COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN TO ISSUE STERN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000623 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA (FRESE E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2016 TAGS: PREL PHUM TX SUBJECT: COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN TO ISSUE STERN REPORT ON TURKMENISTAN'S POOR COMPLIANCE REPORT ASHGABAT 00000623 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Twelve years after ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Turkmenistan's compliance record is "a failure," according to a UNICEF official briefing select members of the Ashgabat diplomat corps prior to publication of the official report of the Committee on the Rights of Children (CRC). UNICEF is looking for broad-based diplomatic support for urging Turkmenistan to take steps to comply with the convention. CRC plans to give wide coverage of the report on Turkmenistan. DCM urged UNICEF to state explicitly where Turkmenistan's noncompliance lay in comparison to other state parties in whatever press announcement it issued. She noted that Turkmenistan only would comply under intense diplomatic pressure and urged UNICEF to encourage EU support in this effort. End Summary. Turkmenistan in Non-Compliance of International Treaty Obligation - Again -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) UN Resident Coordinator Richard Young and UNICEF Representative Mahboob Shareef called in select members of the diplomatic corps (United States, UK, OSCE, TACIS, Germany and France -- though the latter two did not attend) on June 7 to deliver a pre-brief on the findings of the CRC vis-a-vis Turkmenistan's compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Young prefaced Shareef's presentation saying the small group was convened in order to develop a strategy for urging Turkmenistan to comply with its treaty obligations. According to Shareef, Turkmenistan ratified the Convention in 1994 and was required to submit an implementation report in two years - by 1996. Turkmenistan instead submitted its first report at the beginning of 2006, 10 years late and 12 years after ratification. CRC reviewed the report earlier this year, found pervasive inadequacies and called for a "high level delegation" to visit Geneva to review the report. Instead Turkmenistan sent a low level delegation which during the review was unable to address the areas of non-compliance. Therefore, CRC was planning to publish a stern review detailing Turkmenistan's failure to comply. Because the report was so stern, however, the UN Office in Turkmenistan wanted to develop a multilateral strategy before the report's release in order to urge the government to undertake appropriate steps. The report also points out Turkmenistan's noncompliance is particularly concerning given its ample wealth. ¶4. (U) The lengthy list of "Main Areas of Concern" include lack of: -- Implementing legislation, -- A comprehensive National Plan of Action, -- National independent human rights institutions; -- Equitable distribution of wealth, -- Adequate budget allocations for children, -- Verifiable socio-economic data, -- Civil society, -- Cooperation with international organizations, -- National and ethnic group rights, including Russians, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Turks, Kurds, Beludzhi and Germans, -- Access to information and material from a diversity of national and internal sources, including the Internet, -- Adequate health care, including HIV/AIDS detection and treatment, and -- Religious freedom. ¶5. (U) The report also highlights deteriorating education standards; forced resettlement; widespread torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including children; and over-institutionalization of the disabled. The report concludes by inviting Turkmenistan to comply with its recommendations by 2010. Focus on Education -------------- ¶6. (U) The group congratulated Shareef and the CRC on a hard-hitting accurate accounting of the abysmal prospects for children in Turkmenistan and agreed to cooperate with the UN on urging Turkmenistan to comply. The group also agreed that the deteriorating educational ASHGABAT 00000623 002.2 OF 002 system was the most critical finding of the report and that international efforts should focus on improving educational standards, specifically increasing the number of years of required education, increasing the number of teaching days per school year and improving the curriculum. (Note: The Ruhnama earned a mention in a footnote of the report. End Note.) Publicize the Report by Putting Turkmenistan's Non-Compliance in Stark Perspective -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) DCM urged Shareef to encourage the CRC to put the findings on Turkmenistan in perspective, i.e., was Turkmenistan's non-compliance among the ten worst? Was it the worst in Central Asia? What kind of company was Turkmenistan keeping? Was it in Myanmar's and DPRK's league? DCM noted the USG's perspective that only intensive international pressure could force action from the Goverment of Turkmenistan/President Niyazov. United States no Longer the Lone Voice -------------- ¶8. (C) DCM also urged Shareef to concentrate on soliciting strong EU support, not just in Geneva and New York, but on the ground in Ashgabad. She noted her growing impression that instead of focusing their criticism on Niyazov and the government, some European embassies instead were trying to convince the United States that we were exaggerating the gross and systematic violation of human rights in Turkmenistan. Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) The CRC report is a depressing, yet welcome, confirmation of USG reporting on human rights in Turkmenistan. Embassy hopes the CRC can be encouraged to put Turkmenistan's record in perspective vis-a-vis the performance of other state parties. The government may respond -- though with the bare minimum -- when faced with the prospect of being included on yet one more "ten worst" list. In particular embassy welcomes the focus on the deteriorating educational system here and will work with other local embassies/international organizations to develop a strategy for lobbying the government to reverse this slide. End Comment. JACOBSEN