OSCE FIELD MISSION WEIGHS IN ON DCK CASE

UNCLAS ALMATY 000153 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/RPM- H. TROUTMAN AND S. ARCHER ALSO FOR EUR/CACEN- J. MUDGE ALSO FOR DRL/PHD- P. DAVIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL PHUM IO KZ POLITICAL SUBJECT: OSCE FIELD MISSION WEIGHS IN ON DCK CASE SENSITIVE Ref: A)STATE 3793 B)04 ALMATY 5052 C)ALMATY 0083 ¶1. (SBU) On January 13, OSCE field officer Bjorn Halvarsson told Astana Poloff that OSCE Ambassador Vikki had delivered a statement on January 11 to Kazakhstani MFA authorities (NFI) on the judicial dissolution of opposition party Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) (See Refs B-C). While Halvarsson did not share the text of the statement, he characterized the message as expressing concern that the court's decision appeared to be contrary to the rule of law and did not reflect well on Kazakhstan's OSCE commitments. ¶2. (SBU) Comment. Judging by Halvarsson's tone and demeanor, it is unlikely that the OSCE demarche was as forceful as our own on DCK (Ref A). If the OSCE has appeared in Kazakhstani eyes merely to be going through the motions on DCK, it almost certainly will feed Astana's perception that there may not be much of a price to pay for dissolving the party. Halvarsson did note that the OSCE warned the GOK of "consequences" (NFI),but he did not elaborate on whether the GOK was given specific examples. End Comment. ¶3. Dushanbe minimize considered. ASQUINO