Переведено с использщованием AI
id: 234793
date: 11/16/2009 6:34
refid: 09DUSHANBE1241
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
destination: 09STATE116263
header:
VZCZCXRO8674
RR RUEHDBU
DE RUEHDBU #1241 3200634
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160634Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0902
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1882
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0016
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 001241
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL, UNGA, PHUM, TI
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON COUNTRY-SPECIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS
RESOLUTIONS
REF: STATE 116263
1. (SBU) PolOff delivered reftel demarche to Komron Komilov in
the General Section at the MFA on 13 November 2009. Komron
agreed to deliver the demarche to the appropriate office though
provided no substantive response, as the office responsible was,
for the time being, short-staffed and unavailable. There have
been no historical indications that the Government of Tajikistan
will change its previous voting trends in regards to reftel
matters because of continuing strong relations with Iran. Post
will advise if the Government of Tajikistan offers any
substantive response to the demarche.
GROSS
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 234994
date: 11/17/2009 4:15
refid: 09DUSHANBE1263
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
destination:
header:
VZCZCXRO9864
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1263 3210415
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170415Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0909
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1925
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 001263
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/RA AND G/TIP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM, KTIP, KWMN, PGOV, PHUM, SMIG, TI
SUBJECT: 2009 TAJIKISTAN INTERIM TIP ASSESSMENT
1. (SBU) This is in response to Reftel request.
2. (SBU) The government of Tajikistan prosecuted 22 people for
crimes related to TIP in the first half of 2009, according to a
report released by the Government of Tajikistan’s Inter-Agency
Commission on TIP. The
Inter-Agency Commission coordinates
anti-trafficking efforts within the government and includes the
Deputy of the State Committee on National Security. It has met
intermittently to discuss TIP issues, but has been without a
Chairman since January 2009. The
government flatly denies that
trafficking victims have been assaulted by government officials,
as has been alleged. The
government has not provided
information regarding its mechanism for investigating such
allegations. The government
provided anti-Tip information to
travelers and advised labor migrants on their rights while
working abroad. Two NGO-operated
shelters continue to work in
Dushanbe and Khujand.
3. (SBU) In January 2009 the government prosecuted three
officials in Sarband, Shahrituz, and Kubodiyon regions for
employing forced child labor in the 2008 harvest. The courts
fined one official, while two cases remain open. In an address
to parliament in April 2009, President Rahmon ordered local
officials to cease the employment of forced child labor. During
the 2009 harvest, officials did not cancel school or organize
and deploy children to harvest the cotton fields as was the case
in 2008. However, young children
continued to be employed in
the cotton harvest outside of school hours. In Sugd Oblast,
government employees, including doctors and teachers, have been
ordered to pick cotton for up to 15 days in lieu of their
regular duties. In November, the
government approved an IOM
proposal to monitor the cotton harvest, but it was not funded
since the cotton harvest season ends in early December. The
government did not monitor the cotton harvest or check school
attendance as part of a larger anti-TIP effort.
4. (SBU) Tajikistan has increased its diplomatic staff in Dubai
and Russia to assist trafficking victims and to coordinate with
local immigration officials in TIP cases. The Inter-Agency
Commission reports that, in coordination with international
organizations, the government has facilitated the return of 24
victims of TIP to Tajikistan from July 2008 to June 2009. Six
government officials travelled to Serbia and Macedonia on a
study tour to develop a referral mechanism for victims of TIP.
Instructors who teach a course on TIP identification and
interdiction at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police Academy
participated in a one-week curriculum development course
facilitated by the OSCE. The
Council of Justice has created a
database on human trafficking crimes and relevant actions the
government took in response to those crimes.
GROSS
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 236094
date: 11/23/2009 9:42
refid: 09DUSHANBE1316
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
destination:
header:
VZCZCXRO5611
PP RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1316/01 3270942
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 230942Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0925
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0309
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2020
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001316
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON, MASS, ETRD, TI
SUBJECT: DEFENSE TEAM IN TAJIKISTAN TO LOOK AT PROCUREMENT
POSSIBILITIES FOR U.S. TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN
DUSHANBE 00001316 001.2 OF 002
1. (SBU) Summary: A team of U.S.
military purchasing
specialists visited Tajikistan last week to investigate
possibilities for procuring non-lethal goods on the Tajik market
for delivery to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The team
tentatively agreed to purchase bottled water from Tajik
manufacturer Obi Zulol, pending quality assessments. They also
explored the potential for purchasing other food and beverage
products, including dairy, juice, nuts, and other snack foods,
as well as non-food items such as textiles and paper products.
The team met with Tajik government officials to express
CENTCOM’s interest in local procurement, explain the U.S.
military’s quality control standards, and ensure the cooperation
of key government agencies such as Customs, Border Guards, and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
All assured the U.S. team that
they would do everything necessary to make sure that supplies
flow efficiently to Afghanistan.
This being Tajikistan,
however, such talk is cheap; the real proof will come when and
if deliveries begin. End summary.
TEAM LOOKS AT TAJIK WATER AND OTHER GOODS
2. (SBU) Following up on a commitment by General David Petraeus
during his October visit to Dushanbe to promote local
procurement of non-lethal goods for U.S. troops in Afghanistan,
a team of nine military purchasing specialists led by Commander
Stephen J. Kaufman of CENTCOM’s Logistics Directorate visited
Tajikistan last week. The team
included civilian
representatives from government and private sector military
contractors, as well as food safety and public health
specialists from the U.S. Army’s Veterinary Command (VETCOM).
