A SHOT ACROSS THE NGO BOW? POST SEEKS GUIDANCE IN RESPONSE

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 001696

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM TI
SUBJECT: A SHOT ACROSS THE NGO BOW? POST SEEKS GUIDANCE IN RESPONSE
TO MFA REQUEST

The Embassy received the following diplomatic note from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking for extensive information on
non-governmental organizations connected to the U.S government
operating in Tajikistan. This dip note could further dampen NGO
activity in Tajikistan and further threaten the U.S. democracy
agenda.

Post seeks soonest guidance from the Department how to respond.

Begin Text:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan
presents its compliments to the Embassy of the United States of
America in Dushanbe and in response to note # 832/05 of October
11, 2005 has the honor to inform the following.
As is known, on September 13, 1993 , the Government of the
Republic of Tajikistan and the Government of the United States
of America signed an Agreement Regarding Cooperation to
Facilitate the Provision of Assistance. On the basis of this
Agreement, for ten years, the United States of America has been
providing all possible assistance to the Republic of Tajikistan.
Also, within the framework of this Agreement, a number of
American governmental and nongovernmental organizations
implementing the U.S. Government aid programs have been
operating in the Republic of Tajikistan.
In the above mentioned note, the Embassy sent a list of
organizations that according to that Agreement, shall be exempt
from any taxes, duties or other similar payments imposed by the
Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and local authorities.
In this connection, the Ministry requests that the Embassy gives
instructions to the organizations indicated in the note to
submit the required information about their legal status and
full account of their activity in the Republic of Tajikistan to
the Ministry. The accounts should include the following:


1. Copies of constituent documents;

2. The structure (including that of the head and field
offices),personnel structure and the number of their staff;

3. The biodata of the personnel of these organizations,
including foreign and local;

4. Exact legal addresses of these organizations in the
Republic of Tajikistan, including copies of lease agreements of
their office premises;

5. A detailed description of their projects indicating the
budget and estimate of costs;

6. Information about their partners (NGOs, private citizens,
higher educational institutions, educational establishments,
local communities, etc.) in the Republic of Tajikistan.

7. Major trends of their activity and indication of the final
result;

8. The amount of the given credit and information about the
interest profit (for the organizations engaged in
micro-financing).

The Ministry informs the Embassy that the decision on the
exemption from taxes, duties and other similar payments shall be
adopted after receiving the abovementioned documents and their
detailed study.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan
avails itself of this opportunity to express to the Embassy of
the United States of America the assurances of its highest
consideration.

End text

COMMENT: We are worried that this is the slippery slope that
would allow Tajikistan to weed out the NGOs it does not like.
END COMMENT.

HOAGLAND


NNNN