MFA ON DETAINED UZBEKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 002761 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2016 TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL RS SUBJECT: MFA ON DETAINED UZBEKS REF: A. STATE 41999 ¶B. PITOTTI-RICHARDSON E-MAIL 3/16/06 Classified By: A/POL Bruce Donahue. Reasons 1.4 (b and d.) ¶1. (C) REFCOORD delivered ref A demarche to Dmitriy Knyazhinskiy, chief of the migration section in the Department of Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights at the MFA. Knyazhinskiy said his office had written "numerous" requests to the Procurator General in support of UNHCR's request for access to the 13 detained Uzbeks in Ivanovo. Thus far, the Procurator General's office had refused, and Knyazhinskiy said the MFA would probably send another request shortly. He said that the Uzbeks would not be deported until they had exhausted their right of appeal in the Russian courts. ¶2. (C) Knyazhinskiy said this had been a vexing problem for the MFA, as Russia had conflicting obligations to the international community and to Uzbekistan under the Refugee Convention and the Minsk Treaty respectively. Knyazhinskiy noted Russia's obligation under the Convention Against Torture not to return asylum seekers or others to a country where they may face torture or other inhumane treatment. He asked if we could provide reports from credible international sources that would establish Uzbekistan's use of torture. He specified that UN or other international bodies' documents would be useful. NGO reports would not. ¶3. (C) REFCOORD also raised the issue of North Korean asylum seekers and asked if Knyazhinskiy was familiar with the non-paper handed to a GOR delegation in Washington in early March (ref B). Knyazhinskiy said he had not been briefed and asked for a copy of the non-paper. ¶4. (C) Comment: Knyazhinskiy conceded that the MFA had little influence with the Procurator General's office on this matter. He acknowledged that whatever the GOR decided -- to extradite the Uzbeks or declare them refugees -- would cause headaches for the MFA. While his request for additional information related to Uzbekistan's use of torture may suggest the GOR faces a dilemma, we believe the ultimate decision about return of the detained Uzbeks will depend less on the GOR's international obligations and more on its calculations regarding potential harm to its relations with Uzbekistan. BURNS