Lawrence Coleman, with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and
Mitch Juby, a senior buyer with DLA contractor Supreme Global
Service Solutions, were on hand to look at food and beverage
products. Douglas French,
Director of the Distribution
Operations Division of the General Services Administration’s
Federal Acquisition Service, came to look at local procurement
possibilities for paper products.
Steve Zolock, Director of
Program Management for Technology Management Company, was
looking at textiles and building materials. The four VETCOM
specialists were Jeffrey LaHuis, Jeffrey Lyons, Eric Newsome,
and Don Shuttleworth.
3. (SBU) On November 18, Supreme buyer Mitch Juby and three of
the VETCOM specialists visited the headquarters of Tajikistan’s
largest beverage company, Obi Zulol, to conduct a site visit and
collect samples for testing. Obi
Zulol produces mineral water,
soda, and, more recently, fruit juices.
Should the samples pass
the military’s quality control specifications, Supreme will
enter into contract negotiations with the company to supply
bottled water to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Obi Zulol
previously had a contract to provide water to troops in 2006,
but the contract was not renewed due to difficulties with
transit to and over Afghan territory.
With the creation of the
Northern Distribution Network, efforts are being made to ensure
that such difficulties do not re-emerge.
4. (SBU) In addition to inspecting Obi Zulol, the CENTCOM-led
team was in Tajikistan to explore other procurement
possibilities in Tajikistan. On
November 16, team members
visited a dairy production facility, a textile factory, a paper
products packager, and a nut distributor. According to the
participants, all of the facilities showed potential promise as
suppliers to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The team explained to
Tajik representatives, however, that the military has specific
contracting needs and procedures as well as exacting quality
control specifications, so it would be some time before
decisions were made on contracting.
ENSURING GOVERNMENT BUY-IN
5. (SBU) On November 17, Kaufman, Coleman, Zolock, and French,
accompanied by Embassy Econoff and Commercial Specialist, met
with officials from Tajikistan’s Customs Committee, Border
Guards, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economic
Development and Trade, and Chamber of Commerce, to explain their
mission, discuss contracting procedures, and ensure buy-in from
key officials.
6. (SBU) Customs Committee First Deputy Chairman Negmat Rahmatov
assured team members that procedures for exporting goods from
Tajikistan were relatively liberal.
He said that by law Customs
officials had 48 hours from the delivery of invoices to clear
outgoing freight. As a matter of
course, however, clearance
often took as little as «15 or 20 minutes.» Processing fees
ranged from $10 for goods valued between $0 and $5,000 to $900
for goods valued at over $1 million.
Rahmatov explained that
according to intergovernmental agreements, loaded Tajik trucks
were permitted to travel to their destinations in Afghanistan,
DUSHANBE 00001316 002.2 OF 002
and vice-versa. He was not sure
that Tajik freight forwarders
would drive all the way to Kabul, but a representative from Obi
Zulol said shippers are willing to do this. The other option is
to use Afghan transport, but empty Afghan trucks were not
permitted to travel further north than Qurghonteppa, 100 km from
the Afghan border. (Empty Tajik
trucks could not proceed
further south than Kunduz in Afghanistan.) Rahmatov said the
Afghans officially charged $200 for laden trucks to proceed
through Afghanistan but indicated that other unofficial payments
were sometimes demanded. The
U.S.-built bridge at Nizhniy Pyanj
can accommodate 1,000 trucks a day, but current traffic averages
only 200 a day. Customs hours are
from 0800 to 1800, seven days
a week, although Rahmatov said the Afghan side closes on Friday
and «sometimes at other times for reasons we don’t
understand.»
General Mirzoev of the Tajik Border Guards told the team that
his troops only interfered with freight transit if they had
actionable intelligence that a shipment contained contraband.
Otherwise it is the responsibility of Customs to deal with
freight shipments.
7. (SBU) Farhod Salim, the Head of the Department of American
and European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assured
the contracting team that they had the support not only of his
minister but of President Rahmon.
He said the relationship with
Afghanistan was one of the most important for Tajikistan, noting
that the Minister had recently canceled a trip to the Czech
Republic in order to attend the inauguration of President Hamid
Karzai. Salim told Commander
Kaufman he should not hesitate to
turn to the MFA should he need any help.
First Deputy Minister
Amonullo Ashur of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade
was similarly positive. A figure
out of Soviet Central Casting,
the Deputy Minister at one point turned to an Obi Zulol
representative who was sitting in on the meeting and said, «are
you making this happen?»
COMMENT: TAJIK GOVERNMENT HAS MET ENEMY, AND IT MIGHT BE IT
8. (SBU) There are a number of
hurdles to sourcing goods in
Tajikistan: The country has
almost no industry and an
underdeveloped agricultural sector; it faces severe,
factory-crippling power shortages during winter; it is 2,000
miles away from the nearest port; it has a Soviet-era quality
control system (where any system at all exists); and it has
difficulty feeding its own population, 53% of which live below
the poverty level. Nevertheless,
Commander Kaufman and his team
found several potential suppliers that might meet military needs
and standards. The hope on both
the Tajik and the U.S. side is
that demand for these goods will not only provide much needed
revenue in Tajikistan, but will help spur development and
goodwill here. Team members were
clear to company
representatives and government officials alike that certifying
and contracting for Tajik goods was a long and difficult road.
