VZCZCXRO0390
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHKG #0396 0581828
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271828Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2326
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS KINGSTON 000396 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP, WHA/CAR (BENT) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KUNR PHUM UN ADCO JM
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON UN REFORM 
 
REF: A. STATE 4746 
     ¶B. STATE 4745 
 
This message is Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please handle 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. This message is also an Action Request.  Please see 
Paragraph 5. 
 
¶2. On February 23, P/ECouns called on Ambassador Vilma 
McNish, Director of the International Organizations 
Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign 
Trade (MFAFT), to convey reftel points on the way forward on 
UN Reform.  McNish was keenly interested in the subject, 
particularly the points on the Human Rights Council (HRC) and 
the Peacebuilding Commission.  She agreed that improved 
accountability and transparency were necessary at the UN in 
general, but disagreed with significant aspects of the U.S. 
position on the HRC and Peacebuilding Commission.  After 
cautioning that she was offering her "personal views" to the 
demarche being presented, she made the following points: 
 
--- 
HRC 
--- 
 
-- There should be no  criteria (regarding a prospective 
member's human rights record, for example) because "all 
countries have a sovereign right to seek election" to the 
HRC, "whether or not they get elected."  Reminded that one of 
the reasons that the old Human Rights Commission became 
discredited was because of its repeated practice of indulging 
known human rights violators, McNish acknowledged the point. 
 
 
-- The new HRC should be no smaller than the old Human Rights 
Commission - 53 states.  When P/ECouns cited that a smaller 
body would be more agile and efficient, McNish replied that 
reducing the HRC to between 22 and 30 members would increase 
the competition for seats, thereby excluding many interested 
states and decreasing the representativeness of the body; 
 
-- Without explicitly saying so, McNish suggested that the 
USG had also politicized the deliberations of the Commission. 
 
------------------------ 
Peacebuilding Commission 
------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to McNish, negotiations regarding the 
Peacebuilding Commission continue to be affected by 
"membership problems."  Asked to explain, McNish described 
the five categories of membership on the Peacebuilding 
Commission as:  7 UNSC countries, including the Permament 5; 
5 troop contributor nations; 5 financial contributor nations; 
7 ECOSOC nations; and 7 General Assembly countries.  (Jamaica 
is a candidate under the latter group, she added.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to McNish, P-5 and WEOG (relatively 
affluent Western European and Other) countries are 
over-represented in the first three groups, with P-5 each 
taking a seat, leaving only two seats for others.  Three of 
the top five troop contributors are India, Pakistan, and 
Bangladesh, she said, heavily skewing that category's 
representation to South Asia.  Selecting the top five 
financial contributors meant further WEOG representation at 
the expense of smaller/poorer countries, who were still left 
to compete with WEOG countries for the seven ECOSOC and seven 
GA seats. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Action Request:  If Department deems it appropriate, 
Post would appreciate clarification of current state of the 
Peacebuilding Commission discussions beyond that contained in 
Ref B points, and, if appropriate, additional points with 
which to engage the GOJ on this subject. 
JOHNSON