MONGOLIA UNLIKELY TO SEEK SEAT ON UN HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ULAANBAATAR 000204 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM, IO/RHS AND DRL/MLGA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREL UNHCR EAID MG SUBJECT: MONGOLIA UNLIKELY TO SEEK SEAT ON UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL REF: STATE 46477 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Brian L. Goldbeck for Reason 1.4 (d). (C) Per reftel, Post approached the Government of Mongolia on the upcoming election at the UNGA for seats on the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). Post's Econ/Pol Chief informed Mr. Batjargal, of MFA's Multilateral Cooperation Department, of the USG's view of the HRC's performance thus far, and underlined the need for countries with strong human rights records to run for HRC seats. Asked whether Mongolia would consider running in the May 21 HRC election, Batjargal said he did not think so, "not at this stage." Batjargal explained that while Mongolia is "an emerging, new democracy," it still has its share of human rights issues. Another factor he cited is the fierce competition between countries vying for the four Asia Group seats on the HRC. He said that given "the hostilities between candidates," Mongolia would be better off working "to improve our human rights record," rather than seeking an HRC seat. Batjargal added that Mongolia intends to run for an HRC seat in some future year. He added, without elaborating, that in the May 21 election, Mongolia will throw its support behind countries that have a good democratic record. GOLDBECK