VZCZCXRO8300
PP RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHJI #0173/01 1391715
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 191715Z MAY 09
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1321
INFO RUEHIC/OIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 8342
RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN 0039
RUCNDTA/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0079
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0183

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000173 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR NEA/ARP, DRL, G/TIP, IRF, IO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2014 
TAGS: IR KISL OPDC PREL SA OIC KTIP
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CREATION OF NEW HUMAN 
RIGHTS ORGAN LIKELY TO BE PASSED AT MAY 23-25 OIC DAMASCUS 
MINISTERIAL 
 
REF: JEDDAH 0121 
 
JEDDAH 00000173  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: The Organization of the Islamic Conference 
(OIC) is moving forward with plans to create a new human 
rights organ within the OIC.  A senior OIC official passed 
post a draft resolution as it stands now, with key points 
noted below. Outstanding issues include membership and 
composition, goals, and location. Iran is said to have sought 
to have the body comprised of government officials, but its 
efforts have largely been ignored by the OIC Secretariat. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C) Assistant Secretary of the OIC for Cultural and 
Social Affairs, Ambassador Hemayet Uddin (former Bangladesh 
Foreign Secretary), recently passed a copy of a draft 
resolution on OIC's new Human Rights Commission to the Consul 
General and Poloff. The resolution builds off efforts made by 
the Secretariat to establish a human rights organ within the 
OIC (reftel). The resolution is likely to be adopted in some 
form at the May 23-25 OIC Ministerial in Damascus. Candid 
comments by Ufuk Gokcen, advisor to the OIC Secretary 
General, reveal the outstanding issues. 
 
¶3.  (C) EXPERTS OR DIPLOMATS?: According to Gokcen, plans for 
the OIC's new human rights organ are moving ahead with the 
"overall support of the member states except on the nature 
and composition of the body itself." The draft resolution 
indicates that the body will be comprised of experts.  Since 
composition will be selected through member state nomination, 
nothing prevents the appointment of member state government 
officials.  The following resolutions focus on this issue: 
 
Article 2: The Commission shall be composed of 19 experts 
nominated by the Member States' governments and elected by 
the Council of Foreign Ministers for a three-year period 
renewable once. The Committee shall perform an advisory 
function under the aegis of the Council of Foreign Ministers. 
 
Article 5: The Member States shall ensure that the experts 
nominated to the Commission have lofty value and established 
competence in the domain of human rights. 
 
¶4.  (C) IRAN PUSHING FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS RATHER THAN 
EXPERTS: Gokcen noted that the Secretariat has been pushing 
for a body consisting solely of experts.  Gokcen claims that 
Iran is the only member state seeking to have the commission 
comprised of member state government officials as opposed to 
independent experts.  Although the Iranians apparently 
submitted their own separate draft proposal with ideas 
separate from that of the rest of the membership, the 
Secretariat did not take the bait. Gokcen:  "What we did is 
that we completely ignored the Iranian document." Gokcen 
warned that with Iran "if you don't include them (in the 
process), they come back later." 
 
¶5. (C) INDONESIA OR ALGERIA AS POTENTIAL LOCATIONS:  The 
location of the future OIC human rights organ is itself 
sensitive.   According to Gokcen, "Confidentially the 
Secretary General wants to reach out to Indonesia and 
Algeria." The draft resolution leaves either possibility open: 
 
Article 26: The headquarters of the Commission shall be in 
one of the OIC Member States and the Commission shall hold 
its meetings in its headquarters or in any Member State. The 
Council of Foreign Ministers shall determine the Commission's 
headquarters. 
 
¶6. (C) ROLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ORGAN UNCLEAR:  Ufuk Gokcen noted 
that there is ongoing discussion about whether the human 
rights organ will play more of a role in prevention or 
promotion of human rights -- or both.  It does not appear 
that functional investigation will be undertaken. The 
following articles provide some idea of the role: 
 
Article 10: The Commission shall seek to ensure the promotion 
and protection of the civil, political, economic, social and 
cultural rights in the Member States. 
 
Article 20: The Commission shall investigate any possible 
human rights violations by the OIC Member States in 
accordance with its rules of procedure, and shall submit 
 
JEDDAH 00000173  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
reports thereon to the Council of Foreign Ministers for 
appropriate decision. (The draft place this paragraph between 
brackets and with a recommendation that it be referred to at 
a later meeting). 
 
¶7. (C) POTENTIAL FOR FOCUS ON ANTI-DEFAMATION/ISLAMAPHOBIA: 
One article points to the potential for the commission to be 
used as a vehicle for anti-defamation and the OIC's 
Islamaphobia prevention campaign: 
 
Article 4: The Commission shall add value in serving the 
interests of the Muslim Ummah in the domain of human rights 
and encourage respect for languages, cultures and the 
tolerant Islamic values, the territorial integrity of the 
Member States and non-interference in their internal affairs. 
 
¶8. (C) ROLE OF WOMEN: The OIC does not have many women within 
its rank and file, but there appears to be some attempt in 
the verbiage to encourage the appointment of women. The 
following sections of the draft are explicit: 
 
Article 8: The Member States are encouraged to nominate women 
to the membership of the Commission. 
 
Article 12: The Commission shall promote the laws and 
policies aimed at promoting the status of women and 
vulnerable sections of society in the Member States in the 
economic, social, political and cultural fields in 
consistency with the provisions of the OIC Charter, and 
protecting them from all forms of discrimination and 
violence. 
 
¶9. (C) COMMENT:  While the role of the new OIC human rights 
body remains fuzzy, OIC Secretary General Ihsanoglu sees the 
initiative as a high priority.  While the new commission has 
the theoretical potential to raise human rights issues within 
member states, there remains a high risk of politicization. 
Members may utilize the body purely to focus on favorite 
topics or whipping boys such as Islamaphobia, GITMO 
detentions and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead of 
examining broader concerns.  The fledgling OIC human rights 
commission may well find itself discouraged from addressing 
specific human rights problems within member states. Post 
will continue to monitor developments. 
QUINN