US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE680

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000680 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AC/CB, NP/CBM, VC/CCB, L/ACV, IO/S 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP 
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC 
COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN) 
NSC FOR CHUPA 
WINPAC FOR LIEPMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, CWC 
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC):  WEEKLY WRAP-UP 
FOR 12 MARCH 2004 
 
This is CWC-36-04. 
 
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GENEVA GROUP - OIO REFORM 
------------------------- 
 
1.  (SBU)  On March 8, the Geneva Group discussed U.S. 
proposals for reform of the Office of Internal Oversight. 
There was general consensus on the need to strengthen the 
ability of the OIO to perform its oversight functions 
properly, but a concern about undoing the "political" 
agreement that outlines the current arrangements on the 
designation of the OIO Director.  Peter van Brakel (Canada) 
said that it would be advisable to begin the effort to 
strengthen the OIO now.  Ian Mundell (Canada), the OIO report 
facilitator, agreed that steps are needed to improve the 
performance of the OIO, but emphasized that this had to be 
done without overturning the political arrangements on senior 
staffing, which included the OIO Director.  Any action 
touching on that arrangement, agreed upon after arduous 
discussions with regional groupings, would fail. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Mark Matthews (U.K.) stressed that it might be a 
bad time to take an action which would give the appearance of 
undercutting the Director-General, a point echoed by Peter 
Beerwerth (FRG).  However, both expressed support for the 
goal of strengthening the OIO, and Beerwerth added that the 
DG's response that he was still not able to provide a 
solution on the home leave travel issue clearly indicates 
that oversight reform is needed.  Beerwerth indicated that 
while far-reaching changes were not advisable, he thought 
proposals that do not touch on "political" arrangements could 
be acceptable.  He went on to emphasize that States Parties 
need to have the political will to make the DG and the TS 
accountable, and it is somewhat disingenuous to exert the OIO 
to take action on issues SPs are afraid to touch. 
 
3.  (U)  Ruth Flint (Switzerland) said that the good 
relationship with the DG is a valuable commodity, and 
suggested that it might be best to talk to the DG on this 
issue informally.  Moreover, it might be a bad idea to have 
too many challenging administrative issues on a 2004 agenda 
that already includes results-based budgeting.  She added 
that it is indeed hard to imagine that the OIO Director will 
criticize the boss, and echoed Beerwerth's point that it is 
important for the States Parties to hold the DG and TS 
accountable. 
 
4.  (U)  Chiho Komuro (Japan) said that Japan supports the 
goal of greater independence of the OIO, but echoed the 
"political" concerns voiced by others.  Johan Verboom 
(Netherlands) said that it is not clear if far-reaching 
structural change is needed and questioned whether this is 
the moment to approach the issue.  However, he supported a 
discussion on what "non-political" steps could be taken 
immediately.  Dominique Anelli (France) noted that it will be 
difficult to attack this issue simultaneously with the 
implementation of results-based budgeting. 
 
5.  (SBU)  The consensus decision of the Geneva Group was to 
avoid any action which would impact on the "political" 
decision regarding the OIO director.  That would mean: 
-- no minimum professional qualifications for the OIO 
Director, 
-- no EC confirmation of the Director's appointment, and 
-- no change in the contract for future OIO Directors. 
 
There was support for the "non-political" proposals: 
-- prohibiting service on the Management Board and other 
committees, 
-- employing a consultant to develop procedures and 
methodologies for the OIO, 
-- holding regular "Executive Sessions" in which the head of 
the OIO meets independently with the EC (the consensus was to 
hold such sessions every three months), 
-- specifically authorizing the EC to request the OIO to 
address specific issues and concerns, 
-- reviewing the staffing structure of OIO, 
-- reviewing Article 12 of the Financial Regulations to 
ensure relevant regulations are unambiguous and adequate, 
-- on the External Auditor, amending the Annex to the 
Financial Regulations to specifically require "value for 
money audits, a point which Mundell said has now been 
implemented for the current External Auditor. 
The question of providing the OIO with a small consulting 
budget was left open pending the review of the consultant. 
 
6.  (SBU)  The group supported Mundell's suggestion that some 
general point on the importance of strengthening the 
capabilities of the OIO should be made at upcoming 
facilitations on the OIO report.  If there are no objections, 
that could be included in Mundell's oral report to the EC and 
become the basis for future action on the specific measures 
noted above.  Flint added that these topics, as appropriate, 
also could be included in the budget discussion.  Moreover, 
funding for the consultant could be found in the existing 
consultation budget. 
 
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UNIVERSALITY 
------------ 
 
7.  (U)  TS officials led by Huang Yu, Chief of External 
Relations Division, hosted a March 8 meeting to inform 
delegations of the status of TS activities and POC 
nominations (faxed back to AC/CB), and to alert delegations 
that the TS paper on States not Party was awaiting final 
approval by the DG (note: the paper was published on March 9, 
EC-36/S/9).  Huang has been busy since the first of the year, 
having traveled to Egypt, Ethiopia, and Rwanda in his role as 
"Mr. Universality."  He established relationships with the 
African Union (AU) headquartered in Addis Ababa, and the 
United Arab League (UAL) in Cairo where he focused on 
meetings with UAL Disarmament Division officials.  UAL 
officials recommended that disarmament workshops not focus 
solely on CWC but needed to include all WMD to encourage 
broad attendance from its member states.  Huang reported that 
the UN was indeed sponsoring such a workshop and that the 
OPCW would be a participant. 
 
8.  (U)  Huang reported that Madagascar requested 500 copies 
of the CWC in French (which the TS provided) as well as 
technical assistance for its accession effort.  Rwanda 
reported that its instrument of accession was currently in 
the President's Office, and that it hoped to deposit its 
documents in New York by the April 2004 workshop in Addis 
Ababa. 
 
9.  (U)  Huang noted that Norway and Japan made voluntary 
contributions to the TS efforts on universality.  He also 
invited SPs to send senior representatives to the upcoming 
universality workshops in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (April), and 
Malta (May).  Huang is particularly concerned about the Malta 
workshop and stressed the need for SPs to demarche Egypt, 
Syria, Lebanon, and Israel to encourage their attendance. 
Huang reported that nine SPs have appointed POCs (Chile, 
Mexico, Oman, Palau, Poland, Slovak Republic, Tajikistan, UK, 
US).  Japan and South Korea noted that their capitals were 
about to appoint POCs. 
 
10.  (U)  Ito sends. 
RUSSEL