id: 57267
date: 3/20/2006 13:00
refid: 06DUSHANBE525
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED
destination:
header:
VZCZCXRO5122
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0525 0791300
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201300Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7008
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1460
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1493
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1481
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1438
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1383
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1445
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1407
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1335
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1252
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1034
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1477
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1528
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0826
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 8152
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000525
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, SOCI, TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN: CITY
CONTINUES DEMOLITION, TARGETS BUSY MARKET
1. Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid
Ubaidulloyev signed an order to
level a busy market for the construction of two new four-story
apartment buildings. Tarrakiet
Development owns the Rohi
Abreshim market, more commonly known as the «82nd Bazaar» due
to
its location in the 82nd district of Dushanbe. The city
ordered Tarrakiet Development, the property owner, to tear down
all market stalls within two months.
2. Last October, the Tajik
Supreme Economic Court declared the
market illegal. Dushanbe city officials point out the market’s
buildings and stalls were constructed without city permission
and do not meet city architectural and safety standards.
Officials claim that businessmen operating at the market will be
able to re-open their stalls at other markets around the city.
However, it is unlikely they will relocate. Some merchants have
told Embassy sources they will seek work in Russia and join the
one million other labor migrants from Tajikistan.
3. When EmbOff visited the 82nd
market March 19. Visible
demolition had not yet begun.
However, some stalls were vacant,
and the normally crowded market had noticeably less patrons.
The market’s destruction would reportedly put 3,500 people out
of work. Merchants are
outraged. Rumors of a pending
destruction started eight years ago.
However, merchants
dismissed the rumors as years passed without any actions taken.
Many will not be able to sell their inventory within the next
two months and will suffer large financial losses. Because of
the illegal status of the stalls and small shops, the government
will not compensate vendors.
4. Embassy staff heard
unconfirmed rumors President Rahmonov’s
daughter would build new apartments on the market’s site.
Others speculate that owners of
the nearby new and modern
«Ganjina» shopping complex encouraged the demolition to
eliminate competition and drum up businesses. Government
officials and wealthy businessmen from Kulob, President
Rahmonov’s home region, have purchased most of the space in the
«Ganjina» complex but have been unable to rent out the shops
and
stalls. A Ganjina stall costs
$100 each month, a high sum for
the average small merchant.
5. COMMENT: The 82nd bazaar is only the latest victim of
government-ordered demolition during Dushanbe’s unprecedented
construction boom. Homes,
hospitals, civic organizations, and
businesses have been or are in the process of being torn down
around the new presidential palace to create a park. A popular
restaurant valued at $50,000 will be torn down, and the owner
will not be compensated. Even the historic Russian Military
Hospital on Rudaki Avenue is being forced to move for new
development. The government and
its crony developers will need
to pay close attention that their haste for visible economic
growth doesn’t breed too much political resentment among
citizens. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 57778
date: 3/23/2006 12:09
refid: 06DUSHANBE535
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 06DUSHANBE208
header:
VZCZCXRO9200
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHDBU #0535/01 0821209
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 231209Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7023
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 8171
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1461
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1386
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1408
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1494
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1439
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0827
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1035
—————— header ends —————-
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000535
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/23/2016
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, EAID, KWMN, KIRF, SOCI, SNAR, TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN’S WOMEN’S COLONY, PRISON OR PARADISE?
REF: DUSHANBE 0208
CLASSIFIED BY: Richard E. Hoagland, Ambassador, State, State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)
1. (U) Nestled in the mountains near the Nurek dam,
one hour
from Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s sole women’s prison is far more
sanitary and progressive than men’s prisons. The manicured
gardens, relatively clean buildings, holiday activities and good
management attempt to mask the sub-standard conditions common
throughout Tajik prisons.
2. (U) PolOff accompanied Swiss Cooperation Office
(SCO)
representatives to Tajikistan’s Women’s Colony March 14, the
second Embassy prison visit this year.
Some 600 women reside in
the overcrowded prison, 70% of whom were convicted of drug
trafficking. The director of the
prison was eager to show off
his well-maintained prison and its «happy» tenants. He
repeatedly asked PolOff what she thought of the prison and was
keen on making sure all visitors were satisfied with the prison
conditions. One SCO officer told
PolOff this particular
director is a unique in Tajikistan’s penitentiary system and
truly cares about providing hospitable conditions for the women.
3. (C) Deputy Minister of Justice, Lieutenant
General
Izzatullo Sharipov, Head of the Tajik Penitentiary system is
attempting to make over Tajikistan’s prisons. Despite his
reputation for cruelty and corruption (reftel), he has reached
out to select international organizations for assistance,
although pointedly excluding the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC). SCO officer
told PolOff Sharipov is
attempting to regain status with President Rahmonov. Sharipov
was allegedly involved in drug trafficking and entangled in a
court case in Moscow. President
Rahmonov appointed Sharipov to
his current position as a demotion and now Sharipov is working
to regain Rahmonov’s good graces.
