US embassy cable - 05DJIBOUTI999

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000999 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF, AF/E, AND IO 
NSC FOR AFRICA DIRECTOR COURVILLE 
LONDON/PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
PARIS ALSO PASS UNESCO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2015 
TAGS: PREL, ETRD, OPDC, SCUL, DJ, BHUM, UNESCO 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI AND UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION 
DEMARCHE 
 
REF: SECSTATE 184292 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARGUERITA D. RAGSDALE. 
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
 1. (U)  Ambassador used the opportunity of her October 6 
meeting on another matter with  Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, (reported septel), to present reftel 
demarche received earlier that morning at post.  She 
specifically apprised the Minister of USG concern over the 
extraordinary reach of the UNESCO convention, the significant 
human rights and protectionist concerns it raises, and that 
the convention might be misread -- both in scope and in 
relation to the WTO - to allow protectionist measures on a 
wide range of commercial products.  She also told the 
Minister that in the U.S. view, rushing the convention 
through this year's General Conference would hurt UNESCO's 
image and undermine its important work in education, science 
and culture, which the U.S. robustly supports.  The 
Ambassador gave Youssouf the text (in English) of the letter 
from Secretary Rice and reftel talking points.  She promised 
to provide a translation of the points in French by no later 
than October 10. (Comment:  While the Minister is fluent in 
English, a translation will be needed for others involved in 
international organization affairs in the Ministry.  End 
comment.) 
 
2. (C) Youssouf said he did not really understand why the 
U.S. would be opposed to a convention on cultural diversity. 
The Ambassador responded that the U.S. fully supports 
cultural diversity.  After all, the U.S. is a culturally 
diverse nation.  However, it is the language of the 
convention, which is not carefully drafted, that is of 
concern.  She repeated that current wording could lead to 
misinterpretation and misapplication of the convention in a 
way that undermines existing international trade agreements 
such as those under WTO. 
 
3. (C) Youssouf did not convey Djibouti's position on the 
issue, but advised that he would review the matter with his 
colleagues and get back to us.  It was clear, however, that 
he had reservations about U.S. concerns over "protectionism" 
raised in the talking points.  He inquired as well if the 
U.S. were objecting to protectionism only as it applied to 
certain specific types of exports, such as wine.  The 
Ambassador assured that U.S. concerns over protectionism 
applied to a broad range of products that might be impacted 
by interpretation of the convention. 
 
4. (U) Ambassador will also convey in writing (both in French 
and English) to the Minister additional background and 
supporting information on protectionism we have now received 
that is also included in October 4 Press Guidance drafted by 
IO. 
RAGSDALE