US embassy cable - 05PARIS4311

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 004311 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR THE SECRETARY, U/S BURNS, AND LEGAL ADVISER BELLINGER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KUNR, AORC, PGOV, PHUM, SENV, FR, UNGA, UNSC 
SUBJECT: UN REFORM: AMB. TAHIR-KHELI'S FRANCE CONSULTATIONS 
 
REF: STATE 111657 
 
Classified By: Charge Alex Wolff for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: In June 15 consultations in Paris with senior 
GoF officials, the Secretary's Senior Advisor on UN Reform, 
Amb. Tahir-Kheli, reviewed U.S. and GoF positions on the UN 
reform process.  French priorities for reform include 
development, environmental governance, peace and security 
including support for the proposed Peacebuilding Commission, 
counter-terrorism, human rights and the responsibility to 
protect issue.  On human rights the French were pleased that 
the U.S. and French positions have come together in agreement 
that the new Human Rights Council should be a subsidiary body 
of the UNGA, at least for now.  We also found broad agreement 
on the need for management reform, use of force issues 
(opposition to new "criteria" for UNSC action), 
non-proliferation concerns and the need for positive language 
on terrorism to be included in the outcome document for the 
September event.  The French also expressed concern that 
debate on Security Council expansion not derail other reform 
priorities.  The French believe that action on the G-4 
resolution to "get it out of the way" before September is the 
best way to prevent such a derailment but the timing of 
action on the resolution is up to the G-4.  The French 
stressed that they had "worked very hard" to get changes to 
the text of the G-4 resolution that made it better for the 
P-5.  They will continue to represent P-5 interests in their 
bilateral discussions with Germany and the other G-4 
countries.  Amb. Tahir-Kheli also was able to secure French 
support for the establishment of the U.N. Democracy Fund 
after assurances that it would not overlap with the 
activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human 
Rights.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C) MFA Political Director Stanislas de Laboulaye, 
accompanied by IO Director Jean-Maurice Ripert and IO 
staffers, welcomed the opportunity to discuss reform issues 
with Amb. Tahir-Kheli, who was accompanied by Charge Wolff, 
UN Reform Advisor Geran and poloff (notetaker).  Other GoF 
officials and PolMinCouns participated in a follow-on lunch 
hosted by Ripert. 
 
PEACE AND SECURITY 
 
3. (C) Laboulaye said that the GoF favored the establishment 
of a Peacebuilding Commission, which he acknowledged was an 
ambitious goal, to ensure consistent international action to 
help countries emerge from conflicts and to avoid new, or 
follow-on crises.  Amb. Tahir-Kheli said that the USG also 
supported the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission but had 
some concerns with the specifics of the proposed Commission. 
It would be important, she said, to establish a clear link to 
the UNSC, and for the UNSC to retain the prerogative to 
initiate action.  Ripert agreed that the Peacebuilding 
Commission's actions should be controlled by the UNSC and 
coordinated with other efforts inside and outside the UN 
system.  It was especially important, he said, that UNHCR and 
UNDP be part of the Commission.  Pascal Teixeira, Ripert's 
deputy, noted that GA President Ping had envisioned 
establishing the Commission at the HLE.  However, as the HLE 
had no authority to create the Commission, it should be 
established by the UNSC, perhaps following a declaration at 
the HLE.  The French did not believe that the outcome 
document should have any annexes but both sides agreed that 
getting as much detail as possible on the modalities of the 
Peacebuilding Commission in the document itself would be 
helpful. 
 
4. (C) MFA Strategic Affairs Director Carre said that France 
was working on trying to ensure that international 
commitments on WMD were upheld by strengthening the 
safeguards protocol to address delivery systems.  He also 
said that he hoped that U.S. would become more engaged in 
seeking acceptable language on non-proliferation in the Ping 
document. 
 