Post’s Senior Law Enforcement
Agent relayed that Tajik Border Guard’s head General-Colonel
Saidimir Zuhurov noted Sharipov played an «important» role in
eliminating opposition fighters during the civil war. (COMMENT:
A somewhat dubious distinction,
given the heavy-handed way many
opposition forces were defeated, but an understandable reason
why Rahmonov may feel a sense of loyalty to Sharipov. END
COMMENT.)
BETTER FACILITIES, BUT STILL SUBSTANDARD
4. (U) The women’s prison affords its tenants more
facilities
than men’s prisons. The prison
has a small mosque for Muslims
and a few rooms for practicing Christians. Approximately 80
women regularly attend mosque.
Two local Christian missionary
groups converted 60 women while in prison, engage them in bible
classes and organize holiday festivities. An on-site library
with old Soviet books and newspapers donated by SCO is open to
the women. Women who bear
children while in prison are allowed
to live in separate quarters with their children up to three
years of age. Some women can
elect to work in a small textiles
factory on site. Local companies
commission the prisons with
projects such as sewing traditional Tajik dress or military
uniforms. The women are not
forced to work in the factory.
They do not earn a salary, only a 30 somoni ($10) credit per
month to use at the prison’s convenience store.
5. (U) Although the women’s facility is better than
other
prisons in Tajikistan, the conditions are nowhere near Western
standards. The prison’s director
commented that Tajikistan is
such an impoverished country, upgrading prison facilities is one
of the government’s last priorities.
Approximately 100 women
share bunk beds in a large sleeping room with no heat. The
sewage system is broken and waste seeps above ground in the
nearby village. The medical wing
of the prison is clean and far
more sanitary than Tajikistan’s hospital for inmates (reftel).
However, problems remain. PolOff
observed medicine donated by
Sweden scattered across the floor of one room and instruments
were not sterilized. Nurek’s
distance from Dushanbe means that
prisoners are treated on site and cannot be transported to a
city hospital. Out of the 40
state employees who run the
prison, only eight are women. In the
past year, three men have
been dismissed due to improper conduct, including rape and
sexual molestation. The deputy
director of the prison stressed
the need for more female employees.
DUSHANBE 00000535 002 OF 002
6. (SBU) COMMENT: This visit is the second of what we hope
will be regular routine visits by Embassy officials. Post has
recommended that Project Hope allocate some of its medical
supplies and humanitarian assistance to the penitentiary
system’s hospital in May, as General Sharipov requested.
However, the assistance will depend on continued monitoring and
building a relationship of trust and transparency. We hope this
could open the door to better relations with all relevant
international organizations, including the ICRC. END COMMENT.
ARMBRUSTER
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 57942
date: 3/24/2006 8:33
refid: 06DUSHANBE540
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination:
header:
VZCZCXRO0231
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHDBU #0540/01 0830833
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 240833Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7030
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 1464
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 1497
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 1483
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 1442
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 1389
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1447
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1411
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1337
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1254
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/HQ USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 1479
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1531
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1038
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 0829
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 8179
—————— header ends —————-
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000540
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/RUS, INR
NSC FOR MILLARD, MERKEL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/24/2016
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, SOCI, RS, TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN: POLITICAL
VIGNETTES OF RAHMONOV AND ABDULATIPOV
AT NAVRUZ EVENTS
CLASSIFIED BY: Richard E. Hoagland, Ambassador, EXEC, Embassy
Dushanbe.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)
A LOW-KEY PRESIDENT RAHMONOV BEHAVES
1. (C) On March 18, President
Rahmonov had his annual meeting
with the country’s intelligentsia in the newly restored central
cinema and then invited them, members of his government, and the
diplomatic corps to a formal luncheon in a specially
constructed, 250-foot-long, temporary banquet hall in Dushanbe’s
Botanical Garden. Central Bank
Chairman Alimardonov was the
major domo, as always for the President’s largest banquets, and
he set 850 places with new gold-rimmed National Bank of
Tajikistan china, made in China (we checked). Although there
was traditional music during the interminable meal, there were
no song and dance acts afterward.
Instead, the President called
on five leading poets to recite their poetry. As he was
leaving, one famous female poet called out to him to stay and
dance. His eyes lit up. But immediately, Rahmonov’s chief of
security lightly put his hand on the President’s shoulder.
Looking a tad sheepish, Rahmonov declined and quickly left.
2. (C) COMMENT: While we would certainly not judge Rahmonov
an
alcoholic, he does like to party and, in the past, after a good
number of Hennessey XOs, has frequently taken to the dance floor
with the ladies and grabbed the microphone to croon songs. At
last year’s Unity Day banquet, he was more than a little visibly
tipsy, and his security detail had to edge him out of the hall.
This became a scandal in Dushanbe’s political circles, and ever
since, we have not seen Rahmonov cut loose in public. END
COMMENT.
