CZECHS DISAPPOINTED USG UNGA PRIORITIES DO NOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000615 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2013 TAGS: PHUM PREL UNGA UN EZ EUN SUBJECT: CZECHS DISAPPOINTED USG UNGA PRIORITIES DO NOT INCLUDE BELARUS REF: STATE 95334 Classified By: POLEC Counselor Charles O. Blaha for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Czech Director of Human Rights and Transition Policy Gabriela Dlouha thanked us for sharing USG priorities on country specific resolutions as well as thematic items. She noted that the GOCR welcomed our planned efforts on Iran, Burma, and North Korea, although she registered disappointment at the absence of Belarus and urged us to reconsider, and await the outcome of September parliamentary elections in Belarus before deciding whether or not to propose a resolution on Belarus. She stated the EU will introduce the "Religious Intolerance" resolution, as a counterweight to the anticipated resolution on "Defamation of Religion." As a final item, Dlouha requested USG feedback on a proposed declaration commemorating the 75th anniversary of the "Great Famine" in Ukraine and the "Responsibility to Protect" concept. End Summary. -------------- Belarus - Should Not Be Let off the Hook -------------- ¶2. (C) Dlouha commented that the Czech Republic remains concerned about freedom of speech and association in Belarus and while acknowledging that Belarus released the last of its political prisoners in August, the GOCR doubts that this positive step is indicative of any type of a trend. Dlouha reference the EU COHOM meeting on September 1 and noted that after this meeting the GOCR understood that the USG would be willing to consider whether to propose a resolution on Belarus depending on how things went during the September Belarus parliamentary elections. Dlouha expressed serious disappointment that the USG would change it's perspective since these COHOM discussions and urged the USG to reconsider. She emphasized that the GOCR does not believe Belarus deserves to be let off the hook. -------------- Czechs Agree on Need to Cite Iran, Burma and North Korea -------------- ¶3. (C) Dlouha thanked us for our details regarding the country-specific resolutions on human rights in Iran, Burma and North Korea. She noted that the EU, via the French EU Presidency, will introduce the resolutions on Burma and North Korea. On Burma, Dlouha noted that the resolution will have the same strong text that has been used in the past, with perhaps some modifications. The changes are likely to be related to the deteriorating situation on the ground and the repeated rebuffs by the regime to UN Special Envoy Gambari's efforts. She flagged that the EU is unlikely to reference sanctions in the resolution. Dlouha also comment that the GOCR is paying attention to the evolving situation related to anticipated prosecutions of democratic opponents to the Burmese regime. The Czechs plan to support the EU resolution on North Korea as well as the Canadian resolution on Iran. Dlouha noted the GOCR supports the USG perspective on "no-action motions" as well. -------------- Keep Sudan and Zimbabwe in UNHRC -------------- ¶4. (C) According to Dlouha, the EU burden within the Third Committee is so heavy that the EU is not looking to add Sudan and Zimbabwe country-specific resolutions. As well, the Czechs believe that the discussions of these two countries should be kept within the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). (Note: this conversation took place on September 9; before the announcement of an agreement between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe. End Note.) It is still unclear to the Czechs as to whether there will be two texts on Sudan - one requesting the extension of the mandate and one covering the situation there - or just one. -------------- Religious Intolerance Resolution -------------- ¶5. (C) The EU shares our concerns about the Organization of the Islamic Conference introducing a Defamation of Religion resolution. Thus, the EU plans to introduce its Religious Intolerance resolution at the Third Committee, and not just the UNHRC. -------------- Prisoners of Conscience -------------- ¶6. (C) Regarding our query on how to advance the cause of prisoners of conscience, the Czechs noted that when this PRAGUE 00000615 002 OF 002 declaration was signed, there was a general understanding that more events would follow. As a suggestion, and a reference to our efforts this past spring, the Czechs noted that more advance notice and more thorough preparations would be required if we would like to see more countries become involved in such an event. She also noted that if the content of such an event is very specific and points to certain countries (i.e. Cuba) we are unlikely to get much EU support this fall. According to Dlouha, we should also reach out to all, rather than a select number, of EU states since "singling out" countries in this area could create friction within the EU. -------------- Responsibility to Protect -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The French EU Presidency, according to Dlouha, is examining the "Responsibility to Protect" concept, which was outlined by the UNSC in 2005. The Czechs would like to see work done to define the scope of the concept related to genocide and crimes against humanity. Czech UN Ambassador Palous is planning to coordinate a side event in NY during the UNGA with Czech FM Schwarzenberg on this topic. -------------- Declaration Commemorating the Grand Famine -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Ukraine plans to introduce a declaration commemorating the 75th anniversary of the "Grand Famine" and the Czechs would like to see this introduced into the plenary rather than the third committee or the UNHRC, since this is a historical, rather than current, event. The Czechs encouraged our support of such a declaration since this famine had such a profound effect as well on the Eastern European countries of Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Graber