AFTER SUSPENDING MEETING, CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 001119

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL UNGA XA
SUBJECT: AFTER SUSPENDING MEETING, CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE
DEFERS CONSIDERATION OF CREDENTIALS OF MADAGASCAR AND GUINEA


1. (U) SUMMARY: On December 8 the Credentials Committee
met to consider the credentials of delegations to the 64th
session of the General Assembly (GA). Members of the
Credentials Committee include Brazil, China, Jamaica, the
Philippines, United States, the Russian Federation, Spain,
Tanzania and Zambia. Zambia and Tanzania, on behalf of the
African Group, challenged the credentials of Madagascar and
Guinea. The Committee then suspended its meeting until
December 11, at which time the Committee adopted by consensus
a proposal of the Chair that consideration of Madagascar and
Guinea's credentials be deferred, but all other credentials
be accepted. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) At the first meeting of the Credentials Committee
during the 64th session of the GA, the PermRep of the
Philippines, Hilario Davide, was elected Chair. It was noted
that since the Secretariat's memo, the formal credentials of
the United States had been submitted.


3. (U) Zambia intervened to question whether the
credentials submitted by Madagascar and Guinea were signed by
the new and constitutional authorities of those States. If
they were signed by the unconstitutional regime, then Zambia
was prepared to challenge them. Zambia noted that in the
past the Credentials Committee has refused to accredit
governments that came to power through force (including in
Haiti, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia). Zambia requested that
the Committee act to protect the commitment to democracy and
Rule of Law in line with past practice of the Credentials
Committee. Tanzania aligned itself with Zambia, noting that
this was a position held by the African
Group.


4. (U) USUN/L intervened, noting that previous
information indicated that there were unlikely to be
credentials challenges during this session. Brazil, Spain,
Jamaica and Russia also indicated that they were not prepared
to act on the challenge today and requested more time to
consult capital and consider information on past practice.
Spain suggested that the Secretariat submit to the Committee
a provisional document outlining past practice of the
Committee and indicating available actions. Russia noted
that GA and Credentials Committee practice regarding
credentials challenges is diverse and contradictory, but
indicated sympathy for the African proposal.


5. (U) In response to a question from Russia, UN
Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Peter
Taksoe-Jensen stated that only one set of credentials had
been submitted on behalf of Madagascar and Guinea,
respectively. Madagascar's credentials were submitted on 16
September 2009 and signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs
of the High Transitional Authority and listed Rajoelina as a
representative. The credentials for Guinea were received on
26 September 2009 and were signed by Prime Minister Kumara.


6. (U) Taksoe-Jensen stated that decisions of the
Credentials Committee are decided by a majority of Member
States present and voting. He outlined three options for the
Committee in response to the challenge: (1) to adopt all
delegations' credentials; (2) to adopt the credentials of all
delegations except Madagascar and/or Guinea, and defer
consideration of their credentials; or (3) to adopt the
credentials of all delegations except Madagascar and/or
Guinea and recommend that the GA reject or not accept those
credentials. The effect of deferring consideration of
credentials is to allow Member States to continue to
participate provisionally in the GA with the same rights and
privileges of other Members. However, the credentials of
these States would remain open to challenge and could be
referred back to the Credentials Committee at any time. A
rejection of credentials would prevent the State's
Representative from sitting in the GA or related bodies,
though the State would remain a Member and would retain a
seat and nameplate. The State's mission would continue to
function, would be allowed to communicate with other
delegations, and representatives could continue to
participate in non-GA bodies unless determined otherwise.


7. (U) The Committee suspended its meeting until December
11 to allow the Secretariat time to prepare and distribute an
informal document on past practice for credentials
challenges. In response to a statement of the Chair
indicating that due process required hearing from the
affected States before rejecting their credentials,
Taksoe-Jensen noted that there is no precedent for hearing
non-Committee Members during Credentials Committee
deliberations.


8. (U) On December 10, the UN Office of Legal Affairs

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(OLA) distributed a non-paper outlining significant past
precedents of the Credentials Committee. It is USUN's
understanding that on December 11, the African Union held a
meeting at which the decision was made to support deferral of
the credentials decision for Madagascar and Guinea. When the
Committee resumed its meeting on December 11, the Chair
presented the results of his informal consultations in which
a consensus was reached to defer consideration of the
challenged credentials but to accept all other credentials.
The Credentials Committee approved this solution by
consensus. Paragraph 11 of the Committee's report further
states: "The Members of the Committee decided to adopt this
proposal on the understanding that the representatives of
both Guinea and Madagascar will continue to have the right to
participate provisionally in the activities of the
sixty-fourth session with all the rights and privileges that
other Member States enjoy who have had their credentials
accepted. Should there be a formal objection during the
sixty-fourth session to the participation of either Guinea or
Madagascar, then this objection could, within the framework
of the rules of the General Assembly, be referred to the
Credentials Committee for its consideration."
RICE