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PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL
DE RUEHSR #0018 2540838
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 110838Z SEP 09
FM AMCONSUL STRASBOURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0181
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0192

C O N F I D E N T I A L STRASBOURG 000018 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/WE, AND L 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  9/11/2019 
TAGS: PREL PHUM COE FR
SUBJECT: COUNCIL OF EUROPE REVIEWS RELATIONSHIP WITH OBSERVER STATES 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Vincent Carver, CG, Strasbourg, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
¶1. (C) Summary:  The Council of Europe reviewed its relationship 
with observer states September 10 in the COE's Foreign Relations 
Committee.  Most member states characterized the relationship as 
positive.  Portugal asked what COE initiatives had been taken to 
obtain at least moratoria on the death penalty in observer 
states (U.S. and Japan) still using capital punishment.  Based 
on the session, we, with the support of the Secretariat, have 
again postponed action on various COE Parliamentary Assembly 
(PACE) members' calls to introduce new criteria (death penalty 
moratoria) for continued observer status.  The committee chair 
(Malta) also circulated a 2008 COE legal opinion confirming that 
observer states have the right to speak in COE fora.  End 
summary 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Given the push by a minority in the PACE to change the 
rules regarding current observer states (Holy See, U.S., Canada, 
Japan, Mexico) to include at least a moratorium if not outright 
abolition of the death penalty (applicable to the U.S. and 
Japan) for continued observer status, the COE's Foreign 
Relations Committee met September 10 to discuss the COE's 
relationship with observer states.  The Secretariat provided a 
strong and positive statement about the value of including 
observer states in the COE.  Each observer state then made an 
intervention, with all stressing the positive relationship we 
have with the COE.  U.S. stressed that we shared the COE's 
commitment to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.  We 
thanked Human Rights Commissioner Hammarberg for his calls on 
member states to accept detainees from the Guantanamo facility. 
We also thanked  various member states for agreeing to accept 
detainees, thereby helping us close Guantanamo.   After listing 
U.S. participation in various COE conventions and fora and our 
financial contribution to the COE's Group of States Against 
Corruption (GRECO), we acknowledged a divergence of views 
regarding the death penalty.  We concluded that we value both 
our relationship with the COE and the COE's work itself. 
 
¶3.    (C) The consistently anti-American Portuguese Ambassador 
noted that, "while we don't want to change the rules of 
participation," the COE should take initiatives to obtain at 
least a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in any 
observer state.  He asked the Secretariat to provide a list of 
such initiatives already taken.  Most other interventions, while 
urging the abolition of the death penalty in observer states, 
were more helpful, and stressed the "value added" of the 
observer states' presence in Strasbourg.  Russia said it 
supported strengthening the COE's relationships with observer 
states, adding that it would welcome additional observer states. 
 Several delegations echoed this sentiments. 
 
¶4.  (C) In a planned exchange, the Danish Ambassador asked for a 
confirmation that observer states were welcome to take part in 
COE discussions.  He wryly observed that this must be the case, 
given the microphones at the observer states' seats.  The chair 
noted that this was the case and circulated a September 2008 
legal opinion confirming this interpretation.  (Note:  the legal 
interpretation was a response to Russian objections to our 
intervention regarding the Russia-Georgia war.) 
 
¶5.  (C) Comment:   The Secretariat Director for Foreign 
Relations, Zoltan Taubner (Hungary) and the Maltese Chair have 
consistently been helpful in maneuvering around a small but 
vocal PACE minority that wants to impose a death penalty 
moratorium requirement on current observer states (such a 
requirement is expected of any future observer state).  Most 
member states would welcome such a moratorium from the U.S.; 
they recognize, however, how our federal system functions and 
realize that changing observer state requirements ex post facto 
would be counterproductive.  Still, we expect that various 
parliamentarians in the PACE will continue to grandstand and 
criticize us strongly on this issue. 
 
CARVER