TERRORISM, HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
5. (C) Noting the excellent GoF/USG cooperation on 
counter-terrorism, Laboulaye expressed the view that the work 
on the definition of terrorism was leading to a common view. 
He expressed doubt, however, about the views of Arab 
countries on this issue.  Carre said that he was more 
optimistic on getting progress on terrorism issues than on 
WMD.  He said it was inconceivable to hold the HLE without 
addressing terrorism and making some positive progress on the 
issue.  France, he said, was engaged in an effort to bridge 
ideological divides by working to expand the body of 
international commitments on terrorism.  However, 
reservations by Arab countries that the definition of 
terrorism should not apply to freedom fighters were a 
concern.  The GoF view, he said, was that there should be a 
declaration that violence against non-combatants and 
civilians could not be justified by political intentions. 
Condemnations alone, he said, would change nothing on the 
ground, but a universally-adopted definition could have real 
impact.  Carre said that work on expanding the prohibitions 
on terrorism by states to non-state actors was progressing 
well.  Like the UK, France expressed concern that the word 
"terrorism" was dropped from paragraph 55 of the draft 
outcome document and has requested that Ping return to the 
earlier draft for that paragraph. 
 
6. (C) Laboulaye noted the importance UNSYG Annan had 
attached to human rights issues.  He said that while the U.S. 
had favored creation of a human rights body with limited 
membership, France had preferred a more universal body, 
believing that greater membership would confer legitimacy. 
He expressed satisfaction that the U.S. and French positions 
were now coming to agreement on having the new Human Rights 
Council (HRC) be a subsidiary of the UNGA, rather than 
ECOSOC, and noted his belief that this was the only way to 
gain the acceptance of less developed countries.  Amb. 
Tahir-Kheli welcomed USG/GoF cooperation on human rights 
issues, noting that French traditions made France a natural 
supporter of civil liberties and human rights at the UN.  The 
USG, she said, had taken into account French concerns on the 
Human Rights Council and was pleased that our positions now 
agreed.  The new HRC, she said, would need strong members and 
good working practices.  As ECOSOC was not working, it will 
be better to have elections by the GA.  The USG, she said, 
still preferred a smaller body, and was focused on 
strengthening its mandate and modalities for elections.  Both 
sides agreed that election by two-thirds of the members was a 
tricky issue as this may not exclude human rights violators 
but could exclude countries with strong human rights records 
such as France and the U.S.  The French were skeptical about 
the U.S. desire to have the HRC focus only on the most 
serious human rights situations while the third committee 
handles thematic resolutions since they believe that one of 
the most important activities of the Commission on Human 
Rights has been setting international standards and norms on 
human rights practices. 
 
RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT 
 
7. (C) Laboulaye said that the Ping report's formulation on 
the responsibility to protect was not currently satisfactory, 
in that it envisioned UNSC action only as a last resort when 
all other recourses were exhausted.  This, he said, was 
inconsistent with the UN Charter.  When national authorities 
failed in their primary responsibility to protect civilians, 
the UNSC should be in a position to take action of whatever 
sort it deemed necessary, particularly in cases of massive 
human rights violations or genocide.  Ripert said that the 
current proposals limited the use of force to the end of the 
process, thus limiting the capacity of the UNSC to intervene 
as it saw fit.  Amb. Tahir-Kheli noted that the GoF had 
promised a paper on this issue.  Ripert said he would provide 
more details shortly but one of France's papers given to the 
Ambassador included proposed language on this issue.  Amb. 
Tahir-Kheli said that this was an issue which had resonated 
in the U.S., particularly with regard to Darfur.  However, a 
blanket responsibility to protect could be interpreted as an 
obligation for the USG to act in every crisis, due to U.S. 
financial and military capacity.  As such, the U.S. would 
have to review language on this issue very carefully she 
hoped we could work toward a common position. 
 
