UZBEKISTAN HAVING ITS WAY WITH THE OSCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001739 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL OSEC UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN HAVING ITS WAY WITH THE OSCE Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY AMB JON R. PURNELL FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D). ¶1. (C) Summary: Two contacts at the OSCE's Tashkent Project Coordinator's Office (PCO) told poloff OSCE Ambassador Jenca is working closely with the MFA to restructure the PCO. The MFA reportedly will select two local OSCE staff to replace four who will lose their jobs in October. Jenca also reportedly instructed the PCO's personnel assistant to focus on applicants from nations that do not need Uzbek visas to fill the two expatriate jobs. Jenca told the DCM the MFA had consented to him remaining as PCO Chief. Jenca said he was frustrated by the MFA's slow pace in dealing with the PCO, and that its programs will not start to be implemented until October, at the earliest. The GOU is working to ensure only Uzbek sympathizers staff the PCO. End summary. ¶2. (C) Poloff met with two local employees of the OSCE's Tashkent PCO to discuss recent developments in its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the GOU. Poloff's contacts are program assistants in the Economic and Environmental Dimensions. The contacts forwarded poloff an email Jenca sent to OSCE Political-Security Officer Marc Bojanic on August 8, outlining the proposed new structure of the PCO. According to the email, the Administrative (technical) organization remains unchanged. The restructured positions are: -- Senior Project Officer, Economic and Environmental Dimension (currently vacant, although the position has been advertised for almost one month),staffed by a foreign national; -- Senior Project Officer, Democratization and Political Dimensions, staffed by a foreign national (Note: This position combines two dimensions, previously separately staffed. The current Political-Security officer is Marc Bojanic, whose tenure expired this summer, but who has reportedly chosen to extend. End note.); -- Chief Financial Assistant, National Professional Position staffed by the current staff member; -- Security and Military Project Officer, National Professional Position; -- Legal Adviser Project Officer, National Professional Position; ¶3. (C) Amb. Jenca told the DCM on September 5that under the MOU the OSCE office is allowed three foreign staff (the Head of the Project Coordinator Office and two others),three 
Uzbek professional staff, and technical staff "as needed." Jenca told the DCM he intends to hire back many of OSCE's program staff as technical staff to help implement individual projects, once the projects are agreed upon. Jenca added that he submitted, several weeks ago, a list of proposed OSCE projects to the MFA and was still awaiting their comments. (Note: This is the second time the OSCE has submitted a list of projects. The MFA returned the list and asked for more detailed information on each project. The OSCE did not submit all proposed projects it is considering, however, for the six-month term. End note.) Jenca confirmed that the GOU had agreed he could remain as PCO Head. Jenca expressed frustration over the GOU's slow pace of dealing with the new PCO, noting its mandate expires in less than four months, the end of the calendar year. He predicted the PCO and MFA would not reach agreement on projects and staffing until October, leaving less than three months for implementation before the entire question of the mandate would be revisited. ¶4. (C) The two contacts told poloff that on September 4 Jenca unexpectedly terminated all four program staff (two economic dimension, one human dimension, one political dimension), giving them one month's notice. Until then, Jenca had reportedly told the staff he would protect their jobs. The staff has not been given any written guarantee that they might be hired back as program staff. The extrabudgetary program staff are still waiting to see what will happen to their positions. ¶5. (C) Jenca reportedly agreed to let the MFA select the staff of the National Professional Positions in exchange for its acceptance of the proposed PCO structure. At a staff meeting Jenca, according to our contacts, instructed the TASHKENT 00001739 002 OF 002 personnel assistant to focus on applicants for Senior Project Officer positions, i.e. the two expatriate positions, who do not need an Uzbek visa. (Note: OSCE rules state citizens of neighboring countries may not work at the OSCE Mission. The countries that do not require a visa for Uzbekistan are: Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia. End note.) ¶6. (C) Comment: Jenca is walking a fine line in working out modalities with the GOU to keep an OSCE office open (and his position) while retaining a degree of independence. It appears the GOU is taking advantage of the MOU and trying to ensure that pro-GOU blood is injected into the PCO. Employees who have worked at the Mission for many years reportedly are going to be replaced with staff acceptable to the GOU. If this is true, then the GOU will not only have influence over what projects the OSCE implements, but how they are implemented. Moreover, the GOU will likely have greater access to internal workings, giving it greater insight into the OSCE's relations with Western nations. PURNELL