3. (SBU) The President and his
intelligentsia guests were
nearly two hours late for the lunch — most unusual for him — and
protocol invited the prompt ambassadors to stroll in the
Botanical Garden. To our
surprise, the Conservatory, a barren
ruin since Independence, has been fully restored with a new
roof, new glass, and totally replanted with rare specimen
plants, further evidence of Dushanbe’s physical renaissance.
4. (C) Rahmonov was likewise
mellow and well behaved at his
small VVIP luncheon following Mayor Ubaidulloyev’s Navruz
cultural show on March 21. He
offered only one toast, and
didn’t interact with the entertainers, except to ask that his
favorite ones not use a microphone and amplified music, but that
they come closer and sing for him personally, which in fact
accentuated the magnificent voice of the young Armenian diva.
Further, he didn’t play one ambassador off against another by
pulling one or another aside for a tete-a-tete, as he has in the
past.
5. (C) That said, the
Presidential Protocol Office must have
had fun making up the seating chart.
The Ambassador and Russian
Ambassador Ramazan Abdulatipov were seated side by side at Table
Number One within Rahmonov’s direct line of sight (see para 10
below). He occasionally made a
gesture of offering toasts to
the Ambassador and Abulatipov, but never demanded «bottoms
up,»
as he has done in the past.
6. (C) A bit further down in the
pecking order, the German and
French Ambassadors were seated with the Iranian Ambassador, who
looked exceedingly uncomfortable, as he always does at such
diplomatic social events where the alcohol flows. (As he often
does, the British Ambassador blew off the event.) The Chinese
DUSHANBE 00000540 002 OF 002
Ambassador, oddly enough, was seated back in the nose-bleed
section with various United Nations officials.
BONS MOTS FROM AMBASSADOR ABDULATIPOV
7. (C) Few ambassadors showed up
for Dushanbe Mayor
Obaidulloyev’s March 21 cultural extravaganza to celebrate
Navruz. Among those who did was
Russian Ambassador Abdulatipov.
Protocol seated him in the empty
front row of the VVIP stand.
After Ambassador Hoagland, seated in the third row (not a
sleight, just a fact) went up to greet him, Abdulatipov stood
and went back to sit with the Ambassador, quipping that «Russia
wants to demonstrate good relations with the Superpower.»
8. (C) The Ambassador was seated
next to one of the many small
tables with dried fruits, nuts, and roasted seeds. When he
passed the plate, Abdulatipov commented, «The Russian Federation
humbly thanks the representative of the United States for
providing humanitarian assistance.»
9. (C) Most of the 21 acts in the
program featured dramatic
recitation of ancient Persian, pre-Islamic poetry, and
traditional music and dance from all regions of Tajikistan. The
Ambassador asked Abdulatipov, a native of the North Caucasus, if
this was how Dagestanis celebrate Navruz. He replied dryly, «Of
course not. We’re
Europeans.» Later, during a
riveting
traditional drumming and dance number, Abdulatipov nudged the
Ambassador, «This music and dance is like your Eskimos, isn’t
it? Same kinds of traditional
peoples.» By
«traditional» the
elegant Abdulatipov really seemed to imply «backward.»
10. (C) Following the mayor’s
program, President Rahmonov
hosted a relatively small lunch for the diplomatic corps,
several key members of his government, and a few other special
guests. The Ambassador was seated
at Table Number One with
Abdulatipov, Foreign Minister Nazarov, the president’s chief of
staff, and the retired first President of Tajikistan. A half
hour after President Rahmonov opened the luncheon with the
official toast, a fairly large group of men arrived and noisily
pushed together two tables behind the President’s head table —
First Family Orion Bank and Tajik Aluminum Plant officials. The
Ambassador commented to Abdulatipov, «Now that’s really a VIP
table,» knowing that Russian Aluminum’s Oleg Deripaska has very
close relations with the key figures in the group. Abdulatipov
looked serious and said, «Not VIP.
Dangerous!» When the
Ambassador asked why, Abdulatipov explained, «They’re Tajiks.
You can’t ever trust them.»
11. (C) COMMENT: As we get to know Abdulatipov better, we’re
beginning to appreciate his dry sense of humor. Still, some of
his unscripted comments are both revealing and have unexpected
(and undiplomatic) bite. END
COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 58056
date: 3/24/2006 15:34
refid: 06DUSHANBE542
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED
destination:
header:
VZCZCXRO1048
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0542/01 0831534
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 241534Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7034
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1415
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1393
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1446
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1468
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1487
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1258
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1501
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1042
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0833
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1483
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 8183
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000542
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, KIRF, TI
SUBJECT: DRAFT LAW ON RELIGION MAY SEVERELY CURTAIL CHRISTIAN,
ISLAMIC AND OTHER RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY IN TAJIKISTAN
DUSHANBE 00000542 001.2 OF 002
1. Draft legislation from the
State Committee for Religious
Affairs (SCRA) proposes new restrictions and regulations on
religious activity which have raised serious concerns for all
religions practiced in Tajikistan.
