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Cablegate: France and the Osce: Hdim Discussions in Paris

VZCZCXRO8316
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHFR #1984 3031817
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 291817Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4678
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNOSC/OSCE POST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS PARIS 001984

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV OSCE FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE AND THE OSCE: HDIM DISCUSSIONS IN PARIS

1. (SBU) U.S. delegation head at the recent OSCE Human
Development Implementation Meeting in Warsaw Ambassador
Robert Pearson, in his October 13 meeting with French MFA
Director for Human Rights and International Relations Sylvie
Bermann, focused on the U.S. desire to work with Europe to
delineate a clear role for the OSCE in the world community.
Pearson emphasized that the U.S. sees the OSCE largely as a
regional security organization but that human rights, free
and fair elections, rule of law, and basic liberties are
issues that the OSCE should continue to embrace and promote.
Bermann agreed that monitoring human rights issues is crucial
to the OSCE but observed that this can be made difficult when
the OSCE accepts human rights violations from some members
and not from others. Kazakhstan,s upcoming OSCE presidency
will make human rights an even more difficult issue for the
organization.

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2. (SBU) Pearson then said that from his perspective,
Europe sees the OSCE as a human rights organization. Bermann
countered that the OSCE,s mission cannot be so easily
categorized as either an organization dealing with human
rights or one dealing with regional security. Its purpose is
much more complicated and should include disarmament, the
balance of military forces, human rights issues, and freedom
of expression, on which the OSCE recently focused with
respect to people of various sexual orientations. Bermann
hoped that the new U.S. administration would engage on human
rights issues and encourage everyone to accept the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights because more countries need to do
so. She noted that the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, needs to be closed because it sends the wrong
message when the U.S. government is speaking so ardently on
so many other fronts about human rights.

3. (SBU) Pearson and Bermann discussed how difficult the
Russians had been at the recent OSCE meeting in Warsaw, where
the Russian representatives denounced the situation in
Georgia as &irrelevant, irretrievable, and irrevocable,8
and where they attempted to insert a discussion on alleged
Georgian human rights violations into the middle of a
discussion of other issues. Pearson maintained that Georgia
is an important question that should continue to be discussed
in OSCE fora, but the OSCE is not the only place OSCE member
countries should deal with this important issue.

(U) Ambassador Pearson has reviewed and cleared this cable.

STAPLETON

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