US embassy cable - 04PARIS8159

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 008159 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, FR 
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTIONS: FRENCH 
RESPONSE 
 
REF: STATE 236869 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso 
ns 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (U) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to MFA 
DAS-equivalent for Human Rights in the Directorate of United 
Nations and International Organizations Affairs Beatrice le 
Fraper du Hellen on November 9.  She indicated that France 
would co-sponsor all of the reftel resolutions and would vote 
against any resolutions introduced by Belarus to draw 
attention away from its human rights record. 
 
2.  (U) Le Fraper du Hellen raised several thematic 
resolutions currently before the General Assembly.  She noted 
that France would not be able to accommodate the US wish to 
withdraw language on the ICC from the resolution on political 
disappearances.  France also has reservations, she said, 
about US positions on reproductive health with regard to 
resolutions on women's issues.  Discussions continued, she 
noted, regarding cloning. 
 
3.  (U) The MFA continues to hope that an agreement will be 
reached among all WEOG countries on a rotating membership for 
the Human Rights Commission; however, le Fraper du Hellen 
continued, differences on these substantive issues could 
prove a stumbling block to agreement on the rotation 
procedure. 
 
4.  (C) Comment.  The MFA official's suggestion that support 
for a WEOG UNCHR rotation plan may be contingent on 
satisfactory resolution of substantive differences on 
thematic resolutions is new.  Until this point, France has 
been willing to explore a rotation plan, as long as a 
compromise acceptable to all WEOG members could be found (and 
French equities protected).  The suggestion of a substantive 
quid pro quo from le Fraper du Hellen may have simply been an 
off-the-cuff remark from a relatively junior Quai official 
not representative of GOF policy -- or an indication of a 
shift.  We will attempt to pin this down in future contacts 
with the Quai.  End comment. 
Wolff 
 
 
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