The SCRA recently circulated
the draft «Law on the Freedom of Faith and the Religious
Associations» (draft) among religious leaders before submitting
it to Parliament for debate in early April.
2. The following points represent
the most contested issues or
significant changes from the existing law on Religion and
Religious Organizations. Reaction
to the proposed changes and
analysis will come septel.
3. The draft introduction
declares the Republic of Tajikistan
to be a secular society, but acknowledges the significant role
of Islam in the social and spiritual life of the population.
(NOTE: The existing law makes no mention of Tajikistan as a
secular state. END NOTE.) Article
7 makes illegal any actions
or activities intended to proselytize or convert believers of
one confession to another. The
current law makes no such
prohibition.
4. Political Participation:
Article 8 separates religious associations from the state
authority, prohibiting ministers of religious associations from
being elected to state agencies or institutions. It also
prohibits a religious association from taking part in the
activity of political parties or movements, financially or
otherwise. «Political parties cannot base their activity on
religious ideologies and cannot be involved in religious
education.» (NOTE: This challenges the existence, membership
and activities of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan
(IRPT), Central Asia’s only legal Islamic political party.
Article 5 of the existing law states members of religious
associations have the right to participate in political life.
END NOTE.)
5. Religious Education:
Article 10 limits religious education to children age seven and
older, only with written permission from their parents and only
after state school hours.
Domestic religious education is
expressly forbidden. The article
also requires that individuals
teaching religious beliefs have specialized spiritual education
and coordinate their activity with the state agency for
religious affairs.
6. Religious Association:
Article 11 introduces several new provisions.
—Founders of a religious association can only be citizens of
Tajikistan above age 18.
—Foreign citizens can only be members or participants-not
founders or leaders-of a religious body.
—The name of a religious association must contain information
indicating its faith or confession.
The organization must
indicate fully its name in any activity.
—A religious association can only be organized after informing
the local government.
7. Mosques:
Article 14 imposes restrictions on the establishment of mosques
based on the population of a community.
To establish a mosque,
a village must have 200-2,000 people.
Additional mosques can be
established for every additional 2,000 people. A Friday mosque
requires 20,000 people in rural areas, and 30,000 in cities.
(NOTE: Most rural areas do not have 20,000 residents in a
concentrated area. END
NOTE.) In Dushanbe, there will a Friday
mosque for every 50,000 people.
The existing law states that
15,000 people suffice for a Friday mosque. According to the
draft, a Friday mosque can be founded regardless of a
community’s population, if there are already three smaller
mosques.
8. Registration of all religious
groups and activities:
Article 16 states illegal (non-registered) religious activity in
the Republic of Tajikistan is prohibited. Article 18
establishes new provisions for registering a religious
DUSHANBE 00000542 002.2 OF 002
association, requiring the following documents:
— Application signed by 20 Tajik citizens over age 18 with
addresses; (NOTE: Current law requires only 10 founders. END
NOTE.)
— Protocol about the formation of the association and the staff;
— Regulations (charter) of the association;
— Certification about the location;
— Certification of the local authorities on the population in
the area;
— Receipt on payment of the state fee.
Also required is a list with signatures, dates and addresses of
200-1,000 citizens who support the creation of the religious
association (the number of required signatures will depend of
the population of the community); for non-Islamic associations,
200-600 supporters are required. Under Article 16, the state may
not require any additional documents for registration.
9. Commitments:
Article 21 states that a religious association is obligated to:
—submit information on adopted decisions to the state agency
that registered the association;
—allow the representatives of the registering agency, as well
as other «monitoring and controlling agencies» to attend
meetings and events;
—submit an annual report. If no
report is submitted for three
years, the registering agency may consider the association to
have ceased its activities.
(NOTE: These requirements are not
in the existing law. END NOTE.)
10. The Hajj:
Draft Article 26 imposes state control of the Hajj and Umra,
pilgrimages to Islamic holy sites.
The article states «citizens
of the Republic of Tajikistan have the right to pilgrimage
organized by the Committee on Religious Affairs.» Article 24 of
the existing law states «Citizens and religious associations
have the right to travel alone or in a group to foreign
countries including to Hajj.»
(NOTE: The new article seeks to
codify a practice already in place, state control of the Hajj
trips. The SCRA has administered
the Hajj for several years, to
the dismay of many devout Tajik Muslims. END NOTE.)
11. COMMENT: If passed as
proposed, the law would curtail
religious activity of Muslims, Christians and other faiths. The
signature requirements to register an organization could prove
especially onerous in sparsely populated rural areas. The
citizenship requirements would effectively prevent missionaries
from establishing any sort of activity without significant local
support, and could prevent foreigners from leading worship. The
draft also allows an increased amount of access and scrutiny for
state officials. Post will work
with religious leaders, and the
NGO and diplomatic community to look for ways to suggest to the
Tajik government that the law on «freedom of faith» needs to
emphasize a little more freedom.
