US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA3161

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 003161 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN, IO/SHA, AND DRL/MLA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, GT, UN 
SUBJECT: GUATEMALAN OHCHR OFFICE NEGOTIATIONS AT DELICATE 
STAGE 
 
REF: A. GUATEMALA 2868 
 
     B. GUATEMALA 2965 
 
Classified By: PolOff Nicole Otallah for Reasons 1.5 (b). and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  The DCM and Polcouns met with Ambassador 
Carla Rodriguez, MFA Director of Multilateral Affairs, on 
December 9 to discuss the state of play of negotiations 
between the GOG and UN to establish a local Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).  Following 
divided recommendations from Congressional Committees on 
November 11 (Ref A), the GOG has spent several weeks trying 
to negotiate changes that would overcome Congressional 
objections, and therefore make the office a reality.  Though 
the OHCHR and GOG are constantly moving closer to common 
ground on the agreement's language, they still need to tweak 
several points.  We recommend that the US Mission in Geneva 
urge the High Commissioner to show flexibility on final 
changes (see para 9).  Local European missions have 
informally indicated to us that they will send the same 
message to the OHCHR and PolOff will make the point with 
Project Coordinator for the Guatemala UN OHCHR, Birgit 
Gerstenberg, at a scheduled December 13 meeting.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) After the Foreign Relations and Human Rights 
Committee reported out contradictory recommendations 
regarding the establishment of a local OHCHR office on 
November 11 (Ref A, Foreign Relations against and Human 
Rights in favor), the GOG stepped in to negotiate changes to 
the agreement's text that would ensure that the agreement 
could gain Congressional approval.  On December 6, Vice 
President Edward Stein indicated to the Ambassador and DCM 
that the GOG has put a pause on negotiations with Geneva in 
order to let overheated negotiations on both sides cool down. 
 The OHCHR and the GOG have ironed out most of their 
differences, but frustration has grown while they decide on 
the final language for the agreement. 
 
3.  (C) On December 9, Ambassador Rodriguez told the DCM that 
the MFA received what they regarded as a confusing letter 
from Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner, which suggests 
that the OHCHR's latest version on the agreement for a local 
Guatemala office has already been accepted by the GOG.  To 
the contrary, the GOG had decided to take a break from the 
final negotiations and resume in early January with cooler 
heads.  The MFA is concerned that the OHCHR, in its published 
"Annual Appeal 2005" and its December 13 funding request 
meeting with donor countries may be misconstruing the status 
of the negotiations.  The GOG is still trying to reach an 
agreement that could win congressional approval -- it 
believes the December 1 text proposed by Louise Arbour would 
not garner that approval. 
 
4.  (C) The key problem seems to be in point 4 of Article V. 
Where the OHCHR would like the first two sentences to read: 
 
"The High Commissioner shall report to the Commission on 
Human Rights in an addendum to her own report (Item IV), on 
the Office's activities and on the country's human rights 
situation.  The report shall also contain such comments and 
recommendations as deemed appropriate by the High 
Commissioner." 
 
5.  (C) The GOG would like the first two sentences of point 4 
in Article V to say: 
 
"The High Commissioner shall report to the Commission on 
Human Rights in her report under item IV of the agenda on the 
Office's activities.  The report shall also contain such 
comments and recommendations as deemed appropriate by the 
High Commissioner to strengthen the promotion and protection 
of human rights in Guatemala."  (Rodriguez thought that this 
formulation of the second sentence gave the OHCHR sufficient 
leeway to report on the human rights situation, i.e., in 
making recommendations, the report would necessarily have to 
cover the human rights situation in Guatemala.) 
 
6.  (C) The MFA believes the latter formulation is more 
consistent with the mandate outlined in the preamble: 
 
"Bearing in mind the interest of the Government of Guatemala 
to establish an OHCHR office in Guatemala, with a mandate to 
provide technical assistance to Guatemalan authorities in 
formulating and implementing policies and programs for the 
promotion and protection of human rights, monitor the 
evolution of the country's human rights situation and submit 
to the High Commissioner reports on the establishment of the 
Office and the activities it carries out pursuant to its 
mandate;..." 
 
7.  (C) Rodriguez indicated that FM Briz had accepted the 
notion of being reported under item IV (items III, IX, and 
XIX were problematic in their own ways), and that the MFA was 
prepared to try to sell the renegotiated agreement on this 
basis over the expected objections of influential 
congressional critic Antonio Arenales Forno (who sits on both 
the Human Rights and Foreign Relations Committees and who is 
a former Guatemalan Ambassador in Geneva).  The MFA was 
clearly frustrated that the OHCHR's December 1 message made 
no acknowledgment of the GOG's proposal for Article V point 4 
(above).  Rodriguez also noted that OHCHR was claiming that 
intransigent donors were insisting that OHCHR tow the line. 
If this were not the case, MFA was wondering if donors could 
encourage more flexibility out of Arbour's office. 
 
8.  (C)  In informal consultations, local representatives 
from Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands reported their 
belief that the OHCHR needs to show more flexibility about 
the conditions of human rights reporting from the Guatemala 
office. 
 
9.  (C) Comment:  We recommend that the US Mission to Geneva 
approach the OHCHR to urge flexibility on the wording of 
final language.  The OHCHR has achieved its principal goals 
by convincing the Guatemalans to include direct references to 
reporting in the agreement's text and by including the report 
in Article IV.  Donor countries have more interest in the 
swift establishment of a Guatemalan OHCHR office than 
insistence on specific terminology that is unlikely to affect 
the eventual functioning of such an institution.  PolOff will 
meet with the Guatemala UN OHCHR representative, Birgit 
Gerstenberg (who will remain in Guatemala until early 
February, despite the public closure of her office in 
November), on December 13 to communicate the same message. 
HAMILTON