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PP RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0764/01 1011836
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111836Z APR 06
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8688
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0323
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 0564
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1281
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0634
RUEHYN/AMEMBASSY SANAA 0066
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0178
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2075

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000764 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KUNR PHUM EAID KPKO UNSC
SUBJECT: HIRC DELEGATION DISCUSSES HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, UN 
 
REFORM, DARFUR WITH G77 AMBASSADORS AND GA PRESIDENT'S CHEF 
DE CABINET 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  A House International Relations Committee 
(HIRC) delegation led by Chairman Henry Hyde met the GA 
President's Chef de Cabinet and subsequently with six key G77 
ambassadors March 27 to discuss a range of issues.  Key 
topics of discussion centered on the recently created UN 
Human Rights Council (HRC), UN management reform, UN mandate 
review, Darfur and sexual exploitation by UN Peacekeepers. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On Monday March 27, Chairman Henry Hyde led a HIRC 
delegation to New York to meet with key UN interlocutors. 
The delegation consisted of Chairman Hyde (R-IL), Congressman 
Tom Lantos (D-CA), Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), 
Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Congressman Dan Burton 
(R-IN), Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-AS), Congressman 
Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Congressman William Delahunt (D-MA). 
The delegation met first with Ambassador Lars-Hjalmar Wide of 
Sweden, Chef de Cabinet to UNGA President Jan Eliasson (who 
was out of the country), followed by a larger meeting that 
also included Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa 
(Chair of the Group of 77), Ambassador Nirupam Sen of India, 
Ambassador Abdullah M. Alsaidi of Yemen, Ambassador Hamidon 
Ali of Malaysia, Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali of Nigeria and 
Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile.  Also attending the 
meetings were USUN Ambassador Wolff, H Deputy Assistant 
Secretary Callahan and HIRC staffers. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 
 
¶3. (SBU) In the delegation's separate meeting with Chef de 
Cabinet Ambassador Wide, Congressman Smith said there was "a 
great deal of concern" in Congress regarding the final HRC 
resolution that was approved by the GA over U.S. objections. 
He characterized the effort to reform the UN's human rights 
machinery as having been "a golden opportunity, a lost 
opportunity" and asked what could be done now to overcome the 
new HRC's flaws. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Wide responded by arguing that while not perfect and 
"not all we wanted," the new HRC is "a huge step beyond the 
past."  Although in the end consensus wasn't possible, the 
vast majority of member states supported it.  Putting forth 
familiar justifications, Wide asserted that countries will 
need an absolute majority to get elected to the HRC (compared 
with the simple majority needed in the past) and that 
offenders can be suspended from the HRC by a 2/3 vote if they 
are found to be abusing human rights.  He said that while the 
U.S. and others wanted "some extra things," in the end the 
text that emerged reflected a delicate balance. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  In response, Congressman Smith took issue with 
Wide's use of the phrase "extra things" to describe U.S. 
priorities, and said elements such as prohibiting egregious 
human rights abusers from membership on the HRC went to the 
heart of the body's credibility.  Wide countered that it is 
still too early to render a judgment on this, but early signs 
are that member states are taking seriously the provision 
that a country's human rights record should be "taken under 
consideration."  He noted that all countries that have thus 
far put forward their candidatures for the HRC are 
highlighting their own commitment to HR principles and 
practices.  Congressman Lantos commented that "the bottom 
line is we live in a very ugly world and the UN represents 
this very ugly world -- it is a derivative reality of that 
ugly world." Chairman Hyde agreed with Ambassador Wide's 
comment that "we shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of 
the good," but questioned whether the HRC resolution that 
ultimately emerged was, in fact, "the best we could do," 
adding "it is distressing because this could have been so 
much better." 
 
MANAGEMENT REFORM AND PROCUREMENT 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Looking beyond the HRC, Ambassador Wide told the 
delegation that the GA is now turning its attention to 
management reform.  Virtually all member states agree on the 
need to get more out of the UN and see its structures 
improved.  However, there are many different views on how 
best to do this.  The SYG's new report "Investing in the UN" 
contains numerous specific proposals on how to streamline and 
restructure the Secretariat.  The Secretariat's role has 
evolved over the years from organizing and servicing 
international conferences to implementing operational work in 
 
 
 
the field.  Wide said that Sweden will "put every effort of 
our Presidency into making a difference before June." 
 