END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 58055
date: 3/24/2006 15:34
refid: 06DUSHANBE541
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED
destination: 06DUSHANBE541
header:
VZCZCXRO1043
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0541/01 0831534
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 241534Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7032
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 8181
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1413
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1391
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1444
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1466
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1485
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1256
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1499
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1040
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0831
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1481
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000541
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, KIRF, TI
SUBJECT: DRAFT LAW ON RELIGION MAY SEVERELY CURTAIL CHRISTIAN,
ISLAMIC AND OTHER RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY IN TAJIKISTAN
DUSHANBE 00000541 001.2 OF 002
1. Draft legislation from the
State Committee for Religious
Affairs (SCRA) proposes new restrictions and regulations on
religious activity which have raised serious concerns for all
religions practiced in Tajikistan.
The SCRA recently circulated
the draft «Law on the Freedom of Faith and the Religious
Associations» (draft) among religious leaders before submitting
it to Parliament for debate in early April.
2. The following points represent
the most contested issues or
significant changes from the existing law on Religion and
Religious Organizations. Reaction
to the proposed changes and
analysis will come septel.
3. The draft introduction
declares the Republic of Tajikistan
to be a secular society, but acknowledges the significant role
of Islam in the social and spiritual life of the population.
(NOTE: The existing law makes no mention of Tajikistan as a
secular state. END NOTE.) Article
7 makes illegal any actions
or activities intended to proselytize or convert believers of
one confession to another. The
current law makes no such
prohibition.
4. Political Participation:
Article 8 separates religious associations from the state
authority, prohibiting ministers of religious associations from
being elected to state agencies or institutions. It also
prohibits a religious association from taking part in the
activity of political parties or movements, financially or
otherwise. «Political parties cannot base their activity on
religious ideologies and cannot be involved in religious
education.» (NOTE: This challenges the existence, membership
and activities of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan
(IRPT), Central Asia’s only legal Islamic political party.
Article 5 of the existing law states members of religious
associations have the right to participate in political life.
END NOTE.)
5. Religious Education:
Article 10 limits religious education to children age seven and
older, only with written permission from their parents and only
after state school hours.
Domestic religious education is
expressly forbidden. The article
also requires that individuals
teaching religious beliefs have specialized spiritual education
and coordinate their activity with the state agency for
religious affairs.
6. Religious Association:
Article 11 introduces several new provisions.
—Founders of a religious association can only be citizens of
Tajikistan above age 18.
—Foreign citizens can only be members or participants-not
founders or leaders-of a religious body.
—The name of a religious association must contain information
indicating its faith or confession.
The organization must
indicate fully its name in any activity.
—A religious association can only be organized after informing
the local government.
7. Mosques:
Article 14 imposes restrictions on the establishment of mosques
based on the population of a community.
To establish a mosque,
a village must have 200-2,000 people.
Additional mosques can be
established for every additional 2,000 people. A Friday mosque
requires 20,000 people in rural areas, and 30,000 in cities.
(NOTE: Most rural areas do not have 20,000 residents in a
concentrated area. END
NOTE.) In Dushanbe, there will a Friday
mosque for every 50,000 people.
The existing law states that
15,000 people suffice for a Friday mosque. According to the
draft, a Friday mosque can be founded regardless of a
community’s population, if there are already three smaller
mosques.
8. Registration of all religious
groups and activities:
Article 16 states illegal (non-registered) religious activity in
the Republic of Tajikistan is prohibited. Article 18
establishes new provisions for registering a religious
DUSHANBE 00000541 002.2 OF 002
association, requiring the following documents:
— Application signed by 20 Tajik citizens over age 18 with
addresses; (NOTE: Current law requires only 10 founders. END
NOTE.)
— Protocol about the formation of the association and the staff;
— Regulations (charter) of the association;
— Certification about the location;
— Certification of the local authorities on the population in
the area;
— Receipt on payment of the state fee.
Also required is a list with signatures, dates and addresses of
200-1,000 citizens who support the creation of the religious
association (the number of required signatures will depend of
the population of the community); for non-Islamic associations,
200-600 supporters are required. Under Article 16, the state may
not require any additional documents for registration.
9. Commitments:
Article 21 states that a religious association is obligated to:
—submit information on adopted decisions to the state agency
that registered the association;
—allow the representatives of the registering agency, as well
as other «monitoring and controlling agencies» to attend
meetings and events;
—submit an annual report. If no
report is submitted for three
years, the registering agency may consider the association to
have ceased its activities.
(NOTE: These requirements are not
in the existing law. END NOTE.)
10. The Hajj:
Draft Article 26 imposes state control of the Hajj and Umra,
pilgrimages to Islamic holy sites.
The article states «citizens
of the Republic of Tajikistan have the right to pilgrimage
organized by the Committee on Religious Affairs.» Article 24 of
the existing law states «Citizens and religious associations
have the right to travel alone or in a group to foreign
countries including to Hajj.»