Another potential difficulty that was not mentioned, however,
might be Tajik bureaucracy. It is
important that government
officials follow up their encouraging words with encouraging
actions — rather than looking for a way to slow down, or
personally profit from, our efforts.
End comment.
QUAST
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 236327
date: 11/24/2009 10:50
refid: 09DUSHANBE1319
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
destination:
header:
VZCZCXRO6899
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1319/01 3281050
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241050Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0929
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2024
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001319
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/RA AND G/TIP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM, KTIP, KCRM, KWMN, PGOV, SMIG, TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK TIP COMMISSION: EVOLVING DESPITE A SOVIET DINOSAUR
DUSHANBE 00001319 001.2 OF 002
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Recent meetings on Trafficking in Persons
(TIP) highlighted progress the Government of Tajikistan (GOTI)
is making in fighting TIP, and the barriers — mainly
organizational and intellectual — that impede progress. The
GOTI’s Inter-Ministerial Commission on Combating TIP is
developing a victim referral mechanism and can explain and
defend Tajikistan’s TIP fighting record in some detail. But
dominating the commission is a Deputy Foreign Minister who
embodies the Soviet mentality that denial is the best policy.
End Summary.
2. (SBU) On November 17, at an OSCE roundtable, high-ranking
members of the Inter-Ministerial Commission on Combating TIP
presented the recommendations of six Tajik officials who
recently travelled to Serbia and Macedonia to study anti-TIP
policies and victim referral mechanisms.
The OSCE’s
Anti-Trafficking Officer praised Tajikistan’s efforts in
combating TIP and said the Commission was working hard to make
further progress. The Ministry of
Labor’s International
Department Chief, Yahyo Vahobov, said the Commission would work
to improve coordination on TIP policy within the Tajik
government and establish a functioning victim referral
mechanism, based on best practices discussed in meetings with
Serbian and Macedonian government officials, NGOs, and law
enforcement bodies.
3. (SBU) Deputy Minister of Justice Azamat Izomov conceded that
the government needed to improve its partnerships with NGOs in
assisting victims and executing public information campaigns.
Though the government worked with the NGO «Modar» to
disseminate
TIP information from 2006-2008, the public outreach campaign
ended when Modar closed due to lack of funding. Izomov called
for new partnerships with NGOs to launch further outreach.
After touting the Commission’s efforts to combat TIP, Izomov
said Tajikistan needed to do a better job reporting its positive
steps to the international community.
«We have difficulty
advertising our work outside Tajikistan, so some think we are
not doing anything.»
4. (SBU) The Secretary of the Commission, Ahtam Abdulloev,
briefed Poloff separately on the government’s efforts to combat
forced child labor during the cotton harvest. Abdulloyev, who
is concurrently a senior official in the Presidential Apparatus,
said the government was strictly enforcing the President’s April
order forbidding local officials from using forced child labor.
Embassy contacts in Sughd and Khatlon Oblasts confirm that
officials have not cancelled school to deploy children in the
2009 harvest, as was the case in 2008.
However, young children
continue to work in the cotton harvest outside of school hours
to earn extra money. In Sughd and
Khatlon Oblasts, authorities
have directed government employees, including doctors and
teachers, to pick cotton for up to 15 days as «volunteers» in
lieu of their regular duties for their standard salaries. In
some cases, these employees have hired day-laborers to work in
the fields on their behalf.
5. (SBU) While the Government of Tajikistan clearly has gotten
religion in some quarters concerning TIP and forced labor, a
November 5 meeting with the Commission Against Trafficking in
Persons, which has lacked a Director since January, highlighted
some intellectual obstacles that members of the government must
overcome to more effectively deal with TIP. Commission Chair
Deputy Foreign Minister Abdullo Yuldashev thanked the USG for
its interest in TIP in Tajikistan, but then began to speak about
how much the situation in Tajikistan had improved, and the lack
of appreciation among foreigners for this. Apparently enjoying
himself, he suggested that foreign diplomats spent their time in
discos without appreciating that such diversions did not exist a
decade ago. Yuldashev said
«we should not waste money on
seminars and training» but should instead devote all resources
to job creation. «When people
are busy they won’t be as
interested in departing. Let’s
not spend money on a conference.
Let’s open a sewing shop with
twenty machines. By doing that,
we can save twenty women from slavery.»
6. (SBU) Getting back on topic, Yuldashev outlined the MFA’s
efforts to support Tajik migrants abroad. In Dubai, it
increased consular staff to three officers — a relatively large
presence for Tajikistan. «We
are trying to track living
conditions in Russia, but it is not easy. The President meets
DUSHANBE 00001319 002.2 OF 002
with Tajik workers in countries he visits.» In Moscow, the
Tajik Migration Agency increased staff to 13, and the MFA
appointed Honorary Consuls in Kaliningrad and Archangelsk. The
Inter-Agency Commission’s report on TIP states that the
government, in cooperation with International Organizations,
facilitated the return of 22 victims of trafficking from July
2008 to June 2009. Yuldashev
lamented that it was difficult to
prevent girls from «getting into bad situations» abroad
because
exit visas are not required to depart Tajikistan.
7. (SBU) Asked about the government’s efforts to stop forced
labor in the cotton fields, Yuldashev at first expressed
surprise that cotton labor was connected to TIP. Then he
extolled the collectivist tradition of the Tajik cotton harvest.
