UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE: TUNISIA PRESSING HARD TO

UNCLAS TUNIS 000801 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM SCUL TS UN SUBJECT: UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE: TUNISIA PRESSING HARD TO MAKE 2010 "THE YEAR OF YOUTH," AMBASSADOR RAISES IRAN, DEFAMATION OF RELIGION MOTIONS REF: A. TUNIS 788 ¶B. TUNIS 751 ¶C. STATE 109397 Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph ten. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: A senior Foreign Ministry official convoked the Ambassador on October 30 to press for U.S. support for a Tunisian proposal before the UNGA Third Committee to designate 2010 "The Year of Youth" and organize an international conference on youth policy. The Ambassador pledged to pass the message and seek an official response. Noting other business before the Third Committee, the Ambassador urged Tunisia to support the Canadian resolution condemning human rights violations and repression in Iran and the Political-Economic Counselor urged deferral of the OIC states' "defamation of religion" motion until a compromise formula could be agreed. End summary. ¶3. (SBU) Saida Chtoui, Secretary of State for Asia and the Americas at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, convoked the Ambassador on October 30 to request U.S. support for the Tunisian proposal, currently being considered by the UNGA Third Committee, to designate 2010 "the Year of Youth" and organize an international conference on youth policy. (Note: The Spanish and Canadian ambassadors were also convoked, presumably on the same issue, on the same day. The British Ambassador was convoked for an October 31 meeting. End note.) ¶4. (SBU) Tunisia's proposal would constitute a significant "affirmation of global values" on the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding to counter the trend of youth alienation and extremism, Chtoui argued, and originates from President Ben Ali himself. (Note: In fact, the proposal is an outgrowth of a 2008 domestic campaign (of dubious merit) to engage Tunisian youth by establishing a new "pact" stressing mutual loyalty and solidarity between the state and the country's youth. End note.) ¶5. (SBU) Chtoui said Tunisia had already enlisted significant international support for its proposal from the Arab League, from the OIC, from the heads of state gathered at the Arab-Latin America summit in March 2009, from the Nonaligned Movement, and from the G-77 plus China. Even the OSCE, at a recent meeting in Washington, had indicated its support for Tunisia's proposal, Chtoui asserted. ¶6. (SBU) Some countries are not supporting Tunisia's proposal, Chtoui added. She explicitly rejected a Swedish counterproposal that 2010 instead be commemorated as the 25th anniversary of the first ever UN designated youth year. Chtoui also rejected the arguments of some member states that it is by now too late to declare 2010 the "Year of Youth." In fact, Chtoui asserted, Tunisia's proposal has been on the table for some time, and member states have had ample opportunity to consider it. Furthermore, most countries are already pursuing youth initiatives that could easily fit under the rubric of the "Year of Youth." The Tunisian proposal would simply provide a unifying framework for projects already underway. The international conference could be held later, perhaps in Tunis in the summer of 2011, she suggested, but the GOT believed it important that 2010 be the designated year, "otherwise we may slip to 2012 or 2013," she worried, "and much time would be lost." ¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador responded that he was uninstructed on this issue, but believed that the USG's position on this proposal had in the past been neutral. He pledged to seek an official U.S. response. ¶8. (SBU) Noting other business before the UN Third Committee, the Ambassador urged Tunisia, as we have earlier (refs A and B),to keep international pressure on Iran and to support the Canadian sponsored motion condemning the latest round of repression in Iran. With its violent response to popular protests of vote rigging in June, the regime in Tehran had shown its true face, the Ambassador underlined. ¶9. (SBU) POL-ECON Counselor also noted that the U.S. was urging OIC states to defer debate on their "defamation of religion" motions before the Third Committee. The current text raises freedom of expression concerns, the U.S. believes, but we strongly support government efforts to promote tolerance and combat bigotry. Chtoui said Tunisia would consider U.S. positions on these questions, but had to balance carefully so as not to alienate countries whose support it needs for other issues. ¶10. (SBU) Action request: Embassy requests Department guidance on responding to the Tunisian demarche on the "Year of Youth." GRAY