POLES WELCOME U.S. APPROACH ON NORTH KOREA

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 001198 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE (GLANTZ),EAP, IO/UNP, AND S/NKP E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2019 TAGS: PHUM AORC SOCI UNGA KN PL SUBJECT: POLES WELCOME U.S. APPROACH ON NORTH KOREA REF: STATE 123209 Classified By: Political Counselor F. Daniel Sainz for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) The GOP appreciates the U.S. approach to the December 7 meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, per reftel, as well as Washington's broader engagement strategy with North Korea. Urszula Rasnowiecka of the MFA's Asia-Pacific Department said she hoped that such recent developments would stimulate reciprocal goodwill on the part of Pyongyang, but she was skeptical that the North Koreans were genuinely interested in broadly opening up to the outside world. ¶2. (C) UN and Human Rights Department Deputy Director Krystyna Zurek similarly welcomed the U.S. approach, especially the news that Special Envoy King would personally deliver the U.S. questions and recommendations. Zurek said Poland planned to raise concerns about the exercise of religious freedom and recommend that the DPRK lift restrictions imposed on religious practices, cease "persecution and rigid control" over those who profess religious beliefs, and ensure that North Korea's domestic legislation and practice is in full compliance with Article 18 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Poland also plans to raise concerns about prison camps, forced labor, and harsh conditions imposed by the criminal justice system. Poland will recommend the DPRK ratify the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol and ensure that all persons deprived of liberty are treated with humanity and dignity. ¶3. (C) Zurek expressed concern that states were limited to two-to-three minute oral pronouncements and with procedural loopholes that could cause like-minded states to be left off the speakers' list. Under the current arrangement, only oral statements are entered into the official record, even though Poland and others had proposed that states be allowed to enter longer written statements into the record. Zurek also expressed concern that states have the right to accept or reject recommendations, noting that Cuba had rejected the majority of states' recommendations on the grounds that they were "politically motivated." ¶4. (SBU) BIO NOTE: Edward Pietrzyk will be Poland's new ambassador to North Korea and will take up his duties there in January. He will be in Washington this week for consultations with U.S. and Polish Embassy officials. Pietrzyk is a retired military officer (Commander of Polish Land Forces was his final position) and former ambassador to Iraq (April 2007-August 2008). In October 2007 he was seriously wounded in a terrorist attack in Baghdad, receiving burns over 20 percent of his body. Born 3 November 1949 in Rawa Mazowiecka, Pietrzyk is a graduate of the Military University of Technology in Warsaw (1971),the Russian Military Academy of Artillery (1978),the General Staff Academy of the USSR (1990),and the U.S. Military Academy (2000). He speaks fluent English. FEINSTEIN