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