PAKISTAN MISSION COMPLAINS ABOUT UN ROLE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000528 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM BG SUBJECT: PAKISTAN MISSION COMPLAINS ABOUT UN ROLE IN BANGLADESH WAR CRIMES PROCESS Classified By: AMBASSADOR DICARLO, FOR REASONS 1.4 B/D ¶1. (C) The Pakistani Mission to the UN has demarched the UK, French and U.S. Missions regarding Pakistan,s concern over a potential UN role in the Bangladesh war crimes process. Pakistan requests that all three countries jointly demarche Bangladesh asking for the government to refrain from "pressing ahead" with UN involvement in the war crimes process (reftel). On May 22, Pakistani DPR Farukh Amil conveyed these points to Ambassador DiCarlo. Noting the current situation in Swat, Amil said any movement that lent international credibility to the war crimes process would "demoralize" the Pakistani military at a time when it had much greater issues to confront. Amil said Pakistan was not telling Bangladesh to stop the process; it simply wanted to tamp down the situation temporarily so that it did not become a regional issue. In Pakistan,s opinion, a UN role - even if merely technical - would elevate the war crimes process to a regional issue. Ambassador DiCarlo thanked Amil for his points, and said USUN would convey them to Washington. ¶2. (C) Separately, Poloff confirmed that Amil had made the exact same points to the French and UK Missions, who were noncommittal when approached by Pakistan. On May 22, Poloff spoke with Hitoki Den, the UN,s team leader for South Asia. Den was aware of Pakistani concerns, and said the UN was caught in a dilemma: it was uncomfortable with rejecting the request of a sovereign government that related to internal justice matters, and yet it understood that inserting the UN into this (potentially political) process would give it legitimacy and might have regional ramifications. Den said U/SYG Pascoe was aware of the issue, and discussing it with senior-level UN officials. RICE