sudan. Pellet and
Pineda said that during the second effort, Sudan followed

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through with a limited number of measures, and that language
in the rapporteurs' report was strong in pointing out human
rights abuses. For this reason Pineda said it was wrong to
say that the HRC was not working when it came to Sudan and
Darfur, something the U.S. delegation disputed given the
desultory third UNHRC resolution on Sudan (June 2007, 5th
Session of the UNHRC, "Follow-up to resolution 4/8 of 30
March 2007 adopted by the Human Rights Council at its fourth
session entitled Follow-up to decision S-4/101, of 13
December 2006 adopted by the Human Rights Council at its
fourth special session entitled Situation of human rights in
Darfur")and the fourth and final resolution on Sudan
(December 2007, 6th Session of the UNHRC, "Human Rights
Council Group of Experts on the situation of human rights in
Darfur"),which failed to extend the mandate of the Group of
Experts and failed to hold Sudan accountable for its weak
implementation of that Group's recommendations. Regarding the
July international Criminal Court (ICC) indictment of Sudan
President Omar al-Bashir for genocide, Pellet said the EU
understood the indictment but worried about possible
retribution against UNAMID and humanitarian workers on the
ground in Sudan and Darfur. Pellet said he was under the
impression that ICC judges would render a decision on the
indictment sometime this October. The EU, said Pineda, would
prefer to not have Sudan raised in the UNGA Third Committee.
Pineda did concede that the EU should work on getting better
support on the issue in the HRC from Algeria, Egypt, South
Africa, Zambia, and Nigeria.

-- ZIMBABWE: Referring to the double Russia/China veto,
Pellet said the GOF was disappointed in the failure of the
Security Council to do something about Zimbabwe. He said the
EU COHOM on July 7th had decided that Mugabe's human rights
abuses and destruction of democratic and economic
institutions should be addressed somehow, but had not been
able to reach a decision as to whether a Special Session of
the HRC or action in the UNGA Third Committee would be
better. The EU strongly favored taking action on Zimbabwe
over action on Sudan, and understood that the U.S. would view
more favorably action at the UNGA Third Committee given our
disengagement from the UNHRC.

-- UZBEKISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA: Given the 2007 EU Central
Asia Common Policy, Pellet said priority in the EU would
focus on seeking improvements in the human rights situations
in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, the latter in
particular due to its upcoming 2010 OSCE Chairman in Office.
He said the EU did not want a resolution on Uzbekistan at the
UNGA because there would not be consensus among EU members,
especially those governments which believe there has been
some small improvements on the ground. The GOF was sending a
new ambassador to Tashkent who would attend an EU
Ambassador's conference on July 28-29 during which he welcome
an opportunity to meet the U.S. ambassador to Tashkent while
in town (Note: Embassy Paris has conveyed this information
to EUR/SCA). The EU challenge was to engage on promoting
human rights in Uzbekistan without the complication of adding
this to the HRC agenda. The GOF supports further opening of
the media in Uzbekistan. The U.S. participants agreed that
an Uzbekistan resolution was unlikely to garner wide support,
but stressed the importance of a working in close
coordination to press for greater progress on human rights in
Uzbekistan, and to stop any backsliding. The U.S. side
stressed in particular the need for the GOU to grant full and
permanent access for the ICRC to all detention facilities,
release all political prisoners, address serious child labor
concerns, and make progress on freedom of religion issues as
first steps.

-- ERITREA: The GOF considers the situation in Eritrea
bleak, said Pellet. But before there could be any action in
the UN system, the EU would need an assessment of EU
relations with Eritrea, as well as an assessment of current
African Union efforts there.


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-- NEED TO VARY COUNTRY RESOLUTIONS: Pellet noted that some
of the country-specific resolutions do not need to be run
every year, and expressed a preference for bringing
country-specific resolutions every two years in the absence
of extraordinary circumstances so that the number and variety
of resolutions could be increased.


UNGA Third Committee: Thematic Issues
--------------


6. (C) Several thematic issues were also covered during the
July 17 meeting. The following are GOF responses and/or
positions on the issues:

-- FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Pellet noted that the GOF and EU
considered a freedom of expression resolution timely,
especially on the 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. Pellet advised building a multilateral
coalition with others so the resolution did not appear as a
joint USG/EU one. He suggested asking friendly African Union
(AU) and GRULAC members to not just co-sponsor but co-author
the resolution. While the final text may be a bit watered
down, a real coalition might ensure its passage, he said.
Pellet recommended that the coalition be constructed from a
mix of nations from different regions as well, and number
only around 10 to 12 countries total, so that not all 27 EU
countries would appear to be dominating the coalition.
Pellet noted it would be better to have one or two EU
countries as co-sponsors for this reason, although
consultations would be needed for EU backing and support of
the resolution, and would depend on what was in the text. In
drawing parallels with EU strategy on the death penalty
resolution in the 62nd UNGA, Pellet suggested the USG consult
with NGOs on the resolution and recommended an NGO called,
"Article 19" that worked exclusively on freedom of expression
issues.

-- RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE: Pellet indicated that the EU is
still considering whether to run this resolution at the UNGA
Third Committee or only at the HRC in Geneva. The U.S. side
urged that the EU run the resolution in New York and that it
correct problematic amendments that had cropped up when the
resolution was last passed in Geneva.

-- PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE RESOLUTION AT THIRD COMMITTEE:
Pellet believed a prisoners of conscience resolution, if the
text deviated too much from the Prisoners of Conscience
Declaration that the EU co-table in New York in June could
put the EU presidency in a "bad position," as several (he
conceded one or two) EU countries would protest that the
resolution was targeting Cuba. The U.S. delegation noted
that while no decision had been made, we were considering a
resolution and would share further ideas and a draft text
soon with the GOF.

-- PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE EVENT: (NOTE: This successful
event was held in the UN in New York on July 24 without EU
co-sponsorship. End Note.) There was an EU discussion at the
July 7 COHOM about the upcoming prisoners of conscience event
in New York, but no agreement was reached on co-sponsoring
the event, he said. Pellet suggested the EU would back the
measure if it was proposed in Geneva instead of New York, as
the EU believed the former was the "proper location." To
give the planned prisoners of conscience event more
credibility, Pellet recommended the USG invite former
prisoners and family members from places other than the most
egregious abusers of human rights -- such as from Europe and
other democratic countries -- as it would give the appearance
that the exercise was not solely focused on Cuba, which was
the main concern of a few EU members.

-- DEATH PENALTY: Pellet said he expects to receive a report
from the UN in late September as called for in the EU-tabled
death penalty resolution from the 62nd (2007) UNGA. He said

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the EU would table a "short technical resolution noting the
report" at the upcoming UNGA -- not the long text from last
year. Forthwith, the EU had agreed it would table the death
penalty resolution only every other year (e.g. 2008, 2010,
2012, etc.). When the U.S. delegation pointed out that the
UN report upon which the EU intends to base its resolution
would likely not be out until the spring or summer of 2009,
as is standard practice, Pellet and his team were non-plussed
and said they would look into the timing of the report. The
U.S. team pointed out that it is precisely this delay in
reporting that necessitates running thematic resolutions
every other year, and stressed to the GOF it would be better
for the EU to wait until 2009 to consider running a death
penalty resolution. Pellet said he would look into the
timing, and get back to the U.S. both on that issue and -- if
the EU decides to proceed -- with a draft text.

-- MIGRANTS: Pineda noted that a resolution on migrants,
authored by Mexico, might cause problems within the EU,
notably in France, with the recently approved EU Immigration
Pact.

-- RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: While there were still issues to
work out on the language of the resolution within the EU,
Pellet hoped a compromise could be made with the USG similar
to what was done to accommodate the United Kingdom regarding
the military recruitment age. He promised to share a draft
text with the U.S. delegation in the near future and asked
for an assessment of what language we could accept. He
suggested the text could be framed around "illegal
recruitment" of those under age 18, which would not adversely
affect U.S. law. Pellet said the GOF and EU would organize a
forum on child soldiers on the margins of the UNGA on
September 26, chaired by French Secretary of State in Charge
of Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, Rama Yade.

-- SEXUAL ORIENTATION: France intends to take some action --
but not a resolution -- at the UNGA on abuse of human rights
based on sexual orientation, and the EU is on board with the
concept. The EU will likely attempt a declaration --
something the U.S. delegation urged be done only after all
the voting on country specific resolutions at the end of
December. Such a declaration would likely focus on the
decriminalization of homosexuals as a follow-up to the
Norwegian declaration to the HRC in Geneva in 2006, Pellet
said. The U.S. urged that any declaration focus on abuse of
human rights and draw from the widely supported (including
USG) text of the Norwegian declaration and the recent OAS
declaration. The U.S. delegation provided a copy of the both
to Pellet. He said the EU, with the support of Brazil and
New Zealand, would work on securing co-authors and
co-sponsors to present the declaration during the UNGA
plenary session in December. While the EU knew the
declaration was controversial, the EU currently had the
support of 50 countries and expects to have 54 soon. The EU
would share a draft text with the USG soon, he said.


ADDITIONAL ISSUES
--------------


7. (C) Additional topics of discussion:

-- VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: Pellet said the GOF, with
involvement from the Netherlands and Belgium, believed that
violence against women was a priority and was pleased to have
joined in the one day session on this issue during the U.S.
presidency of the UNSC in June.

-- RAPPORTEURS: While HRC rapporteurs could be tough at times
-- Pellet mentioned a meeting earlier in the year between UN
rapporteur Mrs. MacDougal and MFA Secretary Rama Yade about
minority rights in France that ended with MacDougal
unexpectedly critiquing France at a press conference -- the
GOF and EU would continue to work to get other countries to

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be more accepting of rapporteurs and their missions.

-- NEW UN HCHR: Regarding the selection of a new UN High
Commissioner on Human Rights, Pellet believed SYG Ban clearly
wanted a female candidate. He noted the GOF did not think
any of the three names on the "short list" were stand-out
candidates. Pellet noted that the EU had not yet
collectively raised this sentiment with the SYG's office.

-- BURDEN-SHARING AND NO ACTION MOTIONS: Pellet said he would
consult with EU experts in New York to work out proposals for
sharing lobbying and other responsibilities in connection
with opposing no-action motions -- the critical votes for all
the country specific resolutions and especially the Iran and
Belarus resolutions. He agreed that missions in New York
should consult before August holidays on how best to garner
support for all human rights resolutions at the UNGA.

-- EU POSTING AT HRC PRESIDENCY: Pellet said the EU plans to
post a diplomat at the HRC presidency in Geneva in place of
the current Swiss diplomat whose appointment expires this
summer. The EU would not have any specifics about potential
candidates until September or October of this year.

-- UN DEMOCRACY FUND: Pellet and Pineda said the GOF did not
want the selection of board members for the UN Democracy Fund
changed in any way that would cause France to lose its seat.
Pellet asked for USG help on this issue.


8. (U) Minimize for Misk considered.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Fran ce

STAPLETON