«We have gathered cotton for
3,000 years, since the time of
Zarathustra. It is part of our
tradition. Everyone is
involved, not forced.» He
defended child participation in the
harvest. «Gathering cotton
is not harsh labor. It was a
holiday under socialism.»
Told that forced labor remained a
major concern to the USG, Yuldashev insisted that «None of the
institutions in Dushanbe, Kurgan-Teppe, or Kulyab have sent
their students to the fields after the President’s Address to
Parliament» in which Rahmon ordered officials to cease
employment of child labor in the cotton harvest. «The
government has solved this, to the detriment of students who
want to earn money.»
8. (SBU) Emboffs raised the issue of ensuring that allegations
of mistreatment of returned TIP victims are properly
investigated noting the still unresolved questions about three
returned trafficking victims who allegedly were assaulted by
members of the Committee on National Security (GKNB) in 2008.
Yuldashev impatiently (and revealingly) commented «This type of
case does not rise to the level of our international relations,»
and that the allegations were «a lot of noise.» A GKNB officer
present said the case was investigated and that «the charges
were groundless,» but would not elaborate on the mechanism used
to conduct the investigation or answer any other questions
related to the case.
9. (SBU) Yuldashev said answers to any of the Emboffs’
additional questions were included in the Commission’s Report on
TIP. The Embassy requested a copy
of this report on June 16,
after the Commission announced its completion. On October 29,
the Embassy received the 39-page report, in Tajik. At the time
of the November 5 meeting, Embassy staff had been able to
translate only a brief summary of the report. When Emboffs
noted they had not had time to translate the full report, but
would like to discuss specific questions that the report might
answer, Yuldashev seized the opportunity to stop the meeting.
He ordered those around him to answer no further questions from
the U.S. side, telling Emboffs to «learn the contents of the
report» before any further discussions would take place. The
meeting ended on this sour note.
10. (SBU) After further review of their report, post has found
that it answers few of the questions posed by the State
Department. Post has sent an
unofficial translation of the
report to G/TIP by email.
11. (SBU) COMMENT: There are
positives and negatives in our
recent interactions with the TIP commission. The
Anti-Trafficking Commission has focused significant political
attention to TIP issues and cooperated with the USG and other
partners on program implementation.
It is significant that,
despite Yuldashev’s personal view that cotton harvesting is «not
harsh labor,» officials did not deploy students to the fields
during the 2009 harvest. The
appointment of a senior official
from the President’s apparatus to serve as Commission secretary
and enforce the ban on forced child labor signals the
government’s eagerness to make progress on TIP, if only to
improve its TIER 2-Watchlist status.
Tajikistan’s efforts to
assist trafficking victims in Dubai and Russia are also positive
and are possibly an area for greater USG engagement. The lack
of comprehension of our concerns about TIP shown by Yuldashev is
a manifestation of the persistent and strong influence of Soviet
attitudes in the government; some prefer denial to engagement on
difficult issues which require reform and self-criticism. END
COMMENT
QUAST
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 236544
date: 11/25/2009 5:22
refid: 09DUSHANBE1321
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 09DUSHANBE957
header:
VZCZCXRO7867
RR RUEHDBU
DE RUEHDBU #1321/01 3290522
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 250522Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0933
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0311
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2028
—————— header ends —————-
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 001321
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2019
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINR, TI
SUBJECT: LET MY PEOPLE GO! POLITICAL PRISONERS LEFT OUT OF AMNESTY
REF: DUSHANBE 957
CLASSIFIED BY: NECIA L. QUAST, Charge’ d Affairs, EXEC, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)
1. (C) SUMMARY: Though the impetus for President Rahmon’s
November 6 announcement of a 10,000-prisoner amnesty was the
dangerous overcrowding of the country’s prisons, the amnesty was
also the government’s latest effort to bolster its populist
credentials in advance of winter electricity shortages and
February Parliamentary elections.
Independent newspapers and
political/religious heavyweight Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda have
called for the inclusion of prominent political prisoners in the
amnesty, but the government has no plans to release these
potential challengers. As Rahmon
is unlikely to reappoint
Turajonzoda to his seat in the Majlisi Milli next spring,
Turajonzoda’s future ambitions could be a wildcard as local
analysts consider him to be the only independent political
player with a national support base.
END SUMMARY
DEMOCRACY IN THE FALL: 10,000 AMNESTIED FROM OVERCROWDED JAILS
2. (C) President Rahmon’s recently announced plan to release or
reduce the sentences of 10,000 prisoners by the end of the year
is part of a seasonal PR campaign by government officials «to
show that they are real democrats» and curry popular goodwill
ahead of the winter, according to Muzzafar Olimov, political
analyst at the Sharq think tank.
«The government always becomes
democratic in the fall and winter, when the men are home [from
work in Russia] and the government is weakened by energy
problems. Then, in the spring,
the men go off and the
government flexes its muscles.»
Timed with Rahmon’s
announcement, state-controlled media broadcast footage of
busloads of women freshly released from prisons. The amnesty,
the government’s tenth in fifteen years, officially commemorates
the «year of Imam Azzam al Hanafi,» the founder of the
moderate
Hanafi school of Islam favored by the government. Among the
categories of prisoners covered in the amnesty are women,
minors, males over 55, the disabled, and veterans of the civil
war. The courts are screening
prisoners eligible for amnesty on
a case by case basis, releasing those who do not pose a threat
to society, according to legal analysts at the Bureau for Human
Rights NGO. Ministries and
security agencies submitted to the
President’s Administration lists of prisoners to be excluded
from the amnesty in advance of the public announcement,
according to the editor of independent newspaper «Nigoh.»