(NOTE: The new article seeks to
codify a practice already in place, state control of the Hajj
trips. The SCRA has administered
the Hajj for several years, to
the dismay of many devout Tajik Muslims. END NOTE.)
11. COMMENT: If passed as proposed,
the law would curtail
religious activity of Muslims, Christians and other faiths. The
signature requirements to register an organization could prove
especially onerous in sparsely populated rural areas. The
citizenship requirements would effectively prevent missionaries
from establishing any sort of activity without significant local
support, and could prevent foreigners from leading worship. The
draft also allows an increased amount of access and scrutiny for
state officials. Post will work
with religious leaders, and the
NGO and diplomatic community to look for ways to suggest to the
Tajik government that the law on «freedom of faith» needs to
emphasize a little more freedom.
END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 58216
date: 3/27/2006 11:09
refid: 06DUSHANBE546
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 06DUSHANBE283|06DUSHANBE322
header:
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—————— header ends —————-
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000546
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, DRL
NSC FOR MILLARD, MERKEL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/27/2016
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KDEM, TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN: HOW TO
IMPROVE THE NOVEMBER 2006 ELECTION
REF: A) DUSHANBE 0322 B) HOAGLAND-HILLMEYER, ET. AL., E-MAIL DTD
03-16-06 C) DUSHANBE 0283
CLASSIFIED BY: Richard E. Hoagland, Ambassador, EXEC, Embassy
Dushanbe.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)
1. (SBU) Although it is getting
late in the game, we still have
an opportunity, if we begin work now, to influence the
Government of Tajikistan to take steps forward toward meeting
international standards in the November 2006 presidential
election. If we can achieve this
modest goal, we will have made
incremental progress toward building real democracy in
Tajikistan.
2. (SBU) Two critical steps could
help: 1) high-level
Washington messages to key insiders, specifically first-family
members who are known to have reformers in their inner circles,
and 2) specific «contract-like» agreements with the Central
Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) and with the
Center for Strategic Research (CSR) Under the President of
Tajikistan, the government’s influential internal think-tank, to
improve specific areas that the OSCE/ODHIR report criticized in
the 2005 parliamentary elections.
These two steps would be in
addition to and compliment the existing election strategy for
Tajikistan.
CONSTRAINTS
3. (SBU) Tajikistan will not
conduct a 2006 presidential
election that meets international standards — if we take a
maximalist stance, we set ourselves and Tajikistan up for
failure. But the Tajik Government
can indeed take steps forward
with our attentive, timely, and committed help.
4. (C) The November election will
not fully meet international
standards because the powerful and predominant post-Soviet
political culture evident throughout the CIS, aided and abetted
by Russian intelligence agencies, still condones manipulation of
elections by administrative means (which could be called the
power of incumbency if it weren’t so ham-fisted and blatant), as
well as by outright falsification of results, and because no
real opposition candidate is likely to come forth in a climate
where any credible opposition to the power structure is
intimidated, silenced, or bought off.
5. (C) A full-court press by
neo-Soviet forces in Moscow
ensures the status quo by overwhelmingly electing «friends of
the Kremlin.» Further,
Moscow has used its near total
domination of the CIS information space for nearly two years to
drum-beat the propaganda that democracy equals anarchy, and that
the Western goal of democratic elections is really code for
«color revolutions that overthrow Moscow’s friends, who
guarantee stability, in order to install pro-Western puppets who
then do nothing to improve the lives of the people.»
POSSIBILITIES
WORKING THE INSIDERS
6. (SBU) We have already proposed
(refs A and B) meetings in
Washington in April, during the annual World Bank and IMF
meetings, for key insiders who could pass the following message
directly to President Rahmonov:
the President can afford to
conduct elections that come closer to meeting international
standards because we acknowledge that he will be re-elected. It
is to his advantage to do so because it would help him maintain
international credibility and his balance-the-powers, open-door
foreign policy, which appears to be his ultimate goal to
preserve Tajikistan’s sovereignty.
7. (C) The two most important
insiders are both family members
who would get the message to Rahmonov unmediated: Presidential
Economic Adviser Matlubhon Davlatov and Orion Bank Chairman
Hasan Sadulloyev. Also to be
included would be Chairman of the
State Savings Bank and real, Western-oriented reformer
Mahmadamin Mahmadaminov, and Chairman of the National Bank
Murodali Alimardonov, who has credibly promoted banking and
finance reform, even though he himself is an insider oligarch.
8. (SBU) The optimum time for
high-level talks with these
insiders would be on the margins of the mid-April World Bank and
IMF meetings. If Washington is
willing to risk taking this
concrete action to promote further steps toward democracy in
Tajikistan, we and the Tajik insiders involved need to know by
March 31, simply for logistics purposes.
DUSHANBE 00000546 002 OF 002
WORKING THE SYSTEM
9. (U) It is not enough to tell
the Tajik Government what to do
and then sit back and wait; we need to help them do it. Rolling
up the sleeves and getting the hands dirty tends to be more
effective than soap-boxing and then criticizing.
