Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MOSCOW11771
2006-10-19 14:13:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Moscow
how-toVZCZCXRO4539 OO RUEHDBU DE RUEHMO #1771/01 2921413 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 191413Z OCT 06 FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4235 INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 011771
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR PREF GG RS
SUBJECT: GEORGIA UPDATE, OCTOBER 19
REF: MOSCOW 11690 AND PREV.
Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM J. BURNS. Reason 1.4 (b, d)
Summary
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 011771
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR PREF GG RS
SUBJECT: GEORGIA UPDATE, OCTOBER 19
REF: MOSCOW 11690 AND PREV.
Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM J. BURNS. Reason 1.4 (b, d)
Summary
--------------
1. (C) News of detention of Georgians continues to appear,
with the Volga Federal District the latest site. The
Georgian Embassy claims that educational institutions are
still being used in some areas to locate undocumented
Georgians, though a Moscow official denies this ever happened
inside the capital. Officials and private citizens continue
to protest the targeting of the ethnic Georgian community in
Russia, while the Duma prepares to assess Abkhazia's claims
to independence. End Summary.
Deportations
--------------
2. (SBU) The body of Tengiz Togonidze, who died of asthma on
October 17 while awaiting deportation from Moscow, has left
Moscow. Owing to the Russian ban on direct flights to
Tbilisi, the body was flown to Yerevan for trans-shipment to
Tbilisi, where Togonidze's family lives.
3. (U) Press reports confirm Georgian Embassy claims that
about 150 Georgians in the Volga Federal District have been
detained and served with deportation orders. The Georgian
Embassy claims about 100 Georgians remain in detention in
Moscow.
4. (C) Moscow Duma International Affairs Department Deputy
Director Lebedev predicted to us that sanctions would remain
in place for "months, not weeks." The Presidential
Administration would not set in motion the machinery of
state, he argued, only to reverse itself a few days later.
When pushed on the fact that some Georgians with visas and
work permits were being deported, Lebedev pushed back, saying
"it is not pretty and it is not nice, but Russia has a
sovereign right to revoke visas." Georgian professionals, he
predicted would remain, while criminal elements and casino
owners would continue to feel the heat.
5. (C) However, Boris Makarenko, consultant to United Russia,
noted a contradiction between the campaign to deport
Georgians and the new national migration policy coming into
effect on January 1 2007, which provides an amnesty and a
streamlined means for illegal migrants to obtain legal
status. This is "absolutely incompatible" with the measures
being brought against the Georgian community.
Harassment, Sanctions
--------------
6. (C) The Georgian Embassy claims institutions of higher
education in Tomsk have received requests for information on
students with Georgian surnames. Moscow official Lebedev
adamantly denied that there had been a Moscow City Duma order
permitting the use of school records to identify Georgian
families. Such a step was "absolutely unacceptable;" the
Mayor rejected any such idea, as did the Ministry of
Education and the federal authorities. "It is not happening,
it would cross all bounds."
Aims
--------------
7. (C) Former Prime Minister Kasyanov, speaking with the
Ambassador October 19, was scathing in his analysis of the
Georgian President, saying that Saakashvili did not
understand what he was doing. "He's going to keep pushing,
and then he will get what he deserves." However, Kasyanov
condemned the targeting of ethnic Georgians. Moscow official
Lebedev, too, reiterated arguments that the GOR campaign was
designed to show Georgians the price of retaining Saakashvili
and the Georgian President the cost of provoking Russia.
Statements
--------------
8. (U) A chorus of Duma deputies has urged Russia to
recognize the independence of separatist Abkhazia, including
Duma CIS Affairs Committee Chair Kokoshin. Duma Foreign
Affairs Committee Chair Kosachev has stated that the Duma
will review Abkhazia's claims, but noted that this is for the
government, not the Duma, to decide. Lebedev explained that
Mayor Luzhkov also takes an active interest in Georgia and
the separatist enclaves due to the significant financial
flows between the two. If the residents of the enclaves
flee, their favorite place of refuge is Moscow, with many
enclave residents already having businesses, properties and
family members in the capital. The city has investments in
MOSCOW 00011771 002 OF 002
Abkhaz resorts, funds road repair and undertakes city
administration training as part of the economic development
program for South Ossetia.
