PRESIDENT CALLS IN AMBASSADOR OVER 12/6 SHOOTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001733 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/09/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR KG SUBJECT: PRESIDENT CALLS IN AMBASSADOR OVER 12/6 SHOOTING INCIDENT REF: A. A) BISHKEK 1732 ¶B. B) BISHKEK 1722 BISHKEK 00001733 001.4 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch, for reasons 1.4 (c) AND (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. On December 7, President Bakiyev called in the Ambassador to discuss the December 6 shooting incident at the Manas Air Force Base. He requested that the U.S. keep the Airman who shot the Kyrgyz national in the country until the end of the investigation and that no constraints be put on the investigation. The President said he wants to amend the bilateral MOU so that U.S. airmen no longer have immunity, but are subject to Kyrgyz law. Later the MFA sent a diplomatic note "demanding" the U.S. government lift the immunity of the Airman who shot the Kyrgyz truck driver. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On December 7, President Bakiyev called in the Ambassador to discuss the December 6 shooting incident at the Manas Air Force Base (ref A). Ambassador was accompanied by Commander of the Base, Colonel Scott Reese. The President was accompanied by Presidential Chief of Staff Abdyldayev and Foreign Policy Advisor Ibragimov. The meeting was approximately 40 minutes and media was present for the first fifteen minutes PRESIDENT WANTS TO CHANGE MOU; MFA WANTS USG TO LIFT AIRMAN's IMMUNITY -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) The President opened by asking the Ambassador to explain what had happened. He requested that the U.S. keep the Airman who shot the Kyrgyz national in the country until the end of the investigation and that no constraints be put on the investigation. The President said he had asked Abdildayev and the Foreign Ministry to review the 2001 Diplomatic Exchange of Notes (which constitutes our MOU) with a view to changing the terms of the presence of the military at the Air Base. Specifically, he said Kyrgyzstan wants the U.S. military to be subject to Kyrgyz law. Although the President did not raise this, later the Embassy received a diplomatic note "demanding" the U.S. government lift the immunity of the Airman, and retaining the right to full compensation (Bishkek 1732). FRUSTRATION OVER LACK OF PROGRESS ON AIR COLLISION -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) The President noted that this is not the first ;incident and recalled that several years ago, Base personnel were involved in a car accident in which two Kyrgyz women died. He raised the September airplane collision and noted that the U.S. has not provided its report and "nothing has happened." At this point, the media departed and the President acknowledged that all of the incidents were accidents, but stated that when there is a crime, people need to answer for it. Bakiyev said the public would not understand what happened in the shooting incident and that the Kyrgyz government has "no control" and "cannot influence" the process. FRUSTRATION OVER INABILITY TO BRING AIRMAN TO JUSTICE -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) The President said that the knife that the victim had was small, and he could not understand why it was necessary to shoot him. He continued that he would understand the victim's death if Kyrgyzstan was at war, but the Kyrgyz are not fighting. The Kyrgyz have provided a Base to help the U.S. in the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan, but "what happens is that a Kyrgyz citizen dies." "I am the President, and I cannot allow this," he said. Acknowledging that the investigation continues, he said he still doesn't understand why two shots were necessary, and wondered why the Airman did not shoot to wound. He concluded that there is a sense in Kyrgyzstan that U.S. military members believe they can do whatever they want, and that they are unaccountable. BISHKEK 00001733 002.2 OF 002 AMBASSADOR RESPONDS -------------- ¶6. (C) Ambassador conveyed her regret that the incident took place and her condolences to the President and the family. She said that OSI and MVD had established a joint investigation and were working together cooperatively. She said that the Airman falls under the Military Code of Justice and there would be a courtmartial if there is reason to believe that the Airman acted improperly. She noted that the Base would be reviewing its procedures. When the media departed, she provided a description of the self-defense shooting incident. Regarding the air collision, she said the Accident Investigation Board(AIB) is finalizing its report; the process is detailed and in-depth, and therefore time-consuming. Ambassador said that she had not seen the AIB report, but understood there might be discrepancies with the Kyrgyz report; the U.S. would seek to present a constructive way forward when we share the AIB report with the Minister of Transportation. ¶7. (C) Ambassador noted that the Air Force is committed to safety and over the years has made substantial improvements at the Manas Airport with safety in mind. After the collision, the working level immediately made certain changes, she said. In addition, Base leadership and Kyrgyz counterparts were slated to meet to discuss safety issues later in the day, and on December 11 the Head of CENTAF Safety would meet with MIA and KAN. Ambassador thanked the President for his partnership in the fight against terrorism and his partnership in the investigation. She concluded that the U.S. wanted to be a good partner to Kyrgyzstan and a good guest in Kyrgyzstan. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) The President focused on two issues. One is cultural and reflects the difference in how Americans and Kyrgyz fight and train. The Kyrgyz - from the President on down - do not understand why a warning shot wasn't fired, why two shots were necessary, why deadly force was used at all. In this incident, Americans perceive that the victim posed a threat; to the Kyrgyz, the shooting incident demonstrates that it is Kyrgyz civilians who are at risk by having armed U.S. service members at the airport. ¶9. (C) The second issue is frustration at what the Kyrgyz perceive to be U.S. lack of cooperation on issues related to the base, and the Kyrgyz inability to influence our processes. In this shooting incident, Kyrgyz lack of sovereignty is clearly also a factor. The President's discussion of the air collision incident, which we were led to believe would be a central part of the conversation, turned out to be more of an aside and was cited as an example of a pattern of U.S. behavior that the Kyrgyz perceive to demonstrate U.S. indifference to Kyrgyz concerns. ¶10. (C) The President called in the Ambassador at least in part to demonstrate that he is on top of things and defending Kyrgyz citizens. However, it is unlikely that the issue will fade away, especially since a sharply worded diplomatic note "demands" that we revoke the Airman's immunity, and "insists" that the Airman not leave Kyrgyzstan. While the former is a non-starter, we can appear responsive by not transferring the Airman from Manas for at least the next 2-3 weeks, by which time the OSI anticipates having completed their interviews and all the investigative work except for the lab analyses that will need to be conducted in the U.S. Longer term, we are expecting the MFA to follow up soon with a request to amend the MOU on the question of immunity. How we respond to each of these issues will do much to shape our further engagement. YOVANOVITCH