UK STUDYING RANGE OF OPTIONS FOR 1267 SANCTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 000452

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2019
TAGS: EFIN KTFN ETTC UNSC UK
SUBJECT: UK STUDYING RANGE OF OPTIONS FOR 1267 SANCTIONS
REVIEW; UNDER LOGISTICAL AND LEGAL PRESSURE

Classified By: Kathleen Doherty, Acting Econ Minister Counselor, for re
asons 1.4 b&d


1. (C/NF) Summary: The UK is actively considering a wide
range of options for the upcoming 1267 Review, from doing
nothing and allowing last year's changes from UNSCR 1822 to
fully come into effect, to studying the proposal for an
independent review body. A challenge for the UK and the
U.S., FCO officials told us, is to convince other EU Member
States and the broader public of the effectiveness of
sanctions. HMG plans to let their request for a blanket
humanitarian exemption in the 1267 Committee sit quietly for
the time being, hoping no rift develops between the U.S. and
UK on one side, and France on the other. End Summary.

1267 Review
--------------


2. (C/NF) HMG is currently studying options for the 1267
review and annual reauthorization process, before consulting
with the U.S. and France, FCO officials told us. Their
priorities are to identify end-goals, pragmatically evaluate
which goals are achievable, and determine what approaches
would avoid censure by the European Court of First Instance.
HMG is studying all options: i.e, will the changes from last
year's 1822 resolution be sufficient to put off the courts
once fully implemented, to the Swiss proposal for a
independent review body. On the latter, HMG claims it is
objectively reviewing whether the proposal would work, and if
so, how effective it would be in the long term. FCO
officials stressed they are neither for nor against the
proposal at this point.


3. (C/NF) The UK is also looking into precedents for sharing
restricted information with the UN, as happened with Kosovo,
and whether there have been other independent review bodies
related to the UN system. The government is studying the
Watson Institute's 2005 paper on setting up a panel, asking
if an independent review body would end up deterring
listings, and questioning whether the current committee
voting process is working effectively. They noted the
committee now takes decisions on consensus, but wondered if a
simple majority vote might be more effective - particularly
in de-listing cases where Russia is singularly holding up
requests. Key to all their deliberations is how the European
Court of Justice's decision in the Yassin Qadi case will
continue to ripple through UK and EU asset-freezing regimes.
Some in the EU are using the Qadi case to try for extra
measures in the next resolution, FCO officials told us.

Effectiveness of Sanctions
--------------


4. (C/NF) A common theme running through the British
sanctions community recently is a desire to weigh the use of
resources against the effectiveness of sanctions. There is a
slight disconnect, however, when we discuss how the UK's
advocacy of tighter country sanctions, such as in the Sudan
and Liberian cases, will also impose heavier work loads -
primarily on the UK and U.S. bureaucracies. When pressed,
British officials claim they understand that following the
UNSCR 1822 model in other cases will require more effort, but
explain the improvements made to the 1267 Al Qaeda and
Taliban regimes should be applied to all other sanctions
regimes, or else it will risk those processes eventually
falling to court decisions.


5. (C/NF) Many of the UK's EU partners do not share their
view that sanctions are effective overall, the FCO told us.
There is skepticism across the board about sanctions - more
so on country sanctions rather than in the terrorist finance
field. The EU countries raise human rights (i.e., due
process) and trade concerns as problems in the implementation
of various regimes. In addition, the European press creates
the false impression sanctions hurt the people on the ground,
especially in countries like Zimbabwe, FCO officials told us.
They also mentioned how Saddam Hussein successfully
exploited misunderstandings of the Iraq sanctions regime to
his benefit. HMG believes the 1267 regime is under less
scrutiny from the press and NGO community because "even human
rights groups don't want to stand up for terrorists". But
courts are becoming bolder in threatening the AQ/Taliban
asset-freezing regime. The UK officials said they explain to
critics that if sanctions regimes are removed, it moves up
the timetable for military options.

UK Blanket Exemption

LONDON 00000452 002 OF 002


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6. (C/NF) On the surface of all UK considerations is a need
to consider the impact of any sanctions regimes on their
scant resources. Russia and France both told the UK they
were unhappy with HMG's request for a blanket exemption on
humanitarian license requests to the 1267 Committee. But HMG
feels they are struggling under a heavy load - they calculate
the UK provided 90% of exemption requests to the 1267
Committee in 2008. Court complaints about HMG delays in
processing requests, resource constraints, and the U.S.
example of a 2003 letter similarly requesting an exemption
led the UK to believe now was the time to act, FCO officials
told us. But after the dust-up at the UN, the UK is still
muddling through how to resolve this issue, especially given
Russian and Chinese knowledge of the UK's 2007 position. HMG
particularly fears a rift between the U.S. and UK on one
side, and France on the other. For now, they have decided to
go slow and hope time helps them come up with a solution.


7. (C/NF) Comment: In our view, the British government
remains fully committed to the robust use of sanctions as a
tool - both in the fight against terrorism and in affecting
countries' behavior. The UK will continue to be among our
strongest allies in multilateral fora advocating for
stronger, targeted sanctions. Our challenge, however, will
be to balance our shared goals against a UK - and broader EU
- concern over cost-benefit analyses of whether sanctions are
effectively working, and the increasingly aggressive UK and
European courts which question the legality of proceedings
and sufficiency of evidence presented. The British
government understands the need to balance legal and
operational security concerns; UK courts are increasingly
focused on only the legal aspects.

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