Cablegate: Demarche Delivered On Un Declaration On the Rights
VZCZCXRO3158
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #5935 2911728
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181728Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3748
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0110
UNCLAS MEXICO 005935
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL KTIA UN MX
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS
OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
REF: SECSTATE 169257
1. (SBU) On October 16, Poloff led the tripartite demarche,
with political officers from the Embassies of Australia and
New Zealand, to deliver reftel talking points to Director
General of Human Rights and Democracy Rodrigo Labardini and
Director of International Policy for Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and Minority Groups Mariana Salazar.
Labardini responded by stating that the declaration is
non-binding and that the language of the text is tight enough
to quell fears of any misinterpretation concerning issues of
self-determination and control of natural resources. He
dismissed our concern that the declaration's language could
provide ammunition to separatist groups, asserting out that
secessionist groups would act regardless of the text's legal
language. Labardini expressed that the time is right for
passing the declaration, the substantive achievement of the
declaration is optimal, and the jeopardy of indefinitely
delaying the vote after 11 years of negotiation is too high.
The general language of the text, he continued, could be
applied to the particular circumstances of signatory
countries, while reconciling domestic laws and practices with
international ones.
2. (SBU) While Salazar said that opening discussion to
change the text could jeopardize the future of the
declaration, Labardini added that it could shake the
reputation of the HRC itself. Labardini stressed that
approval of the declaration is an important precedent for the
new Human Rights Council (HRC), currently chaired by Mexican
representative Luis Alfonso de Alba, to mark an achievement
of moral substance and to secure the HRC as the definitive
international body on human rights. He solicited the support
of our governments to strengthen and bolster the authority
and standing of the HRC.
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity
GARZA