Officials have indicated that prisoners found guilty of
«murdering more than one person» will be excluded from the
amnesty.
3. (C) In addition to bolstering the President’s image, the
amnesty was driven by the need to empty overcrowded prisons and
make room for new criminals. The
prison system is unable to
feed and house its current population, while the court system is
backlogged with pending cases, according to the editor of
independent newspaper «Farash,» Khurshed Atovulloevich. He
told
us Khatlon Oblast had seen a 30% increase in crime over past
year, causing the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) to create a
taskforce to address crimes committed by migrants returning from
Russia. Jails are pushed beyond
capacity because lengthy prison
sentences are mandated for many petty crimes, according to the
Bureau of Human Rights. The
largest groups to be released
through the amnesty include conscripts who refused to serve and
women jailed for theft or minor drug offenses. Some journalists
have reported that prisoners have paid bribes to prison
officials to be included in the amnesty.
Many Tajiks fear that
the release of up to 10,000 prisoners will lead to a spike in
crime.
4. (SBU) Three major independent newspapers called for the
inclusion of «political prisoners» in the amnesty and
published
photos of jailed former Minister of Interior Yakub Salimov,
former Presidential Guard Commander Gaffar Mirzoyev, and
Democratic Party leader Makhmudruzi Iskandarov. These
prisoners, as well as most jailed former members of the United
Tajik Opposition (UTO), are not eligible for release under the
amnesty law because of their convictions for offenses against
the state. Independent newspapers
also published comments by
Majlisi Milli Deputy Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda that «it would be
good» for the government to release political prisoners
including Iskandarov and Salimov as «people should not be jailed
for their beliefs.» He also
called for the release of jailed
members of the Tablighi Jamaat Islamic group as «these people
were only serving God.» The
government has not officially
responded to these calls.
DUSHANBE 00001321 002 OF 003
TURAJONZODA: TOO MANY POLITICALS TO LIST IN THE NEWSPAPAPER
5. (C) On November 16, Poloff had lunch with Turajonzoda at his
compound in Vahdat, where his six children and several of his
brothers also reside.
Turajonzoda, a former UTO leader who,
after the civil war, served seven years as Deputy Prime Minister
before his 2005 appointment to the Majlisi Milli (Reftel),
complained of a bad year for his cotton business and expressed
bemusement that his calls for the release of political prisoners
garnered so much attention.
«Some nice journalist called and
asked what I thought about the amnesty.
I said it was good.
She asked if I would like to have certain people included. I
said, ‘Yes, far too many to print in your newspaper.’ She asked
if I could provide a few names, so I named Iskandarov, Salimov,
and the Tablighi Jamaat. They
still have many others, many of
my friends, in there.»
Turajonzoda said that the government
responded by placing articles critical of him in pro-government
publications, written under pseudonyms.
Turajonzoda predicted
that while many real criminals would likely be released,
political prisoners and Tablighi Jamaat members would remain
behind bars.
PRESIDENT WANTS TO SET HIMSELF UP AS THE IMAM
6. (C) Turajonzoda blasted the government’s religion policy,
arguing that Rahmon «wants to set himself up as the Imam»
while
at the same time restricting religious expression. Turajonzoda,
who was chief of Tajikistan’s Islamic authority from 1988-1991,
claimed that in 2005 he had proposed marking a year in honor of
Imam Azzam al-Hanafi, but that Rahmon stole the idea in 2009 as
a means to co-opt religion and take away popular support from
the traditional Muslim leadership.
Now Rahmon and his
administration, mostly «Red Atheists,» are planning the
construction of the largest mosque in Central Asia and
additional Islamic educational facilities under control of the
state. At the same time, they cut
the traditional clergy out of
their initiatives. Turajonzoda
said that after the government
held its Conference on Imam Azzam al-Hanafi without inviting any
of the country’s traditional religious leaders, «or even its
pocket clergy!», Dushanbe Mayor and Majlisi Milli Deputy
Ubaydolloyev bragged to other Deputies that the government could
pull off a religious conference without the country’s religious
leaders.
7. (C) Turajonzoda said government officials had asked him to
publicly denounce the Department’s 2009 Religious Freedom Report
because of its criticism of the restrictive Tajik Law on
Religious Practices. «I
said, how can I condemn the U.S. for
criticizing this law when I myself criticized it in the first
place when it was discussed in the Majlisi and said it shouldn’t
be passed.» He conceded that
the law had not been heavily
enforced «because if the government did try to enforce it, they
would have a lot of problems.»
Turajonzoda noted that his
granddaughter attended school wearing a hijab, despite the new
school dress code banning it in educational institutions. «We
say that, like in America, if a girl wants to wear the hijab,
she should be able to. We also
say that no one should be forced
to wear it. We religious people
are more tolerant than the
government. We say people should
have a choice, while they say
that everyone should agree with them.»
DON’T SEND ELECTION MONITORS UNLESS THERE IS A NEW ELECTION LAW
8. (C) On elections, Turajonzoda believes that an opposition
party could do well in a fair vote due to widespread
disillusionment with the government.
He doubts, however, that
opposition candidates will have the opportunity to compete and
predicted that in February the government would fix the vote
count as in past elections.
