DEMARCHE RESPONSE: CANDIDATES FOR UN HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 001659 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD AND IO/RHS CNEVILLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/09/2019 TAGS: PHUM PREL IR YM SUBJECT: DEMARCHE RESPONSE: CANDIDATES FOR UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL REF: STATE 90247 Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) PolOff delivered reftel demarche to Liza Khaled in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MFA) UN Department on September 9. Khaled said that Yemen is considering running for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and that the Yemeni Ambassador to the UN and other relevant ROYG officials were planning to hold a meeting during the 64th session of the UN General Assembly this fall to decide whether or not to run for a seat. Khaled expected a decision in late 2009. She added that the ROYG would also discuss the suitability of other countries in the Asia group for the HRC, and mentioned Jordan and Qatar as two possible candidates that Yemen might support. ¶2. (C) Post believes that Yemen is unlikely to decide to run for a seat on the Human Rights Council given a lack of high-level commitment to human rights and other leadership responsibilities in the international arena (see below on Yemen's NAM presidency). The ROYG has permreps in Geneva and New York, but is facing serious financial difficulty and may not possess the resources for additional travel related to HRC discussions. While Yemen is in line with the United States on some human rights issues, it has struggled in recent years to maintain a clean record domestically, and, given popular support for the Palestinians, is unlikely to steer the council away from a country-specific focus on Israel. Yemen generally toes the Arab League line on most issues at the UN, but has on occasion taken different positions from other countries in the region. OTHER IO NEWS FROM YEMEN -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Khaled told PolOff that Yemen, which underwent the UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights, had thus far implemented 109 of the recommendations from UN member states, including U.S. recommendations on improving gender equality. Yemen rejected 22 of the recommendations, such as abolishing the death penalty, because they violated Islamic law and / or the Yemeni constitution. There are 12 recommendations that the ROYG is still considering, and, according to Khaled, is likely to implement. ¶4. (SBU) Yemen will hold the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) starting in January 2010, according to Khaled. This is the first time that Yemen has assumed any such leadership position in the international community, and the MFA is devoting significant efforts to ensure that the presidency is successful. Yemen has no particular plans for NAM, but "hopes to learn from the international experiences of the U.S. and other states." SECHE