MAURITIUS WANTS CONTINUED BILAT DIALOGUE ON HUMAN RIGHTS

UNCLAS PORT LOUIS 000203 SENSITIVE SIPDIS AF/E FOR MARIA BEYZEROV DRL/MLGA FOR LYNN SICADE IO/RHS FOR AMY OSTERMEIER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM KWMN PHUM PREF SMIG MP SUBJECT: MAURITIUS WANTS CONTINUED BILAT DIALOGUE ON HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ISSUES DESPITE USG ROLE CHANGE REF: STATE 61034 ¶1. (U) On June 11, 2008, Post delivered ref demarche to Ms. Shafeenaaz Nurmahomed, Second Secretary of Multilateral Affairs for the Mauritian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nurmohammed understood the stance of USG, but asked for clarification between the new stance and the "limited observer" stance USG has had until now. POLOFF distinguished the two by saying that USG will no longer participate in Human Rights Council (HRC) sessions unless vital USG interests are at stake. ¶2. (U) The discussion between Nurmahomed and POLOFF highlighted the inefficiency of the HRC through demarche points that had regional relevance for GOM (such as the lack of attention to human rights issues in Zimbabwe) or historical resonance in our bilateral relationship (such as the lack of action on country specific resolutions for Iran, Belarus, and North Korea). Nurmahomed said that the points made in the demarche, including the U.S. role change in the HRC, would be communicated to the HRC delegation in Geneva the same day. Nurmahomed did not seem surprised by this change of status and asked to keep the bilateral dialogue open to resolutions debated in the Council even though the U.S. will no longer participate in sessions. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: Post believes that Mauritius remains receptive to US viewpoints on the HRC and that through increased bilateral engagement we can still influence Mauritian behavior in the HRC. According to Mr. Joyker Nayeck, First Secretary at the Foreign Ministry, after receiving our demarche on the proposed OIC 'Defamation of Religions' amendment to the Freedom of Expression resolution for the last session of the HRC, Mauritius changed its vote from 'Yes' to 'Abstention.' Likewise, Post continues to push (up to the Prime Minister level) to improve the low UN voting coincidence between the US and Mauritius. Human Rights issues seem like the logical starting place, because it is where we share the highest percentage of voting coincidence (14.3 percent,) where Mauritius is the most outspoken (i.e. Human Rights situation in Burma),and seemingly where we could gain the most ground by encouraging Mauritius to make more exceptions to their policy of not voting on country-specific resolutions. END COMMENT. CABRERA