VZCZCXYZ0009
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #4726 2802154
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 072134Z OCT 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 0000
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 104726 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNGA PREL
SUBJECT: MEXICO ON UNSC REFORM AND HUMAN RIGHTS:  A/S 
BRIMMER'S SEPTEMBER 24 MEETING WITH MEXICAN UNDER 
SECRETARY FOR MULTILATERAL AFFAIRS AND HUMAN RIGHTS JUAN 
MANUEL GOMEZ ROBLEDO 
 
¶1. SUMMARY. A/S Brimmer met with Mexican Under Secretary for 
Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Juan Manuel Gomez 
Robledo on September 24 on the margins of the 64th UN General 
Assembly (UNGA).  The discussion focused primarily on UN 
Security Council (UNSC) reform and human rights.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. At his first meeting with IO Assistant Secretary Esther 
Brimmer, Mexican Under Secretary for Multilateral Affairs and 
Human Rights Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo thanked A/S Brimmer 
for the phone calls on the UNESCO elections and said that 
Mexico was very relieved by the results.  He then continued 
with a lengthy discussion of UNSC reform and Mexico's efforts 
towards the 2011 review of the Human Rights Council. 
 
-------------------------- 
UN Security Council Reform 
-------------------------- 
 
¶3. Gomez said that Mexico was "profoundly committed" to a 
solution that could garner the "widest possible acceptance." 
He understood that Mexico, along with the Uniting For 
Consensus (UFC) group, have been perceived as wanting to 
postpone negotiations, but in reality Mexico did not want to 
"prolong the agony" and urged progress, notwithstanding their 
own red-lines. 
 
¶4. Mexico would "never accept" new permanent members.  He 
said, "Isn't it odd to be insisting on changes to the G20 and 
the G8, recognizing that work changes and more nations should 
participate in international decisions, but in the UNSC we go 
back to World War II considerations and give the privilege to 
only a few?"  Adding new permanent members would, he said, 
send the wrong messages, as follows: 
 
a. New permanent representatives would not in fact provide 
regional representation.  On the Council, Gomez stated, each 
nation would represent only its own national interests. 
 
b. Some nations have argued that an unreformed Council would 
lose legitimacy, but Gomez said this would be a dangerous 
argument, as it would undermine effectiveness.  He stressed 
that all UNSC decisions are legal and legitimate. 
 
c. Adding new permanent members would not serve the 
aspirations of the 70-plus members who have never served on 
the Council.  Small countries could make valuable 
contributions, he said, and should be allowed to participate 
actively through new longer-term, renewable non-permanent 
seats. 
 
¶5. Gomez said that Mexico did not intend to block any 
particular country or country grouping.  He said regional 
rivalry did not play any role in their position, certainly 
not rivalries in South America, and particularly not against 
Brazil. 
 
¶6. Gomez said that he had been in close touch with the 
Japanese, who had stated that UNSC expansion would require 
Charter amendments requiring the widest possible agreement in 
order to be ratified.  He said that it was in the G-4's best 
interest to get the widest possible agreement, and that the 
G-4 might be beginning to understand that, even though they 
have publicly continued to call for two-thirds majorities. 
He hoped that the situation during the 2005 Millennium Summit 
on UN reforms could be avoided.  Gomez said that Summit was 
"hijacked" by UNSC reform when the G-4, thinking that they 
were close to getting their permanent seats, relegated the 
rest of the agenda to the last few days of the Summit only to 
fail because the African countries were not on board.  Gomez 
cited this outcome as an example of the divisiveness of the 
issue that had "affected the fabric of the membership."  He 
said that the intergovernmental negotiations in the 63rd UNGA 
were a positive step forward. 
 
------------ 
Human Rights 
------------ 
 
¶7. A/S Brimmer mentioned our rejoining the Human Rights 
Council (HRC) and our Universal Periodic Review next year, as 
well as the reviews of the Human Rights Council itself.  She 
said that the United States, in an effort to bridge divides, 
has worked with Egypt on a freedom of expression resolution. 
She also said that regarding the Durban document, the United 
States wanted to find a way to avoid re-fighting the argument 
each time other members bring it up in texts at the General 
Assembly. 
 
¶8. Gomez said that these issues were touched on during a 
recent U.S.-Canada-Mexico trilateral meeting.  He expressed 
hope that A/S Brimmer would attend an October 28 - 29 
"reflection group" meeting in Mexico City to discuss the HRC 
reviews, organized with France.  This group, which would 
include civil society as well as non-like-minded nations, 
would craft a report to the General Assembly and the 
Secretary-General before discussions began.  Gomez said he 
was worried that the Russians were convening a similar group 
on the premise that the HRC review was a Western-driven 
exercise. 
 
¶9. On freedom of expression, Gomez conveyed his 
congratulations to the United States for its work with Egypt. 
 Solving this issue, he said, would also solve the issue of 
defamation of religion, which Mexico did not like.  Gomez 
said that during a bilateral meeting with Pakistan, he told 
them to stop making defamation of religion solely an issue of 
the clash between Islam and the rest of the world.  Freedom 
of conscience was the basis; all people should have the 
freedom to choose a religion, or not, as well as freedom of 
expression. 
 
¶10. Gomez expressed concern about Russia's promotion of the 
issue "traditional values," which Mexico also did not like. 
He said this proposal had the potential of undermining basic 
rules of human rights.  Mexico would never support this 
initiative, which he said would divide the membership.  It 
reminded him an "old Cuban trick" in which the Cubans 
promoted the idea that citizens had responsibilities to the 
states that confer on them socio-economic benefits and 
rights.  Gomez also expressed concern about the compatibility 
between "traditional values" and the plight of women in 
Muslim countries.  A/S Brimmer said that the United States 
shared Mexico's unease. 
 
¶11.  Gomez asked about the status of the United States 
ratifying the Convention on Ending Discrimination Against 
Women (CEDAW).  A/S Brimmer responded that CEDAW was being 
considered along with several other outstanding treaties, 
including the treaty on the rights of persons with 
disabilities, which the United States signed in July 2009. 
 
------------ 
Other Issues 
------------ 
 
¶12.  Citing the utility of bilateral consultations prior to 
assuming their UNSC seat last year, Gomez said that he would 
like to have another meeting with IO regarding the second 
year of their service on the UNSC.  Mexico would like to 
chair the 1540 committee, replacing Costa Rica, and will 
continue to work hard on Children and Armed Conflict, which 
they currently chair.  They were interested in the overall 
re-organization of committee chairs and vice-chairs starting 
in January. 
 
¶13. Gomez would also participate in the Geneva Group 
meetings.  He spoke about his concern that the Secretariat 
continually asked for increases in the budget, on which he 
wanted to take a strong stance.  Mexico would be active in 
the negotiations on the scale of assessments, citing the 
figure that as the 10th largest UN contributor, Mexico pays 
52% of Latin America's contributions, more than Brazil pays. 
Gomez was disturbed that 90% of the budget went to salaries 
and that programs were funded primarily by voluntary 
contributions.  Gomez concluded by saying that he did not 
want the United States to pay more, as this is "not good for 
the health of the organization." 
CLINTON