US embassy cable - 05MADRID1308

UNCLAS MADRID 001308 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, SP 
SUBJECT: SPAIN REGISTERS CONCERN WITH HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 
 
 
1.  The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested a 
meeting to discuss GOS concerns with this year's Human Rights 
Report.  Poloffs met March 29 with Manuel de la Camara 
Hermoso, MFA Deputy Director of North American Affairs, and 
Jose Antonio de Ory Peral, MFA Director General of Human 
Rights.  De la Camara and de Ory emphasized that they 
respected the USG human rights reports that the USG produced 
and they found the reports "fair and balanced" but were 
concerned that this year the report's tone was slightly more 
negative with respect to Spain than in previous years. They 
presented poloffs with a non-paper detailing GOS concerns 
about the report.  We faxed a copy of the non-paper to EUR/WE 
on March 30.  We told our interlocutors we would relay the 
GOS's concerns to Washington. 
 
2.  Most of the concerns consist of slight changes in 
descriptive language from the previous year's human rights 
report.  For example, a phrase from the 2003 Human Rights 
Report for Spain that states, "There were allegations a few 
members of the security forces abused detainees and 
mistreated foreigners and illegal immigrants." The 2004 Human 
Rights Report adds the word "credible" before "allegations." 
 
3.  The GOS was also concerned about the mention of the 
government closing the Basque newspaper, Euskalunon 
Egunkaria, because of its links to ETA in the 2004 report. 
The February 2003 closing of the newspaper was first reported 
in the 2003 Human Rights Report for Spain.  The 2004 Human 
Rights Report for Spain mentions three additional four-month 
extensions of the newspaper's closing.  De la Camara and de 
Ory called this reporting erroneous because the paper was 
closed by a court order and not the executive branch of the 
Spanish government, which in their view means it was not 
closed by "the government." 
 
MANZANARES