BELGIUM: IN BROAD AGREEMENT WITH U.S. POSITIONS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001260 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/WE, IO/RHS, AND DRL/MLGA GENEVA FOR MARK CASSAYRE, ANNA CHAMBERS, MELANIE KHANNA AND ANNA MANSFIELD USUN FOR JENNIFER SIMON, CRAIG KUEHL, JOHN SAMMIS AND LAURIE PHIPPS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2019 TAGS: PREL PHUM PINR UN BE SUBJECT: BELGIUM: IN BROAD AGREEMENT WITH U.S. POSITIONS IN UNHRC REF: STATE 93373 Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Richard Eason for reasons 1 .4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has similar positions on the upcoming 12th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC),with the only stated difference being that a Russian working group for UNHRC review might be "positive". Belgium is currently non-committal on all human rights topics, because all key players in the Belgian MFA are changing. No director or deputy director level replacements have yet been officially named. END SUMMARY ¶2. (SBU) Attendees to the meeting held on September 3 were: -- France Chainaye, Director for Human Rights at the Belgian MFA -- Sandrine Platteau, Attach for Human Rights at the Belgian MFA -- Philip De Muelenaere, Attach for Human Rights at the Belgian MFA -- Atul Keshap, Director of the Office of Human Rights, Humanitarian and Social Affairs (IO/RHS) -- Lynn Sicade, Senior Policy Advisor for DRL/MLGA -- Kimberly Phelan, Poloff for the U.S. Mission to European Union -- Nick Harris, Poloff for U.S. Mission to Belgium ¶3. (C) The meeting was cordial but non-committal, because the key players in the Belgian MFA are changing. Nathalie Rondeux, former deputy director of human rights, has left and France Chainaye, the director, is moving on in mid September. No official replacements have yet been named at the director or deputy director level. Chainaye said that the new director for the human rights at the Belgian MFA will not arrive until November at the earliest. At the lower level, the team is still being assembled and is for the most part new to human rights issues. ¶4. (C) The U.S. side laid out the U.S. priorities for the upcoming session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the Belgians, who agreed "in principle" with all of the topics, but had minor differences on issues such as the Durban Review Process text and the proposal for a Russian working group in the HRC review. ¶5. (C) Chainaye believed that the Pillay and Goldstone reports on the Gaza incursion will likely be read together. She said that she has concerns about the Organization of Islamic Conference's (OIC) reaction to both reports, as this could hijack the 12th session. She agreed with the proposed U.S. strategy of essentially ignoring the reports. ¶6. (C) The U.S. mentioned the resolution 1881 passed to extend the UN presence in Sudan as a possible model for "splitting the African group vote." Chainaye said that the Belgian mission in Geneva has become a "close observer of the African and Arab group dynamics." ¶7. (C) The Durban Review Process (DRP) text was not signed by the U.S. because the language in it prohibiting incitement and hate speech is in direct contradiction to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This difference of opinion on the Freedom of Expression caused divisions in the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG). The IO/RHS director went on to explain how the U.S. has been working to finesse the language with the Egyptians. The U.S. hopes to "hold the line" on the text and not subject it to small additions by Cuba and Russia. Chainaye said that she agreed with the "general approach 100%". ¶8. (C) Chainaye said that Belgium was too small to reach out bilaterally to support resolutions in the UNHRC very often; this effort would most likely need to take place at the EU level. ¶9. (C) Chainaye said that she would support Canada with its upcoming resolution on Iran and "absolutely" opposes Iran becoming a member of the UNHRC. However, she did not know of any country that could successfully run against Iran. ¶10. (C) In up-coming country-specific resolutions for BRUSSELS 00001260 002 OF 002 Burundi, Somalia and Cambodia Chainaye expressed general support for the U.S. positions, but professed not to know all the details of each resolution. ¶11. (C) Chainaye said that Belgium was not in favor of a wholesale review of the HRC as there is "more to lose than to win". She also said that she was not opposed to a Russian working group on this subject and described it as "positive". Regarding the upcoming Russian resolution on traditional values, she said that Belgium would be opposed if it undermines universal human rights. GUTMAN