USE OF FORCE 
 
8. (C) Ripert said the GoF was uncomfortable with 
establishing criteria for the use of force, but could accept 
some reference to general principles that could be 
considered.  Establishing criteria, he said, was something 
the British were more interested in, but France would not 
want to see these criteria imposed on the UNSC.  As an aside, 
he noted with disapproval remarks by the SYG's Africa Special 
Advisor, Under Secretary Ibrahim Gambari, to the effect that 
the UNSC should not be charged with peacekeeping in Africa, 
asserting that this was a matter for the AU.  Ripert said 
that while France (and the U.S.) had advocated African 
solutions for African problems, it was never envisioned that 
the UNSC should not retain global authority on matters of 
peace and security. 
 
DEMOCRACY FUND 
 
9. (C) Ripert said that the GoF had no difficulty in 
principle with the establishment of a UN Democracy Fund, and 
that he even had set aside money in his budget for a 
contribution.  However, given scarce resources, he expressed 
concern that the Fund not compete with other UN democracy 
activities and our mutual desire to strengthen the capacity 
of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 
(OHCHR).  He said that it would be necessary to establish 
links between the Fund and other UN agencies.  Amb. 
Tahir-Kheli stressed the President's commitment to democracy 
and human rights and his call for creation of the Fund last 
September.  The Fund, she said, as a targeted quick response 
mechanism, would be different from other UN democracy 
activities.  It also would serve as a focal point for 
aspiring democracies to solicit support and for democracies 
with fewer financial resources to be able to contribute 
expertise and technical services.  The Fund would not create 
a large bureaucracy, but would include representation from 
UNDP and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human 
Rights.  After receiving these assurances, Ripert committed 
France's support for the quick establishment of the Fund. 
 
UN MANAGEMENT 
 
10. (C) Amb Tahir-Kheli reminded Laboulaye that UNSYG Annan 
had called for management reform.  As the largest contributor 
to the UN, the U.S. could not continue without 
rationalization and improved accountability, oversight and 
transparency.  Different parts of the UN were not working, 
she said, citing the Secretary's view that it did not matter 
what we put into the UN if it was not working.  Ripert said 
that there was agreement among the Geneva group to improve UN 
management within the existing mandate.  While he agreed with 
most of our management reform proposals, he added that there 
could "of course" be no change to the existing language 
regime.  Ripert's deputy said that while France favored 
strengthening OIOS, the GoF had reservations about extending 
OIOS authority to smaller UN agencies and he thought they 
should be required to create their own internal oversight 
systems.  Geran noted that just as there was need for 
standardization and better enforcement of staff regulations 
throughout the UN system, there was need for more consistent 
oversight.  Strengthening the independence of OIOS and 
extending its mandate to other agencies could help meet this 
need. 
 
UNSC REFORM 
 
11. (C) Laboulaye cautioned the need for care on UNSC 
expansion as the issue was highly political and "had its own 
calendar."  The issue of UNSC reform, he said, should not be 
allowed to derail other reform efforts.  He said that France 
would co-sponsor the G-4 text, which they now believed was 
well-balanced.  He said that France had worked very hard with 
Germany to make the text acceptable to the P-5, particularly 
on the veto issue.  He said that the GoF had diluted the 
proposals for a review conference to establish a review 
process which was "a very different thing."  A review process 
could be anything (or nothing) and therefore protected P-5 
interests.  Laboulaye said it was up to the G-4 to decide 
when to table the text, adding that Japan and Germany had 
both hesitated to do so prior to the AU summit.  The French 
believed that the G-4 may table the resolution before the AU 
summit but then delay voting until afterwards, thus giving 
the Africans a chance to consider the text and propose 
changes if necessary.  They believed that the G-4 have 
stopped seeking co-sponsors of their text because no African 
country would be willing to co-sponsor before the summit. 
 
