US embassy cable - 05HANOI1983

UNCLAS HANOI 001983 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KUNR, PHUM, PREL, VM, UNCHR-1, UNGA, HUMANR 
SUBJECT:  VIETNAM UNDECIDED ON UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 
 
REF: STATE 140191 
 
1. (SBU) Poloff met August 3 with Pham Thi Kim Anh, the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Human Rights Officer in the 
International Organizations Department, to deliver reftel 
demarche.  Anh said Vietnam has not yet finalized its 
position on the creation of the Human Rights Council, but 
has some concerns about the formulation contained in the 
UNGA President's outcome document. 
 
2. (SBU) Anh noted that in Vietnam's estimation, the current 
UN Commission on Human Rights is already performing the 
functions envisioned for the UN Human Rights Council. 
Vietnam supports UN reform, including reform of the UN 
Commission on Human Rights, but is concerned about the way 
reform ideas are being developed.  In particular, Vietnam 
perceives the United States as using the reform process to 
increase its ability to impose its view on other countries 
and interfere in other nations' internal affairs. 
 
3. (SBU) When considering the reform of the UN's Human 
Rights architecture, certain practices must be abolished, 
Anh said.  "Double standards, the politicization of human 
rights and the practice of naming and shaming cannot be a 
part of a reformed human rights structure in the UN," she 
explained.  Vietnam is increasingly concerned that some 
international organizations connected with and independent 
of the United Nations (she was not specific on which ones) 
"violate international law through their interference in the 
internal affairs of States." 
 
4. (SBU) Anh seemed accepting of the points addressing the 
issues of naming and shaming and addressing all of the 
rights identified in the Universal Declaration.  Vietnam's 
additional concerns about the Human Rights Council relate to 
the proposed Council's size.  "20 is too small," she said, 
"and so is 30 or 35."  The problem with the Council being 
too small is that it reduces the opportunity to achieve real 
geographic diversity on the Council, she explained, and 
makes it unlikely that smaller or developing countries will 
be able to mount effective candidacies.  The current size of 
the UN Commission on Human Rights might be better, she said. 
Still, she stressed, the size of the proposed Council is one 
of the issues on which Vietnam has yet to finalize its 
position. 
 
5. (SBU) Of greater concern than the size of the proposed 
Council is the requirement that countries would need to 
receive a two-thirds vote in the UNGA to become members of 
the Council, Anh said.  This requirement requires candidates 
to lobby hundreds of other countries and delegations, a 
burden that "small, weak or developing" countries cannot 
meet.  The current system, where the UN Human Rights 
Commission members are elected by the ECOSOC member 
countries, greatly increases small countries' practical 
ability to lobby for membership, she said. 
 
6. (SBU) Anh made a point to reiterate the fact that Vietnam 
has not made a final decision on the UN Human Rights 
Council, and values the opportunity to exchange ideas and 
points of view with the United States and other UN member 
nations on this topic. 
 
7. (SBU) Comment: The GVN's response to any demarche dealing 
with multilateral Human Rights mechanisms has in past years 
been barely civil.  Anh's receptiveness to Poloff's points 
and willingness to respond to questions and issues, despite 
being accompanied by one of the most hard-line automatons in 
the IO Department's Human Rights bullpen, was a striking 
change from previous interactions on this topic.  While this 
probably has more to do with the Prime Minister's 
instruction to all ministries to pursue better relations 
with the United States than it does to any GVN change of 
heart on Human Rights issues, it is welcome nonetheless. 
End Comment. 
 
MARINE