MANAS AIR BASE SHOOTING AND KRYGYZ CULTURE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001788

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SAF FOR AF SECRETARY WYNNE FROM AMBASSADOR YOVANOVITCH
DEPT FOR SCA/FO - DAS FEIGENBAUM AND SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2016
TAGS: PREL SCUL PGOV MARR KG
SUBJECT: MANAS AIR BASE SHOOTING AND KRYGYZ CULTURE

REF: BISHKEK 1783

BISHKEK 00001788 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Amb. Marie L. Yovanovitch, Reason 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) I and my staff deeply appreciate the extensive
State-DOD coordination in recent days regarding the December
6 shooting incident at Manas Air Base, as well as on
accelerating release of the AIB report on the September
aircraft collision. Both issues have, unfortunately, raised
questions among the Kyrgyz public and political elites
regarding the status of the base. As we work through these
issues, I wanted to raise a matter that, in my view, could go
a long way to improve the public image of the United States
in this corner of the world.

HELPING THE FAMILY: A CULTURAL IMPERATIVE
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2. (C) The December 6 shooting incident, which resulted in
the death of 42-year old Alexander Ivanov, created the
expectation among the Kyrgyz people that the U.S. would
provide compensation to the Ivanov family. This is a strong
cultural belief in Kyrgyzstan -- independent of whether the
Airman acted appropriately. If the U.S. could provide some
form of assistance to the Ivanov family, as we do in
Afghanistan and Iraq, it would help us put this very
emotional issue behind us.


3. (C) The typical Kyrgyz on the street looks at the
following facts and believes we have a moral obligation to
help out: an individual died, his widow is in an extremely
difficult situation as a result, and the U.S. was somehow
involved; in Kyrgyzstan people -- friends and family -- take
care of each other as a matter of tradition, and because they
recognize that the Kyrgyz government cannot do so; and
finally, the Kyrgyz believe that the U.S. is rich and the
rich are obliged to help the poor. It is also a fact that
the Kyrgyz believe that the Airman used excessive force and
is guilty of murder, but, unlike in the United States, this
is not the most important factor driving the compensation
issue.

NO COMPREHENSION OF THE AMERICAN POINT OF VIEW
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4. (C) Every Kyrgyz interlocutor from the Prime Minister on
down has said that we need to address the issue of
compensation quickly and make a &humanitarian8 gesture to
the family. The Prime Minister, a former law enforcement
officer, told the Ambassador that the Kyrgyz legal system
accepts that a humanitarian gesture does not constitute
acceptance of guilt, and others have indicated the same
thing, although we have not sought a legal opinion. Everyone
we turn to for advice on how we can put the incident behind
us, assumes that we are providing assistance to the widow )
and then forcefully suggests we do so when they find out
otherwise. Arguments, which we make, that the base has a
long history of providing extensive humanitarian support to
the surrounding communities carry little water here because
they not address the perceived obligation in this culture to
extend a gesture to Mrs. Ivanova.


5. (C) It is incomprehensible in Kyrgyz culture that we
would not provide some help to the family. It is such a
strong cultural imperative that even Russians accept it, and
we have been inundated with stories about how individuals
have helped others even when they clearly have not been at
fault. The media coverage of the shooting incident continues
to be brutal (reftel) and covers a range of issues, some of
which we can accommodate and others, such as the jurisdiction
issue, which we cannot. If we could provide compensation to
the Ivanov family, it would be one of the keys to turning
public perception.


BISHKEK 00001788 002.2 OF 002


THE IVANOV FAMILY: RELYING ON 18USD A MONTH
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6. (C) Mr. Ivanov leaves behind his wife, who is the sole
support for two sons, one in high school and one in college,
and her retired parents. Mrs. Ivanova,s mother was recently
released from the hospital and continues to have medical
issues. Mrs. Ivanova is a teacher; the average salary for
teachers in Kyrgyzstan is 700 Som a month, or approximately
18USD a month. Teachers in Kyrgyzstan are often not paid by
the government for months at a time. Without an extended
family network, it would be hard to survive on this amount,
even here.

ACTION REQUEST
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7. (C) We understand that there may be compensation
possibilities, independent of whether the airman is found to
have acted appropriately, through either a foreign claims act
payment or the Secretary of Defense's Emergency and
Extraordinary expense authority. I strongly recommend that
the Department of State and the Department of Defense closely
review whether it would be appropriate to use these
mechanisms in the Ivanov case, given the cultural
expectations that exist here. We believe that providing even
modest assistance to the Ivanov family would improve public
perception of the U.S. in general, and in particular, that of
our dedicated and professional airmen at the Base.
YOVANOVITCH