«The problems are not on election
day, but during the counting of the votes. The problems are at
night.» When asked what the
U.S. and international partners
could do to improve the likelihood of free and fair elections,
Turajonzoda replied, «Don’t send election monitors unless the
government passes a new election law that gives monitors from
opposition parties access to every voting station during the
vote count.»
DUSHANBE 00001321 003 OF 003
9. (C) Turajonzoda believes the President’s apparatus has
already designated the winners of most of the 63 seats up for
grabs in February’s elections to the Lower House of Parliament,
the Majlisi Nomayamdagon.
«There never has been and never will
be a fair election in Tajikistan.»
He dismissed the Islamic
Renaissance Party (IRP) as ineffectual and unwilling to
challenge the government.
«They will keep their two seats if
the government wants them to keep their two seats.» Turajonzoda
did not suggest a path to alternative leadership beyond
repeating his past suggestion (Reftel) that the UN Security
Council mandate ten-year term limits to presidents of democratic
countries. He said the chances of
a fair Tajik election
decreased further after the recent Afghan elections which he
called «A gift to authoritarians.
Now they [government
officials] say, ‘Look, the Afghans couldn’t even run a fair
election with the Americans and the entire international
community there. How can we be
expected to do it?'»
«A VERY POWERFUL, AND PERHAPS SCARY POLITICAL MOVEMENT»
10. (C) Turajonzoda’s term as Majlisi Milli Deputy expires in
spring 2010, and he believes reappointment by the President to
be unlikely. «My appointment
was a mistake by President Rahmon.
I don’t stay quiet and I can see
everything that is going on.
I can get into the books.»
Turajonzoda said that he was
undecided about his future prospects, but did not plan to run
for a seat in the Majlisi Namoyamdagon.
Farash editor
Atovulloevich notes that Turajonzoda is one of only three
political figures in Tajikistan with a broad, independent power
base, besides President Rahmon and Dushanbe Mayor Ubaydolloyev.
The editor opined that if Turajonzoda were to combine his
political base with the religious clout of his brother, Eshoni
Nurridin, the most popular Imam in the country, they could
create «a very powerful, and perhaps scary, political
movement.»
He added that when he published
an article by Hoji Akbar
Turajonzoda, his newspaper circulation increased by several
thousand copies — something that could not be said about any
other political figure.
11. (C) COMMENT: The government’s
public amnesty celebration
masks the chronic failures of its judicial systems and prisons,
which are so overcrowded that ten amnesties have been required
since 1994. It is troubling that
no international monitors have
been permitted to inspect prison conditions for those remaining
in confinement, including political prisoners and, more than
twelve years after the end of the civil war, former members of
the opposition. Turajonzoda’s
willingness to publicly challenge
the government on these issues is not new, but he may soon be
making these calls from outside the government for the first
time since the end of the civil war if he is not re-appointed to
his current seat. Turajonzoda is
correct that current
opposition political parties, including the IRPT, are
ineffectual and working to curry favor with the government in
hopes of being granted an extra seat or two by the President.
It remains to be seen whether he will enter party politics after
February, challenge the government outside of the legal
political space, or observe events from the comfort of his large
family compound. END COMMENT
QUAST
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 236903
date: 11/27/2009 6:17
refid: 09DUSHANBE1329
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
destination:
header:
VZCZCXRO1271
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1329/01 3310617
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270617Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0940
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2039
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001329
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/RA AND G/TIP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM, KTIP, KCRM, KWMN, PGOV, SMIG, TI
SUBJECT: CULTURE CLASH AT ROUNDTABLE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
DUSHANBE 00001329 001.2 OF 002
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: At a UN-sponsored roundtable to discuss the
endemic problem of violence against women in Tajikistan,
representatives of NGOs and the international community
forcefully argued for passage of a comprehensive, national law
against domestic violence. An
American Bar Association (ABA)
attorney, working under a DRL project, presented recommendations
to strengthen a draft law that has languished for three years.
Government officials dug in their heels, said they needed more
time to study a draft, and argued that financial and cultural
factors should be studied in greater detail. Despite a walk-out
staged by President Rahmon’s representative, the roundtable
passed a resolution to recommend passage of a family law «to
fight against all forms of discrimination against women and
girls.» END SUMMARY.
STOPPING GENDER VIOLENCE: «WE CAN’T DO EVERYTHING IN ONE DAY»
——————————————— —————
2. (U) On November 24, the International Day for the Elimination
of Violence Against Women, Amnesty International released a
report documenting widespread psychological, physical, and
sexual abuse of women in Tajikistan.
That same day, the United
Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) held a roundtable in
Dushanbe to discuss measures to prevent violence against women
and assess a long-delayed draft law on domestic violence. The
acting representative of the UN High Commission on Human Rights
delivered an overview of the UN Special Rapporteur’s May 2008
report on violence against women, which estimates that between
one-third and one-half of women suffer violence at the hands of
their husbands or in-laws. The
report documents cases of
battered women resorting to suicide, including self-immolation
and discusses the Rapporteur’s visits to women imprisoned for
killing their abusive husbands.
The Rapporteur recommended
passage of a comprehensive law on domestic violence and violence
against women, as there is no such law in the Tajik legal code.
A draft Law was completed in 2006, but it has not been
introduced to Parliament for debate and passage.