BURNS
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR PREF GG RS
SUBJECT: GEORGIA UPDATE, OCTOBER 19
REF: MOSCOW 11690 AND PREV.
Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM J. BURNS. Reason 1.4 (b, d)
Summary
--------------
1. (C) News of detention of Georgians continues to appear,
with the Volga Federal District the latest site. The
Georgian Embassy claims that educational institutions are
still being used in some areas to locate undocumented
Georgians, though a Moscow official denies this ever happened
inside the capital. Officials and private citizens continue
to protest the targeting of the ethnic Georgian community in
Russia, while the Duma prepares to assess Abkhazia's claims
to independence. End Summary.
Deportations
--------------
2. (SBU) The body of Tengiz Togonidze, who died of asthma on
October 17 while awaiting deportation from Moscow, has left
Moscow. Owing to the Russian ban on direct flights to
Tbilisi, the body was flown to Yerevan for trans-shipment to
Tbilisi, where Togonidze's family lives.
3. (U) Press reports confirm Georgian Embassy claims that
about 150 Georgians in the Volga Federal District have been
detained and served with deportation orders. The Georgian
Embassy claims about 100 Georgians remain in detention in
Moscow.
4. (C) Moscow Duma International Affairs Department Deputy
Director Lebedev predicted to us that sanctions would remain
in place for "months, not weeks." The Presidential
Administration would not set in motion the machinery of
state, he argued, only to reverse itself a few days later.
When pushed on the fact that some Georgians with visas and
work permits were being deported, Lebedev pushed back, saying
"it is not pretty and it is not nice, but Russia has a
sovereign right to revoke visas." Georgian professionals, he
predicted would remain, while criminal elements and casino
owners would continue to feel the heat.
5. (C) However, Boris Makarenko, consultant to United Russia,
noted a contradiction between the campaign to deport
Georgians and the new national migration policy coming into
effect on January 1 2007, which provides an amnesty and a
streamlined means for illegal migrants to obtain legal
status. This is "absolutely incompatible" with the measures
being brought against the Georgian community.
Harassment, Sanctions
--------------
6. (C) The Georgian Embassy claims institutions of higher
education in Tomsk have received requests for information on
students with Georgian surnames. Moscow official Lebedev
adamantly denied that there had been a Moscow City Duma order
permitting the use of school records to identify Georgian
families. Such a step was "absolutely unacceptable;" the
Mayor rejected any such idea, as did the Ministry of
Education and the federal authorities. "It is not happening,
it would cross all bounds."
Aims
--------------
7. (C) Former Prime Minister Kasyanov, speaking with the
Ambassador October 19, was scathing in his analysis of the
Georgian President, saying that Saakashvili did not
understand what he was doing. "He's going to keep pushing,
and then he will get what he deserves." However, Kasyanov
condemned the targeting of ethnic Georgians. Moscow official
Lebedev, too, reiterated arguments that the GOR campaign was
designed to show Georgians the price of retaining Saakashvili
and the Georgian President the cost of provoking Russia.
Statements
--------------
8. (U) A chorus of Duma deputies has urged Russia to
recognize the independence of separatist Abkhazia, including
Duma CIS Affairs Committee Chair Kokoshin. Duma Foreign
Affairs Committee Chair Kosachev has stated that the Duma
will review Abkhazia's claims, but noted that this is for the
government, not the Duma, to decide. Lebedev explained that
Mayor Luzhkov also takes an active interest in Georgia and
the separatist enclaves due to the significant financial
flows between the two. If the residents of the enclaves
flee, their favorite place of refuge is Moscow, with many
enclave residents already having businesses, properties and
family members in the capital. The city has investments in
MOSCOW 00011771 002 OF 002
Abkhaz resorts, funds road repair and undertakes city
administration training as part of the economic development
program for South Ossetia.
BURNS