10. (SBU) At the Ambassador’s
request, the International
Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) in Dushanbe (the only
U.S. democracy NGO that has not experienced post-«color
revolution» harassment), has been working very closely in recent
weeks, on its own time so as not to conflict with USAID
contracts, with key members of the CCER and CRS (ref C). Using
OSCE/ODHIR’s post-parliamentary-election report, they have
together identified specific steps that the government could
take to correct problems from previous elections. Both the
Embassy and IFES have found officials of good will who are eager
to achieve a next election that comes closer to meeting
international standards.
Understanding that U.S. finances will
be limited, the Ambassador is already working with IFES-Dushanbe
to identify international donors who may be willing to support
this concretely achievable project.
We will also soon submit a
funding request to the Department for this project.
TAKING THE RISK TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY
11. (SBU) Some say that the U.S.
Government is expert at
rhetoric and process, but falls short when it comes to working
in the trenches to achieve real, even if incremental, results.
Embassy Dushanbe wants to prove the nay-sayers wrong. We
believe that we have identified concrete steps that can improve
the November 2006 presidential election without overly annoying
the negative forces in the Kremlin.
We firmly believe that
working the insiders and working the system are the best steps
we can take to move Tajikistan toward the U.S. long-term goal of
promoting democracy in a post-Soviet out-post like Tajikistan.
We request concurrence and support — both funds and political
will — for our two-part strategy outlined above. Please advise.
HOAGLAND
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 58531
date: 3/29/2006 7:11
refid: 06DUSHANBE566
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED
destination:
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RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1485
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 8219
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 000566
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, EAGR, SOCI, TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN’S FARKHAR DISTRICT STRUGGLES
DUSHANBE 00000566 001.2 OF 003
1.SUMMARY: Low cotton harvests
the past few years are taking a
toll on Tajikistan’s southwestern Farkhar district.
Transportation routes are poor throughout the province,
electricity is scarce, and running water is only available in a
few towns. Official trade with
Afghanistan across the Pyanzh
River is nonexistent because there is no bridge. President
Rahmonov appointed a new Hukumat (district government) Chairman
earlier this year to help «teach the people» to succeed in the
post-privatization environment.
But mounting debts to cotton
futures companies, inherited land debt, insects, and an outdated
irrigation network present huge obstacles for this poor
district. END SUMMARY
THE ROAD TO FARKHAR
2. Farkhar district sits 220 km
southwest of Dushanbe in the
Khatlon region, separated from Afghanistan by the meandering
Pyanzh River. The road to Farkhar
from Dushanbe travels through
the President’s hometown of Dangara, meaning the road is in
relatively good shape except for the winding and precarious
portion through the Shar-Shar pass (often shut during winter.)
When the $18 million 2.2 km Shar-Shar tunnel being built by the
Chinese is complete, it will take 40 minutes off traversing this
pass. The road for from Dangara
to Gulistan is exceptionally
smooth for Tajikistan, thanks to government upgrades in 2004 in
preparation for the (subsequently postponed) celebration of
Kulob city’s 2,700th anniversary.
After Gulistan, the main
route turns into a poorly paved potholed road. South of the
main city of Farkhar, the roads are mostly unpaved; leading to
the Kokul border crossing, where the «roads» are nothing more
than dry riverbeds. PolOffs’
all-terrain vehicle had a hard
enough time traveling this route; it is difficult to imagine
transport trucks ferrying goods to the border crossing,
especially in inclement weather.
COTTON: FARKHAR’S PRIMARY ECONOMY
3. Farkhar is among Tajikistan’s
oldest agrarian districts,
with approximately 26,000 hectares of farmland. Around 4,000
hectares are naturally arable and used to grow wheat, but the
yield is not high. The remaining
22,000 hectares are irrigated;
12,000 hectares for cotton and 8,000 for grain and fodder. Some
land is used for vegetables and melons.
Farkhar has not reached
the state-issued cotton target for the past fifteen years (for
which there is no monetary penalty), and was at 53 percent of
the 2005 target. However, cotton
remains the mainstay of the
district’s economy. One hectare
of cotton gives 10-12 people
work, while one hectare of grain requires only one person’s
labor.
4. Aggressive pests, water
shortages, and land debts keep
Farkhar farmers on the edge of poverty.
Last year, during early
summer, several very cold days impeded critical cotton growth,
and the exceptionally hot mid- to late-summer weather encouraged
insect infestation. Farmers
cannot afford pesticides or the
required year to let land go fallow to fix pest infestation.
The Pyanzh flooded in late summer and washed away the irrigation
canal that feeds Farkhar district.
The government has put a
high priority on fixing the irrigation canal by the Chubeck dam
that supplies water to several districts from the Pyanzh River
before this summer. Farmland in
Farkhar does not appear to
suffer from over-salinization, a problem often associated with
irrigation.
5. Large amounts of land debt
hang over Farkhar’s farmers.