3. (SBU) Asked to respond on behalf of the government, Yusuf
Salimov, Head of the Department on Constitutional Guarantees of
its Citizens, mumbled through an extended laundry list of Tajik
achievements in women’s rights, including ratification of the UN
Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
President Rahmon’s law «On Guarantees of Equality Between Men
and Women,» and the appointment of ten women as Tajik diplomats.
When the roundtable moderator
noted that Salimov had failed to
answer any of the questions raised by the Rapporteur’s report, a
representative of the Presidential Apparatus, Naurus Samadov,
intervened. He said the
government had not yet completed its
official response to the 2008 UN report, but insisted that they
were working on it. «We have
a lot of information that
contradicts the Rapporteur’s report.
You can’t ask us to do
everything in one day! We are
trying to do what we can, when we
can. We are working
thoroughly.»
GOVERNMENT CRITIQUE OF LAW: CULTURAL MORE THAN FINANCIAL
——————————————— ———-
4. (SBU) When Poloff asked Samadov what was delaying passage of
the law, Samadov replied, «There are big financing problems
being considered» in establishing additional crisis centers for
battered women in cities and district centers as mandated in the
draft. He called for further
study of the draft, as well as the
general problem of domestic violence, declaring, «Our society is
very traditional. We can’t force
the people to make changes
overnight. And regarding the
Rapporteur’s remarks about women
who are in jail for murdering their husbands, we cannot simply
release these women. Society will
not accept it.»
5. (SBU) American Bar Association (ABA) attorney Joshua
Friedman, working under a DRL-funded rule of law program,
briefed the group on the ABA’s proposed revisions to the draft
law. Proposals include providing
funding and registration
details for both Crisis Centers and Centers for Medical-Social
Rehabilitation of Victims of Family Violence; and specifying
that officers have the authority to remove an offender from the
DUSHANBE 00001329 002.2 OF 002
family household and to require the offender to stay away from
the victim. Friedman said the
draft law should recognize, even
if only implicitly by using the term «domestic violence,» that
the vast majority of violence within family and romantic
relationships is perpetrated by men against women.
6. (SBU) While UNIFEM and NGOs in attendance praised the ABA’s
proposals, representatives of the working group preparing the
draft law argued that their work should proceed slowly in a
«passive, Muslim society.»
One member of the working group
argued that the law should not be formulated to specifically
benefit women, asking, «Why should women be granted special
rights? Why should there be
shelters only for women? Men are
also beaten.» He went on to
suggest that the ABA’s
recommendations would lead to men getting kicked out of their
homes. At times, criticism by
government officials verged on
the bizarre. After a legal expert
delivered a presentation on
the effective implementation of family law in Austria, a female
Tajik MP countered, «Why would we take an example from Austria,
when they lock their children in the basement to sexually abuse
them?» (She was evidently
referring to the 2008 Fritzl case.)
She later added that government hydro-electric projects are a
much higher priority than funding new shelters as part of the
draft law.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WALKS OUT AS PRO-FAMILY LAW MOTION PASSES
——————————————— —————-
7. (SBU) At the close of the roundtable, organizers tabled a
non-binding resolution to «agree to develop and adopt at the
national level a law to fight against all forms of
discrimination against women and girls.» During discussion of
the resolution, in which NGO representatives forcefully argued
for the need to pass a domestic violence law, Presidential
apparatus representative Samadov walked out of the room in a
huff. Yusuf Salimov remained
behind with his hands on the table
as the symbolic motion was passed by the majority.
8. (SBU) Tajikistan UNIFEM Director Nargis Azizova told Poloff
that despite the walk-out, the roundtable was a success as it
put the government on notice that the international community
and local NGOs are following the family law issue and will
continue to advocate for the law’s passage. She said the main
obstacle to passage of the law is not the government’s inability
to finance its provisions, but the opposition of a select number
of high-ranking officials with traditional views. She called
for more active engagement, especially from NGOs, to lobby for
the law’s passage.
9. (SBU) COMMENT: Based on the Neanderthal remarks of government
representatives, it is clear that the biggest challenge to
Tajikistan’s draft domestic violence law is opposition by old
school government officials.
Embassy sources report that the
Minister of Justice has been the biggest opponent to the bill
and has prevented its submission to the Parliament for debate.
It is encouraging, however, that local NGOs have begun to
advocate for movement on the law.
The November 24 report by
Amnesty International should give them additional ammunition as
they lobby against entrenched views.
The government will need
to be reminded that it should take concrete action by adopting
the long-awaited domestic violence law, rather than touting
toothless presidential decrees of gender equality. END COMMENT
QUAST
=======================CABLE ENDS============================
id: 236948
date: 11/27/2009 10:31
refid: 09DUSHANBE1330
origin: Embassy Dushanbe
classification: UNCLASSIFIED
destination:
header:
VZCZCXRO1437
RR RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1330/01 3311031
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271031Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0942
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0315
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0205
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0159
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAST/AMCONSUL ALMATY 0030
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2041
—————— header ends —————-
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 DUSHANBE 001330
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, OES/PCI
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG, SENV, ECON, ZK, TI
SUBJECT: SECOND ANNUAL RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE: SHOWING THE WAY,
STILL LOOKING FOR THE WILL
DUSHANBE 00001330 001.2 OF 004
1. SUMMARY. Dushanbe hosted the
Second Annual Renewable Energy
Conference on November 9, sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace, the Regional Environmental Center for
Central Asia (CAREC), and the Renewable Energy Association of
Tajikistan (REAT). Attendees came
from all the Central Asian
countries, Europe, Russia, and the United States. Tajikistan’s
First Deputy Minister of Energy and the U.S. Ambassador to
Tajikistan gave keynote speeches to open the conference. Among
the many points raised, the presenters noted the rich potential
of renewable energy, citing a number of projects in solar, wind,
and small hydropower. They also
pointed out the lack of
financing, the fact that renewable energy is not yet
commercially feasible, and that investors face an unclear legal
environment fraught with risk.
