VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFR #4083/01 2711234
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281234Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0516
INFO RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE PRIORITY 0753
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON PRIORITY 0068
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1370
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2742

UNCLAS PARIS 004083 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL SOCI UNSC FR HA BM
SUBJECT: SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS YADE'S CHIEF 
OF STAFF OUTLINES PRIORITIES 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Pol M/C and Poloff met on September 25 
with the Chief of Staff for the Secretary of State for Human 
Rights Brigitte Collet and Counselor Pierre Thenard to 
discuss Rama Yade,s role and priorities in her newly created 
position, Yade,s recent visit to Haiti, her upcoming visit 
to Washington, and French support for the Community of 
Democracies, biennial Ministerial in Bamako, Mali on 
November 15-17, 2007.  Collet and Thenard related that Yade's 
regional focus would be on Asia and Latin 
America, with particular current interest in Burma and Haiti. 
 Yade was heartened by recent international success in 
fighting crime and corruption in Haiti and hoped to expand 
opportunities for French/U.S. cooperation on the island 
during her visit to Washington on October 3-4.  Collet said 
France planned to attend the October 1, 2007 meeting of 
Ministers held by Mali, the Chair the Community of 
Democracies (CD), but was not able to say whether the French 
government would be willing to provide additional  support 
for the government of Mali,s hosting of the biennial 
Ministerial in Bamako from November 15-17,  2007.    End 
Summary. 
 
YADE,S PRIORITIES 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Collet said that Yade,s work portfolio-she is the 
first Secretary of State for Human Rights-would be more 
oriented toward Asia and Latin America than Africa (which 
remains in the domain of the Secretary of State for 
Cooperation), with particular thematic emphasis on the rights 
of women and children, freedom of speech, and fighting 
impunity.  Current countries of particular 
interest are Burma and Haiti.  Collet added that Yade,s 
office was at that moment about to issue a press release 
condemning the recent crackdown against peaceful protests in 
Burma and reaffirming French support for the release of 
political prisoners (including, specifically, Aung San Suu 
Kyi).  Collet also related the French government,s hope that 
the U.S would participate in an October 1 conference in New 
York focusing on child soldiers, sponsored in cooperation 
with UNICEF.  Collet acknowledged that the U.S.  might be 
constrained by juridical considerations and unable to support 
some conclusions of participants,but she hoped that such 
constraints would not preclude U.S. participation. 
 
HAITI 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Collet related that Yade,s September 14-15 visit 
to Haiti had been very positive and that Yade hoped 
international cooperation and progress under the auspices of 
MINUSTAH would continue.  Yade met with President Preval, 
other senior government representatives and civil society 
members, touring Port au Prince, Cap Hatien, and outlying 
areas.  Thenard, who accompanied Yade, noted that, while 
everything is relative, the domestic situation is currently 
better than at any time in the country,s recent history.  On 
September 15, Yade addressed a group of about 300: "For the 
first time in a long while and under the tutelage of 
President Preval, hope is being reborn in Haiti.  I want to 
believe (in that hope) with all my strength and to work by 
your side to nurture it.  Haiti has returned to the path of 
being a state governed by rule of law.  The government and 
its parliament are the products of free elections, and they 
have the full support of the international community, 
including (that of) France, which will work at all levels (to 
help Haiti)."  Collet also suggested the possibility of 
Nicolas Sarkozy visiting Haiti at an as-yet unspecified date, 
in what would be the first-ever visit to the island by a 
French president. 
 
UPCOMING WASHINGTON VISIT 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Thenard said that Yade was eager to continue close 
collaboration with the U.S. on Haiti and that she intended to 
broach expanding cooperation during her upcoming visit to 
Washington on October 3-4.  (Thenard mentioned that Haitian 
illegal immigrants were a problem in Guadeloupe, Martinique 
and French Guyana.)  During her visit to Washington, Collet 
said that Yade planed to have a series of consultations with 
officials from the State Department, the NSC and Congress, to 
be facilitated by the French Embassy.  Collet also mentioned 
possible meetings with a representative of the Dalai Lama and 
with Iranian immigrants living in the U.S. 
 
COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Finally, Collet noted that Rama Yade would 
represent France at the October 1, 2007 Ministers meeting of 
the Community of Democracies (CD) chaired by Mali, on the 
margins of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).  Collet was not 
 
able to say yet whether the French government would be 
willing to provide additional support for the Community of 
Democracies, specifically financial and logistical support 
for the government of Mali,s hosting of the biennial 
Ministerial in Bamako from November 15-17, 2007. 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
 
Stapleton