Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
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09SINGAPORE1063 | 2009-11-02 09:26:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Singapore |
VZCZCXRO6001 OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH DE RUEHGP #1063 3060926 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 020926Z NOV 09 FM AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7389 INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0270 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0919 |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SINGAPORE 001063 |
1. (C) Embassy officers previewed the expected Third Committee resolutions as outlined in reftel and made a preliminary request for Singapore's support to Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Organisations Directorate Deputy Director Daryl Sng on October 27. Though Singapore is familiar with the United States' positions on these issues, it has not voted with the United States in prior years. Sng did not offer an immediate response, but he said Singapore is prepared to discuss particular resolutions or motions as specific texts are proposed. Sng's overall reaction suggested that Singapore is unlikely to depart from its traditional opposition to country-specific resolutions, support for or abstention from no-action motions, and support for a "defamation of religions" resolution. (Comment: Post expects that Singapore will likely continue its past practice in Third Committee votes this year, unless some of its larger neighbors such as Indonesia and Malaysia can be persuaded to change their traditional positions. End comment.) Country-Specific Resolutions on Burma, Iran, and the DPRK -------------------------- -------------------------- 2. (C) Sng said Singapore generally opposes country-specific resolutions as a matter of policy. With respect to Iran, Embassy officers pressed Sng as to whether Singapore would reconsider its policy in light of the disputed Iranian election and its aftermath. (Singapore did so in 2007 in response to violent events in Burma - but only to the extent of abstaining.) Sng did not offer a substantive response but said Singapore would consider the merits of any country-specific resolution based on both the specific text proposed and the circumstances of the country in question. No-Action Motions -------------------------- 3. (C) In keeping with its policy of opposition to country-specific resolutions, Singapore has historically supported (or, exceptionally, abstained from voting on) no-action motions. Sng said Singapore continued to hold the same views on no-action motions but that any final decision would, again, depend upon the text of a given motion and the surrounding circumstances. OIC Defamation of Religions Resolution -------------------------- 4. (C) Sng said that in light of Singapore's long-standing concerns about sectarian tensions among its own religious and ethnic groups, Singapore has been sympathetic to the concept underlying the OIC's resolution on defamation of religions. He added that Singapore has no position on whether it will support such a resolution this year, since it must see a proposed text before formulating an opinion. Sng appeared interested in the joint U.S.-Egypt resolution on freedom of speech at the Human Rights Council and expressed guarded approval of an effort to dissuade the OIC from tabling a new resolution on defamation of religions in favor of a less divisive alternative. (Sng also took the opportunity to reiterate that Singapore views country-specific resolutions as equally divisive.) Sng avoided giving a substantive response when Embassy officers asked whether he thought Singapore could play a helpful role in communicating with OIC countries as part of any such effort. Elections Resolution -------------------------- 5. (C) According to Sng, Singapore will likely support the United States' biennial resolution on free elections, though he said he was unable to make a definite commitment. SHIELDS Visit Embassy Singapore's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/singapore/ind ex.cfm |