USAU: PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL APPROVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 000332 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, AND IO/UNP E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV MR AU SUBJECT: USAU: PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL APPROVES SANCTIONS AGAINST MAURITANIAN JUNTA Classified By: AMBASSADOR DONALD YAMAMOTO, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (U) This message contains an action request in para. 6. ¶2. (U) Summary: At its February 5 meeting, the African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Council decided to impose targeted sanctions on the Mauritanian junta that overthrew democratically elected President Abdallahi six months ago. The Council also agreed that sanctions should be accompanied by efforts on the part of the AU and its partners to restore constitutional order. The debate over sanctions now shifts to the UN and the EU. End Summary. ¶3. (U) In a landmark decision, the AU Peace and Security Council voted in closed session on February 5 to implement sanctions against the Mauritanian junta. Specifically, the Council envisions visa denials, travel restrictions, and freezing of assets. The communique, issued after the meeting, requests member-states to "scrupulously implement this decision." (Note: This was only the second time that the Council had adopted such stiff measures against an AU member; the first was in 2007 against the leadership of Anjouan. End note.) ¶4. (U) The Council had announced in a December 22, 2008 communique that if, by February 5, constitutional order is not restored, it would impose targeted sanctions on all individuals, both civilian and military, "whose activities are designed to maintain the unconstitutional status quo in Mauritania." The Council, as well as the AU's international partners, were insistent that the sanctions not harm the Mauritanian people. ¶5. (SBU) The February 5 decision also triggers the AU's notification of the UNSC that it is going to pursue sanctions as a pressure tactic against the junta. Council members, AU partners, and AU Commission staff expect more debate on the appropriateness of sanctions at both the UN and the EU. ¶6. (C) Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra will be at UN headquarters February 9-13. USAU encourages USUN to meet with Lamamra to discuss the sanctions issue, as well as concerns over the seating of a Mauritanian PermRep who has allegiances to the military junta. The AU has suspended Mauritania from participating in any AU activity, including the recent Summit. USAU will advise Lamamra before he departs Addis that AU member-states -- as a bloc -- are best placed to challenge the seating of the junta's candidate at the UN. ¶7. (U) The Council's decision is not limited to sanctions. Sanctions should be accompanied by efforts on the part of the AU, its partners, and all Mauritanian parties, to restore constitutional order. Moreover, coup leaders need to cooperate with the AU Commission. ¶8. (C) Council PermReps told USAU Pol/Econ Chief that the AU Commission (the organization's Secretariat) actually recommended that the Council defer its decision until February 20 when the Francophonie Organization hosts a consultative meeting on the situation in Mauritania in Paris. An overwhelming majority of member-states on the Council argued against deferral, while only one member-state advocated for it, according to sources within the Council. "They tried to move the discussion in their direction. We resisted," said the PermRep from Uganda, who supported sanctions. ¶9. (C) Upon learning of the Council's decision, the Mauritanian PermRep to the AU (sidelined by the junta but still in Addis Ababa) telephoned President Abdallahi to deliver the news. Abdallahi reportedly told him that this was a "positive development." YAMAMOTO