VZCZCXRO4586
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHWR #0098 0471517
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 161517Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9419
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE IMMEDIATE 0511
INFO RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000098 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/RPM, EUR/CE, EUR/OHI, AND DRL/SEAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2020 
TAGS: PHUM OSCE PREL PL
SUBJECT: OSCE/ODIHR TO S.E. ROSENTHAL: USE ASTANA 
HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE TO RAISE OSCE'S PROFILE 
 
Classified By: DCM William Heidt, reason 1.4 (b, d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  Officials from OSCE's Office of Democratic 
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw told visiting 
 Special Envoy Hannah Rosenthal that high-level U.S. 
participation in the OSCE High-Level Conference on Tolerance 
and Non-Discrimination in June 2010 in Astana would help to 
raise the profile of OSCE, especially ODIHR's efforts to 
combat hate crimes.  END SUMMARY. 
 
NEED TO RAISE OSCE'S PROFILE 
 
¶2. (C) Deputy Director of the Warsaw-based OSCE Office of 
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Douglas Wake 
(a retired U.S. FSO) and his staff expressed frustration to 
visiting U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating 
Anti-Semitism Hannah Rosenthal January 28 that ODIHR's 
efforts beyond election monitoring are not widely recognized. 
 There is little awareness in Europe or the United States -- 
beyond the Helsinki Commission and a small circle of civil 
society organizations -- about ODIHR's efforts to combat 
anti-Semitism and promote tolerance, Wake lamented.  Wake 
said it would be helpful if the American Jewish community and 
other organizations familiar with ODIHR would work to raise 
awareness of ODIHR's activities, noting that Christian and 
Muslim groups in OSCE states are generally less familiar with 
the OSCE process. 
 
ASTANA HIGH-LEVEL TOLERANCE CONFERENCE 
 
¶3. (C) Wake expressed hope that Secretary Clinton would 
represent the U.S. at the OSCE's high-level conference on 
tolerance promotion, which will take place June 29-30 in 
Astana.  An early announcement that the U.S. plans to send 
high-level representatives would encourage other OSCE state 
to follow suit.  The prospect of high-level representation 
from OSCE capitals would also provide an incentive for 
Kazakhstan to agree to robust participation of civil society 
organizations (CSOs).  Wake asked whether the USG would be in 
a position to provide extra-budgetary contributions to 
bolster CSO participation. 
 
OSCE/ODIHR WORK ON HATE CRIMES GOES UNNOTICED 
 
¶4. (C) Floriane Hohenberg, ODIHR Director for Tolerance 
Promotion, said ODIHR focuses its tolerance promotion efforts 
in five main areas:  religious freedom, Muslim outreach, 
countering racism, violence and discrimination against 
Roma/Sinti groups, and anti-Semitism.  Hohenberg and Norbert 
Hinterleitner, ODIHR's Special Adviser on Anti-Semitism, 
agreed that ODIHR's work on anti-Semitism generally helps to 
open doors to broader tolerance promotion efforts, in terms 
of engaging governments, providing training to educators, and 
building coalitions within civil society.  Hinterleitner 
confided that OSCE member states often overstate the extent 
of their cooperation.  The most common problem areas are 
incomplete implementation of ODIHR recommendations and 
failure to integrate ODIHR educational materials into the 
national curriculum.  While there are "working-level heroes" 
in every country, budgetary constraints often prompt 
high-level officials to balk. 
 
¶5. (C) Hohenberg expressed hope that a strong declaration at 
the Astana high-level conference would be a "game  changer." 
Although not widely appreciated, a similar high-level 
conference in Berlin in 2004 had laid the groundwork for 
productive follow-up.  Hohenberg stressed the importance of 
ODIHR's work against hate crimes, which she suggested might 
be a focus of the Astana conference.  "Everyone knows the 
OSCE for election monitoring.  The same should hold true for 
OSCE's efforts to monitor hate crimes," she argued. 
Hohenberg conceded that the OSCE needs a more effective 
communications strategy to reach a broader cross-section of 
civil society.  "We have to get beyond talking to ourselves," 
she said.  Wake noted that the resources of ODIHR's small 
public affairs shop are already stretched thin and asked 
whether the USG might be prepared to make an extra-budgetary 
contribution to strengthen ODIHR outreach. 
 
¶6. (U) Special Envoy Rosenthal has cleared this cable. 
FEINSTEIN