KAZAKHSTAN: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH SENATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALMATY 001575

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN (J. MUDGE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EAID PARM EPET KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH SENATE
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

REF: 05 Almaty 2833


1. (SBU) Summary: The Senate and Mazhilis are working to
finalize amendments to the Law on International Agreements,
according to the chairman of the Senate Committee on
International Affairs, Defense, and Security. The two
houses will establish a reconciliation committee to reach
agreement on how to revise the amendments to make it clear
that valid international agreements take precedence over
domestic law, a point that has been causing difficulty for
U.S. assistance programs and other important agreements.
Legislation ratifying the Biological Weapons Convention is
with a reconciliation committee for technical fixes. End
summary.


2. (U) The Ambassador met with Akhan Bizhanov, Chair of
Senate Committee on International Affairs, Defense, and
Security, in Astana on April 26. He was accompanied by
USAID country officer and POEC chief.

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Law on International Agreements
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3. (SBU) The Ambassador asked Bizhanov about the status of
amendments to the Law on International Agreements (reftel),
noting that the new law had caused confusion regarding the
status of the 1992 Bilateral Assistance Agreement and the
tax exempt nature of U.S. assistance. Bizhanov told the
Ambassador that parliament was working on amendments to law
in order to clarify the fact that ratified international
agreements take precedence over domestic law, as specified
in the Constitution. The two houses had not yet reached
agreement on an approach, however. Bizhanov said that the
Senate had objected to the amendments as passed by the
Mazhilis, which specified that international agreements
signed prior to the adoption of the Kazakhstani Constitution
in 1995 should be enforced in accordance with their terms
(without ratification). He told the Ambassador that the
Mazhilis language would have contradicted the Constitution
by giving too broad a range of international agreements
precedence over Kazakhstani law.


4. (SBU) Bizhanov said the Senate had deleted Article 20.2,
which specifies that in case of conflict a ratified
international agreement takes precedence over domestic law,
and sent the legislation back to the Mazhilis for
consideration. He claimed that Article 20.2 was
unnecessary, as Article 20.1 states that valid international
agreements must be observed. (Note: The Senate's version of
the amendments is therefore silent on the question of
precedence. End note.) According to Bizhanov, modifying
the Law on International Agreements in this way will ensure
that agreements concluded before 1995, when ratification
became possible, will remain in force because the law cannot
retroactively change their status. Bizhanov noted that a
Constitutional Council interpretation from 2000 supported
this view. (Note: This clarification is needed not only
for our Bilateral Assistance Agreement, but also for key
pending agreements such as the BTC IGA. End note.)


5. (SBU) Bizhanov said that Deputy Kiselev, the Mazhilis
member who had drafted the amendments, had agreed with the
Senate approach. He promised to meet with his Mazhilis
counterpart Serik Abdrakhmanov in the near future to resolve
the issue, given the difficulty it was causing for USG
assistance programs. The amendment will now go to a
reconciliation committee; once the committee reaches
agreement, both houses will need to pass the text. Bizhanov
thought it might be possible to pass the amendments before
the summer recess.

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Ratification of Biological Weapons Convention
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6. (SBU) The Ambassador asked Bizhanov about the status of
legislation ratifying the Biological Weapons Convention,
important for Kazakhstan's efforts to participate in the
Global Partnership and the MTCR. Bizhanov said that there
had been technical errors in the draft forwarded by the
Mazhilis, which the Senate had corrected and sent back to
the Mazhilis for approval. He commented that it was very
important for Kazakhstan to ratify the BWC and there were no
substantive roadblocks to doing so; a conciliation committee

ALMATY 00001575 002 OF 002


would finalize the draft.

ORDWAY