VZCZCXYZ0031
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #1019 3191427
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151427Z NOV 07
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
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INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 1012
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 0382
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 1104
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0228
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UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001019 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNGA PHUM BM CU KN SY CH
SUBJECT: UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
 
¶1. (U) Speaking Oct. 31 in the annual debate on promotion and 
protection of human rights in the UN General Assembly's Third 
Committee, Ambassador Khalilzad emphasized the value the 
United States places on human rights, described the important 
role these rights play in building societies, cited examples 
of progress in human rights (Indonesia, Sierra Leone, 
Guatemala, Morocco and Lebanon) and addressed situations of 
human rights violations (Zimbabwe, Cuba, North Korea, Burma, 
Belarus, Iran and Syria).  He noted U.S. concern for the 
situation of human rights in Russia and China. (Full text of 
Ambassador Khalilzad's statement is available 
at:www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/ 
press releases/20071031 278.html). 
 
¶2. (U) Several delegations responded to the U.S. statement. 
Iran's representative regretted that the Third Committee is 
frequently misused to name and blame, which he said divides 
the group into two blocs, the claimants vs. the defendants. 
He noted that no country has a perfect record and pointed to 
Guantanamo, secret detention centers, mistreatment of 
migrants in the United States, Europe, and Canada, and the 
inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people, which, he 
alleged, is supported by Europe and the United States. 
 
¶3. (U) The Cuban delegate boasted of Cuba's successes in the 
area of human rights and said the same countries that 
criticize Cuba commit numerous violations of human rights, 
singling out the United States for what she said was torture 
of prisoners by U.S. soldiers in Guantanamo and Iraq, sexual 
abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, police violence, the death 
penalty for minors, election fraud, "people-hunting" on the 
Mexican border, and violations of civil and political rights 
of American citizens, including wiretapping and banning 
travel to Cuba. 
 
¶4. (U) North Korea's delegate said the U.S. invasion and 
occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan were the cause of "more 
than a million" deaths and an increase in sectarian violence. 
 He called for "non-selectivity" in addressing human rights, 
stating that issues such as the unlawful acts of Israel in 
the Occupied Territories and the CIA's alleged overseas 
secret prisons are ignored, while developing countries are 
 
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the target of accusations.  "The United States is the number 
one invader and killer of other nations" said the North 
Korean, and "must clean its untidy house inside and out." 
 
¶5. (U) Syria's delegate said the "American sermon" was an 
attempt to divide the Third Committee into good vs. bad.  He 
argued that the vote against the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba 
in this year's General Assembly showed the isolation of the 
American position when it comes to human rights.  He said 
U.S. human rights violations include the Guantanamo prison, 
secret extrajudicial executions, targeted killings, use of 
 
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biological weapons in Vietnam, racial discrimination, and 
even movies that promote violence around the world. 
 
¶6. (U) China said the United States had turned a blind eye to 
China's progress in human rights, but had failed to examine 
its own human rights record, citing the September 16 
Blackwater security incident in Iraq.  He stated that the 
United States has increased its monitoring and control of the 
Internet and suppressed anti-war expression and gatherings. 
He alleged that racism and xenophobia are on the rise in the 
United States, as are violations of the human rights of 
Native Americans and ethnic groups.  He called on the United 
States to remember its own "bad and sad" human rights record. 
Khalilzad