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### Viewing cable 08GENEVA446, RESPONSES IN GENEVA TO HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL \

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08GENEVA446 | 2008-06-13 15:03 | 2011-03-13 00:12 | CONFIDENTIAL | US Mission Geneva
Appears in these articles: http://www.letemps.ch/swiss_papers

`

    VZCZCXYZ0000
    PP RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHGV #0446/01 1651539
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 131539Z JUN 08
    FM USMISSION GENEVA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6592
    INFO RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
    RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1761
    RUEHAN/AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO 0069
    RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 0100
    RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 0956
    RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 1977
    RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA 0177
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JUN LUANDA 0020
    RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA 0284
    RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 0282
    RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU 0152
    RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0364
    RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR 0316
    RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0613
    RUEHTG/AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA 0187
    RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 4986
    RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 2804
    RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 0169
    RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 1222
    RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2790
    RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0086
    RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 1097
    RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2755

` `

    2008-06-13 15:39:00	08GENEVA446	US Mission Geneva	CONFIDENTIAL	08STATE61034	VZCZCXYZ0000\
    PP RUEHWEB\
    \
    DE RUEHGV #0446/01 1651539\
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH\
    P 131539Z JUN 08\
    FM USMISSION GENEVA\
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6592\
    INFO RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE\
    RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1761\
    RUEHAN/AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO 0069\
    RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 0100\
    RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 0956\
    RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 1977\
    RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA 0177\
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JUN LUANDA 0020\
    RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA 0284\
    RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 0282\
    RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU 0152\
    RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0364\
    RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR 0316\
    RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0613\
    RUEHTG/AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA 0187\
    RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 4986\
    RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 2804\
    RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 0169\
    RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 1222\
    RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2790\
    RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0086\
    RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 1097\
    RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2755\
    	C O N F I D E N T I A L GENEVA 000446 \
     \
    SIPDIS \
     \
    E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2018 \
    TAGS: PHUM PREL UNHRC PINR
    SUBJECT: RESPONSES IN GENEVA TO HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL \
    DEMARCHE \
     \
    REF: STATE 61034 (NOTAL) \
     \
    Classified By: Ambassador Warren W. Tichenor.  Reasons: 1.4 (b/d). \
     \
    ¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  The Ambassador and Mission officers deployed \
    reftel language in discussions with numerous delegations \
    concerning the new USG posture toward the Human Rights \
    Council.  Most delegations with whom we spoke agreed that the \
    Council was seriously flawed.  While a few, notably Poland \
    and Italy, saw the USG decision as the Council's death knell, \
    most expressed disappointment with the new posture, arguing \
    that it would only complicate efforts to counter negative \
    trends in the Council.  Many of our closest friends in the \
    Western Group doubted that it would serve our common \
    strategic goals.  Amid rumors that the U.S. was adopting its \
    new posture for ulterior motives, such as to avoid scrutiny \
    under the Universal Periodic Review, most delegations also \
    urged that the USG further articulate in public the reasoning \
    behind our disengagement.  We believe further explanation of \
    our position, possibly through an op-ed, would be beneficial. \
     END SUMMARY. \
     \
    ¶2. (U) The new USG posture toward the Human Rights Council \
    met with keen interest from Geneva-based delegations.  Per \
    reftel guidance, the Ambassador met with a large number of \
    his counterparts, notably from like-minded governments, to \
    articulate the USG position.  Mission officers also did so \
    with their counterparts from a range of delegations. \
     \
    BROAD DISAPPOINTMENT WITH THE COUNCIL \
    ------------------------------------- \
     \
    ¶3. (C) Most like-minded delegations, as well as many others, \
    stressed that they share our general disappointment with the \
    Council.  Canada, Australia, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, \
    Poland and Norway voiced among the strongest sense of \
    disappointment with the Council, emphasizing that they were \
    troubled by many of the Council's decisions of the past year. \
     Even the Russian ambassador commented privately to us that \
    the Council had not performed well, although he stressed that \
    it was a new institution that might still prove itself.  (The \
    Norwegian ambassador told us that the Russian ambassador had \
    privately made the same comment to her, noting that without \
    the U.S. as a counterweight, Russia might be under greater \