12. (C) Amb. Tahir-Kheli said that the USG saw UNSC reform as 
part of the larger reform effort, but that the USG did not 
see this as a priority.  The USG strongly supported Japan's 
push for a permanent seat, but models A and B were neither 
ruled in, nor ruled out.  The USG, she said, was studying the 
various plans and had no plan of its own.  In response to 
Laboulaye's question on the timetable, Amb. Tahir-Kheli 
expressed the view that seeking to resolve the issue before 
the HLE in September created an artificial deadline, and also 
risked destroying the momentum on other reform issues. 
Laboulaye also expressed concern that debate on UNSC 
expansion not derail other reform efforts.  However, he noted 
that it would be better to have action on the G-4 resolution 
before September in order to "get it out of the way" and 
allow focus to return to the broader reform efforts. 
Laboulaye conceded that the GoF had not expected the 
forcefulness of China's lobbying (against Japan) on UNSC 
reform, but asserted that there were not more than 15-20 
countries opposed to the G-4 proposal.  Ripert offered that 
there was no scenario in which Japan alone could gain the 
necessary votes for a permanent seat if separated from the 
G-4 proposal.  African countries, in particular, would not 
accept the addition of just one country to the UNSC. 
DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT, GOVERNANCE 
13. (C) Laboulaye reaffirmed the GoF's support for the 
Millennium Development Goals and particularly the 0.7 per 
cent of GNP for ODA.  France was pleased with the progress 
made and with pilot projects, particularly on health issues, 
as included in UNGA President Ping's draft report.  Laboulaye 
said that France, working with EU partners, had hoped to 
launch a process in September to establish a new UN umbrella 
agency for environmental issues which would replace UNEP to 
consolidate and rationalize the UN's work on environmental 
issues.  This new organization, he said, should be assured of 
stable financial contributions.  Ripert said that the new 
body would have universal membership along the lines of the 
World Intellectual Property Organization.  Currently, he 
said, there were about 500 environmental conventions, half of 
which had created their own secretariats.  He argued that a 
new agency that would add coherence and streamline such 
activities seemed in keeping with the U.S. desire to 
rationalize UN programs and activities across the board. 
Amb. Tahir-Kheli responded that the USG had an honorable 
record on development, and that we were not defensive on this 
issue.  Targets for ODA without progress on governance and 
the rule of law would not lead to development. 
 
14. (C) Ambassador Denis Bauchard, the GoF coordinator for 
the HLE, acknowledged disappointment with the portion of the 
SYG's report dealing with governance issues.  The GoF, he 
said, favored the creation of an Economic Council along the 
lines of the Security Council.  Amb. Tahir-Kheli replied that 
the USG was not enthusiastic about this idea.  It would 
create an additional layer of bureaucracy by establishing a 
Deputy Secretary General.  Ripert opined that it might be 
easier to reform ECOSOC.  Ripert stressed that ECOSOC in some 
form had to be preserved as it was the only forum available 
to the less-developed countries to be heard.  ECOSOC, he 
said, could be given a role in following up on the Millennium 
Development Goals.  Amb. Tahir-Kheli and Geran expressed 
reservations on giving ECOSOC this role, noting that the USG 
and other key member states were not always involved in 
ECOSOC discussions and that ECOSOC would need both direction 
and more transparency.  In response to Bauchard's reference 
to the priority of Africa reflected in the SYG and Sachs 
reports, Amb. Tahir-Kheli noted the President's commitment to 
Africa as reflected in the funding for HIV/AIDS and the 
Millennium Challenge Account.  Amb. Tahir-Kheli and Ripert 
agreed that African countries should be encouraged to be more 
active in ECOSOC and that reform of ECOSOC was important. 
Ripert noted that France was doubling its contribution to the 
Global Fund for AIDS from 150 to 300 million euros. 
 
15. (C) Bauchard said that other means to finance development 
needed to be found.  In addition to debt cancellation, France 
was looking at a "solidarity tax" (on air tickets).  Amb. 
Tahir Kheli replied that this was a non-starter for the USG. 
She expressed satisfaction that the latest version of the 
Ping report had referred to the Monterrey consensus, but 
noted that the Ping report focused too heavily on the 
responsibilities of donors, and not enough on the 
responsibilities of recipient countries.  Ripert replied that 
a balance between the two was necessary. 
 
16. (U) Ambassador Tahir-Kheli cleared this message. 
WOLFF