FRANCE AND THE OSCE: HDIM DISCUSSIONS IN PARIS

UNCLAS PARIS 001984 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV OSCE FR SUBJECT: FRANCE AND THE OSCE: HDIM DISCUSSIONS IN PARIS ¶1. (SBU) U.S. delegation head at the recent OSCE Human Development Implementation Meeting in Warsaw Ambassador Robert Pearson, in his October 13 meeting with French MFA Director for Human Rights and International Relations Sylvie Bermann, focused on the U.S. desire to work with Europe to delineate a clear role for the OSCE in the world community. Pearson emphasized that the U.S. sees the OSCE largely as a regional security organization but that human rights, free and fair elections, rule of law, and basic liberties are issues that the OSCE should continue to embrace and promote. Bermann agreed that monitoring human rights issues is crucial to the OSCE but observed that this can be made difficult when the OSCE accepts human rights violations from some members and not from others. Kazakhstan,s upcoming OSCE presidency will make human rights an even more difficult issue for the organization. ¶2. (SBU) Pearson then said that from his perspective, Europe sees the OSCE as a human rights organization. Bermann countered that the OSCE,s mission cannot be so easily categorized as either an organization dealing with human rights or one dealing with regional security. Its purpose is much more complicated and should include disarmament, the balance of military forces, human rights issues, and freedom of expression, on which the OSCE recently focused with respect to people of various sexual orientations. Bermann hoped that the new U.S. administration would engage on human rights issues and encourage everyone to accept the Universal Declaration on Human Rights because more countries need to do so. She noted that the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, needs to be closed because it sends the wrong message when the U.S. government is speaking so ardently on so many other fronts about human rights. ¶3. (SBU) Pearson and Bermann discussed how difficult the Russians had been at the recent OSCE meeting in Warsaw, where the Russian representatives denounced the situation in Georgia as &irrelevant, irretrievable, and irrevocable,8 and where they attempted to insert a discussion on alleged Georgian human rights violations into the middle of a discussion of other issues. Pearson maintained that Georgia is an important question that should continue to be discussed in OSCE fora, but the OSCE is not the only place OSCE member countries should deal with this important issue. (U) Ambassador Pearson has reviewed and cleared this cable. STAPLETON