    pressure to even more strongly support the positions of the \
    Organization of the Islamic Conference.)  Only the Brazilian \
    Deputy PermRep, among our interlocutors, argued that the \
    Council's overall record was good and that it had served to \
    advance human rights goals. \
     \
    REACTIONS TO OUR POLICY:  A STEP TOWARD COUNCIL'S DEMISE... \
    --------------------------------------------- -------------- \
     \
    ¶4. (C) In their conversations with Ambassador Tichenor, his \
    Polish and Italian counterparts both argued that our \
    disengagement marked what the former described as "the \
    beginning of the end of the Council."  The Italian ambassador \
    said his government had become sufficiently frustrated with \
    the workings of that body to begin reconsidering its own \
    engagement.  The USG move would be a further spur to such \
    thinking by his government.  Similarly, both the Moroccan and \
    Japanese ambassadors told Ambassador Tichenor that without \
    the participation of the U.S., the Council would be a less \
    meaningful -- and perhaps even meaningless -- organization. \
     \
    ...OR PLAYING INTO OUR OPPONENTS' HANDS? \
     \
    ---------------------------------------- \
     \
    ¶5. (C) The Danish ambassador echoed some of that same message \
    but did not predict the Council's eventual demise.  She told \
    Ambassador Tichenor that, given the Council's record, the \
    USG's decision was understandable.  The U.S. had tried hard \
    to improve the Council's workings, making our current \
    frustration all the more reasonable.  She expressed relief \
    that Denmark was not a Council member, and said that her \
    government might give serious thought to disengagement if \
    that body's functioning deteriorated further. \
     \
    ¶6. (C) The Danish ambassador was quick to add, however, that \
    for the moment, her government would continue to engage in \
    the Council, and that our move would complicate efforts to \
    counter negative trends in that body.  Most of our \
    interlocutors shared that view.  The Maldives ambassador told \
    us that it was too early to judge that the Council was a \
    total failure, and that countries like the U.S. should work \
    to improve it rather than walking away from it.  The Dutch \
    ambassador commented that though he respected USG plans to \
    focus our human rights efforts in other venues, his \
    government continued to see Geneva as a key human rights \
    venue.  USG disengagement was disappointing, both because it \
    ran counter to the U.S. "can-do" spirit that he admired and \
    because it would weaken those working against attacks on \
    human rights in the Council. \
     \
    ¶7. (C) The Canadian ambassador expressed similar views. \
    Stressing that Canada often stood alone among Council \
    members, enjoying only weak EU support, he expressed regret \
    that he would be even more isolated without behind-the-scenes \
    USG help.  The timing of our move was particularly bad, he \
    argued to Ambassador Tichenor, given that the Council's new \
    president, who will come from the Africa Group, could prove \
    more difficult to deal with than the incumbent president, \
    particularly if pressured by less reasonable forces in that \
    Group and in the Organization of the Islamic Conference.  He \
    concluded that countries such as Egypt and Pakistan would \
    take advantage of the U.S. disengagement to further press \
    their causes, and would enjoy even more open support from \
    Russia and China, both of which would become more "brutal" in \
    their dealings in the Council (because of the absence of \
    countervailing U.S. influence).  Many other interlocutors, \
    including Hungary and Australia, strongly shared that view. \
     \
    ¶8. (C) While sharing the opinion that the new USG posture \
    might inadvertently play into the hands of leading OIC \
    countries, several interlocutors questioned the timing and/or \
    expressed disappointment for other reasons as well. \
    Australia said that with High Commissioner for Human Rights \
    Louise Arbour's departure, this was not a good moment to lose \
    the USG's influence in shaping the relationship between the \
    High Commissioner's office and the Council, which is in a \
    fragile transitional stage.  Slovakia regretted the \
    suddenness of the U.S. move so soon after Slovakia's election \
    to the Council, characterizing it as resulting in \
    embarrassment to the Slovak government.  The UK, Canada and \
    Poland noted that they were taken by surprise and would have \
    been better able to strategize had they received advance \
    notice before the Council session of the USG decision, or \
    even been consulted on it. \
     \
    LOOKING FORWARD TO CONTINUED COOPERATION \
    ---------------------------------------- \
     \
    ¶9. (C) Many of the countries that expressed regret at USG \
    disengagement said they intended to continue cooperating with \
    the U.S. to the extent possible, including by providing us \
    with information on the state-of-play of developments in the \
    Council.  The Nigerian ambassador, who will almost certainly \
    become the new Council President with the end of the \
    incumbent's term next week, told Ambassador Tichenor that he \
    looked forward to working hard to shape the body into \
    something worthy of U.S. support and engagement, and that he \
    would do what he could, in conjunction with us, to achieve \
    that end. \
     \
    NEED TO FURTHER PUBLICLY ARTICULATE OUR APPROACH \
    --------------------------------------------- --- \
     \
    ¶10. (C) Many interlocutors, including Western allies, \
    expressed hope that the USG would more fully articulate its \
    decision, particularly to their publics.  High Commissioner \
    Arbour also strongly argued that position to the Ambassador. \
    They noted that some countries had taken advantage of the \
    decision and its suddenness to spread rumors impugning USG \
    motives.  According to one rumor, supposedly fueled by Cuba, \
    the USG had decided to disengage in order to avoid coming up \
    for Universal Periodic Review scrutiny; though the rumor was \
    obviously false, particularly given that the U.S. is to be \
    reviewed in 2010, we received numerous questions about it. \
     \
    ¶11. (SBU) At least from our perspective in Geneva, we believe \
    an affirmative public statement, possibly in the form of an \
    op-ed laying out more fully the justifiable rationale behind \
    our approach, would be beneficial. \
    TICHENOR \

`