¶7. (SBU) In the delegation's follow-on discussion with G-77 
Ambassadors, Ambassador Kumalo of South Africa said that 
there have been erroneous reports that the G-77 does not 
support management reform. The G-77 "is very supportive of 
reform; the question now is how to go about it."  He asserted 
that the G-77 had supported the creation of an ethics body 
before the Volcker Commission issued its report, and 
similarly had called for a review of the UN's procurement 
practices before this was raised in the Security Council. 
Ambassador Munoz of Chile stated that "we all want our 
taxpayers' money to be well spent.  We share the same 
concerns -- we want more control and more accountability." 
Chairman Hyde asked why the G-77 had issued a February 21 
letter in which the group said procurement issues were the 
purview of the GA not the Security Council.  Wouldn't this 
approach only slow down the process?  In response, Ambassador 
Kumalo said it would not cause delays and reiterated that 
questions concerning the UN's overall procurement practices 
were the purview of the GA.  When the SYG uncovers 
corruption, the G-77 is in agreement that he should 
immediately take action but also inform member states, as 
required by the UN Charter.  By contrast, procurement issues 
related specifically to the Oil for Food (OFF) program should 
be handled by the Security Council since OFF had been a 
creation of the SC and had been monitored by its sanctions 
committee. 
 
MANDATE REVIEW 
 
¶8. (SBU) Ambassador Wide told the delegation that the SYG's 
report on Mandate Review will be out in the next few days, 
after which member states will begin discussions on which 
mandates are obsolete, redundant, duplicative, etc. 
Congressman Ackerman asked Ambassador Wide to comment on the 
"tremendous waste generated by a number of almost permanent 
institutions in the UN devoted to Israel-bashing."  Wide 
responded that many of the these institutions are not 
relevant to what is taking place on the ground.  That said, 
their mandates "are regularly renewed by overwhelming 
margins.  This is a sensitive issue."  While acknowledging 
that there is a need to "clean up all these Palestinian 
resolutions," Wide also cautioned that taking them on 
immediately would grind the mandate review process to a stop. 
 Instead, Wide counseled, "We should look at the easier 
mandates first and get something going" before dealing with 
the Palestinian mandates. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In the broader meeting, Ambassador Munoz of Chile 
argued that mandate review should not be seen as a 
cost-cutting exercise, but one focused on relevance.  If 
mandates are terminated for being obsolete or redundant, 
those resources should be redirected to relevant mandates in 
similar areas.  He stressed that "development issues are 
fundamental to us since they go to the core issues of poverty 
and democracy."  In response to the challenge posed by 
mandate review, Chairman Hyde commented that "even the most 
obscure mandate has interested parties -- we face the same 
thing in Congress."  Pointing to the example of base 
closings, he continued that "our solution has been to appoint 
commissions to take the heat and we carry out their 
recommendations."  Perhaps, he offered, such an approach 
could be useful here.  Ambassador Alsaidi of Yemen said one 
way of tackling the problem of excessive mandates is to set 
up a "monitoring mechanism" to ensure that mandates are 
implemented and when completed are ended. 
 
DARFUR 
 
¶10. (SBU) In the meeting with G-77 Ambassadors, Congressman 
Smith said "many of us are extremely concerned about Darfur 
-- while African Union troops are doing an heroic job under 
difficult circumstances, we think more troops with a more 
robust mandate are needed."  In response, Ambassador Wali of 
Nigeria underlined that Darfur is "very much a front burner 
issue" but added that what the AU forces could do was limited 
since the three parties to the conflict have not yet come to 
an agreement.  Until they do, AU forces will not have a 
mandate for peacekeeping and will only be able to monitor 
human rights abuses and deliver humanitarian assistance.  He 
asserted that "the U.S. and others have a duty to nudge along 
 
 
 
the contending parties to get to a peace agreement," and said 
that without the consent of the Sudanese government any 
solution would be very difficult.  He went on to say that the 
whole international community should be concerned given the 
volatility of the situation, but not enough resources have 
been provided for the AU forces to carry out their mandate. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In response to Ambassador Kumalo's comments, 
Congressman Payne stated that while "we recognize resource 
issues, to be truthful the AU has been weak and not 
assertive."   He pointed to counter examples, such as when 
Nigeria intervened in Liberia or Tanzania went into Burundi, 
and said these were instances when African countries took the 
lead and were assertive.  Sudan is a pariah state and should 
be called that.  A more serious approach by the AU is needed. 
 
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION BY UN PEACEKEEPERS 
 
¶12. (SBU) Congressman Smith stated that "Prince Zeid has done 
a terrific job" and asked for thoughts on where we are in 
putting reforms in place.  Ambassador Sen of India called 
Prince Zeid's efforts "one of the real success stories" and 
that the Prince's recommendations are being implemented, for 
example through courts-martial, dismissals and use of 
forensic methods.  Additional steps needed will also require 
improved and very strict training on gender issues, ensuring 
that peacekeepers are "busy with useful things" such as 
community projects, and making sure that more women are 
included as part of PKOs. 
BOLTON