Current land tax debt stands at approximately 2.5 million somoni
($776,398). Additionally, farmers
owe around $15 million to
agricultural «futures» companies, $8 million to a single
futures company, run by the «Zamin» business
conglomerate. The
company is owned by KhatlonZamin Association, formed in 1989 by
Faizali Hakimov and currently run by his brother Mahmadali
Hakimov.
NEW FARKHAR GOVERNOR: I’M HERE TO TEACH THE PEOPLE
DUSHANBE 00000566 002.2 OF 003
6. In a March 23 meeting with
visiting PolOffs, the new Hukumat
Chairman Ghulom Boyakov said he was sent to Farkhar two months
ago by President Rahmonov to help the people «change their
priorities» from the state providing everything, to individual
initiative. Boyakov said in the
past, all resources were
delivered from the government, but this is not the case now.
His goal is to help them work in this new farming environment,
although Boyakov noted that the results of privatization of
processing enterprises and state and collective farms are «not
yet positive.» As for
combating corruption, the Chairman said
that from his perspective he does not feel that corruption is so
obvious, and he took pains to tell PolOffs that he had «already
made his own wealth.»
(COMMENT: This likely was a
reference to
his position as head of the cotton board in the mid 1990’s. END
COMMENT.) Boyakov conceded,
however, that it would be important
to make sure that corruption does not exist in tax and land
inspections, and other law enforcement activities.
A VERY POOR DISTRICT
7. The poverty in Farkhar
district is stark. The main town
(also named Farkhar) is as good as it gets, with some buildings
hooked up to a sludge-like water supply that both looks and
smells unappealing. Wealthier
residents collect rainwater in
large elevated tanks and use gravity to pump it into the house.
Electricity to the main Hukumat building, hospital, and ginning
companies is provided for one to two hours in the morning and
for two hours in the evening; the power is sent from Sarband, a
small hydropower station downstream of Nurek. The town has a
network of cement drainage ditches that had a fetid smell even
in the mild weather of late March.
A silkworm home industry
supplements incomes. Trees other
than fruit trees and mulberry
trees, used to feed silkworms, are cut for firewood to heat
homes and are not replanted.
8. Traveling the road outside of
the main town provides an even
starker picture. The nicer
villages had one or two communal
water pumps, although these were few and far between. The
majority of dwellings were rudimentary mud brick buildings.
Farkhar has a population of 127,000 with an unemployment rate of
40 percent — but this rate is relatively low because the
majority of young working-age people have left the district for
Dushanbe or abroad (about 5-6,000 residents are working in
Russia.) Officially, there are
2,000 people registered as
unemployed in Farkhar district.
Little official trade with
Afghanistan takes place, according to the Hukumat Chairman,
because there is no bridge over the Pyanzh. Many of the
quarter-century old irrigation systems are in disrepair and the
drainage systems are blocked with dirt.
9. COMMENT: A decrease in cotton harvest yields and the
flood
last year have significantly increased hardships in Farkhar
province. The new Hukumat
Chairman clearly was brought in to
fix some issues, but without additional government funds or
investment projects he cannot do much.
For example, when
PolOffs were in his office he received a noncommittal return
phone call from the Energy Ministry regarding his request for
additional electricity. Moreover,
with farmers’ mounting debts
to futures companies and no guarantee of future bumper harvests,
it is hard to see how keeping cotton the primary crop will help
farmers break even, let alone elevate living standards. The
federal government is probably the only entity in a position to
fix the irrigation canals leading to Farkhar to water the cotton
plantings this summer. Without
that assistance, next year will
be even more difficult. END
COMMENT.
10. BIO NOTE: Prior to being appointed the Farkhar Hukumat
Chairman in early 2006, Ghulom Boyakov had been reelected to
Parliament and a member of the Economy, Budget, Finance, and
Taxes Committee. Boyakov does not
speak English, was sharply
dressed, and declined to talk about any Dushanbe political
matters with PolOffs, claiming he was «really an
economist.» In
1976, Boyakov graduated from the Tajik Polytechnical University
with a degree in electrical engineering.
He was an engineer at
the cotton gin in Farkhar district in 1974; instructor at the
DUSHANBE 00000566 003.2 OF 003
communist party committee in Farkhar 1980-88; head of the
Department at Provincial Communist Party Committee 1988-91;
deputy chairman and then chairman of the Committee of the
Peoples deputies 1992-94; head of the cotton industry
«Khlopokprom» of Tajikistan from 1994-97; and chairman of the
Cotton Corporation «Pakhtai tojik» from 1997-99. Prior to being
elected to Parliament for the first time in 2000, he worked as
the chairman of «Cotton Service» company. Boyakov was born on 1
May 1950 in the Farkhar district and is married with 6 children.
His son Davlat studied English in
Nebraska for 3 months in the
late 1990’s and is now head of his father’s Ziyoratsho cotton
ginning company in Farkhar.
HOAGLAND