Yet, with persistence and
favorable policies, renewable energy could become cheaper than
oil, gas, or coal over time.
Renewable energy could also
stimulate economic development in rural communities, provide
jobs, raise incomes, and alleviate poverty. END SUMMARY.
TAJIKISTAN RICH IN POTENTIAL BUT LACKS FINANCING
2. Tajikistan’s First Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry,
the U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan, and noted Central Asian
scholar Dr. Martha Olcott gave keynote speeches opening the
Second Annual Renewable Energy Conference on November 9. (NOTE:
On the eve of the conference, Dushanbe’s electricity went out
across the city for two hours. It
was not only a timely
premonition of the importance of renewable energy to
Tajikistan’s future, but it was also a testament to the energy
crisis that Tajikistan now faces at the onset of winter. END
NOTE.) First Deputy Minister of
Energy and Industry Asadullo
Gulyamov said Tajikistan was blessed with considerable renewable
energy potential, including small hydro power and wind energy in
remote villages off the grid.
Tajikistan had an adequate legal
and normative base to develop renewable energy, and
international organizations and banks had already financed
renewable energy projects.
Unfortunately, Tajikistan’s ability
to fund such projects was inadequate.
Because Tajikistan was in
a constant state of need, and because the existing energy
capacity was insufficient to meet the country’s needs,
Tajikistan was keenly interested in developing its renewable
energy potential. This conference
would give all participants
the opportunity to see the various paths forward.
AMBASSADOR: DIVERSIFICATION IMPORTANT BUT NEED CLEAR RULES
3. Ambassador Gross said renewable energy was very important in
Central Asia, and President Obama had made renewable energy
development a high priority. He
applauded Tajikistan for its
work to develop renewable energy, but he noted that Tajikistan
faced rationing part of the year because of the cyclical nature
of its energy sources.
Diversifying its energy sources and
capacity was very important for Tajikistan’s future, and wind,
solar, and small hydro power stations were all readily
available. A lack of clear rules
for small energy producers was
one roadblock to using more renewable energy, but he added that
there was a draft law to promote renewable energy. However, the
general population still had very little understanding about
Tajikistan’s considerable renewable energy potential.
IS RENEWABLE ENERGY FEASIBLE?
4. Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Makoto Ojiro
said Tajikistan was one of the countries most severely affected
by climate change, largely due to glacier melting. In the long
term, Tajikistan needs to adapt to reduced water flows and
consequently less hydro power. He
cited a number of ADB
projects, including the Nurek Dam and the transmission line
project to enable the export of electricity to Afghanistan. He
noted that ADB’s «Strategy 2020» aimed to provide reliable
energy consistent with sustainable development, and this
strategy gives high importance to all renewable energy sources
in the context of climate change.
The ADB was planning to spend
$50-80 million in ten countries, including Tajikistan, to
address the impact of climate change.
5. REAT President Umarkhon Madvaliev said Tajikistan was using
only 5% of its solar and wind renewable energy potential of 527
billion kilowatt hours (kWh) per year.
Unfortunately, there was
a lack of financial resources to develop renewable energy, there
DUSHANBE 00001330 002.2 OF 004
was no regulatory legislation concerning its use, and there were
not enough trained technicians in the field of renewable energy.
6. Kyrgyzstan NGO «Akmena» Alexey Postnov said domestic
consumption in Kyrgyzstan accounted for 48% of energy use,
industry 28%, and agriculture 11%.
One could not talk about
renewable energy in Kyrgyzstan without also discussing the
problems of inadequate energy supply, constantly pending energy
crisis, inefficient use of resources, and lack of profitability.
In addition, there was enormous
loss of energy along
transmission lines. Kyrgyzstan’s
energy crisis had a political
aspect: the lack of a specific mechanism to manage water
resources that was acceptable to all parties. The political
barriers included inadequate information among users on the
possibility of renewable energy, a lack of financing for such
projects, and the need to improve the legislation regarding the
use and production of renewable energy.
On the positive side,
the private market is gradually developing, and both China and
South Korea are currently negotiating possible investment.
7. Kazakhstan’s UNDP Wind Energy Development Consultant Gennady
Doroshin said UNDP’s wind energy project in Kazakhstan was
currently generating 121 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year and
experiencing growth of up to 30% per year; by 2010 Kazakhstan is
expected to generate more than 400 Gigawatt-hours of wind energy
per year. Over time, the cost of
wind energy could begin to
approach the cost of coal, and it would be much cheaper than
nuclear power. The Kazakhstani
government fully backed this
program and there was good investment potential. Doroshin
helped the UNDP develop Kazakhstan’s first wind atlas, which
maps where winds were strongest, helping potential investors
identify good locations for wind stations. By 2024, Kazakhstan
planned to generate 5% of its total energy from wind (it
currently stands at 0.028%). In
spite of a recent law
supporting development of renewable energy, he cited a number of
remaining barriers, such as the lack of adequate juridical
structures to support and stimulate the development of r
