US embassy cable - 05ACCRA1547

UNCLAS ACCRA 001547 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, UNCHR-1, UNGA 
SUBJECT: GHANA: HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL DEMARCHE 
 
REF: SECSTATE 140191 
 
1.  On August 2, PolOff delivered ref A demarche on the 
proposed Human Rights Council to MFA Supervising Director for 
Legal, Multilateral and Passports Department Nana Bema Kumi. 
Kumi reaffirmed the GOG's support for creating a Human Rights 
Council and said she saw "nothing controversial" in the U.S. 
government's position. She said the GOG had not formulated a 
precise position yet on the Council's scope, membership or 
size. Nor had the GOG had any substantive discussions on this 
issue with any other missions except "in the greater context 
of UN reforms." 
 
2.  With regard to the Council's scope, Kumi agreed with the 
U.S. government's position that the Council must be strong 
enough to confront serious human rights violations in 
specific countries. Without such power, the Council would not 
be a credible organization, she said. She also reaffirmed 
that the GOG does not support universal membership and does 
not want serious human rights violators permitted to serve on 
the Council. She added that the GOG would like to reduce the 
current number of seats, but she was uncertain whether the 
range of 20 to 35 seats would be acceptable to the GOG. She 
said she could not recall the formula underlying the 
geographical distribution of the current seats. She said the 
GOG would support reducing the Council's size if African 
countries maintained adequate geographical representation on 
the new body. 
 
YATES