DE GUCHT AND KARIMOV - AN OSCE MANDATE CHANGE AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000651

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL UZ PHUM
SUBJECT: DE GUCHT AND KARIMOV - AN OSCE MANDATE CHANGE AND
FOREIGN MEDDLING IN ANDIJON


Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY AMB. JON R. PURNELL FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)
.


1. (C) Summary: OSCE Ambassador Jenca briefed OSCE
ambassadors on Belgian FM and OSCE Chairman in Office (CiO)
Karel De Gucht,s visit. According to Jenca, President
Karimov told De Gucht a decision has not yet been made on the
OSCE,s mandate, but he would like the mission to transform
into a &Project Coordinator,s Office.8 Karimov said all
information regarding Andijon was already public and that
similar events will not occur in the future without outside
influence. Karimov also made an oft-repeated claim of a
coordinated information campaign to discredit Uzbekistan.
End summary.


2. (C) Belgian FM De Gucht visited Tashkent on March 31-April
1 for meetings with the GOU, (FM Ganiev and President
Karimov) and local NGOs. Briefing OSCE ambassadors April 3,
OSCE Tashkent Center Ambassador Jenca said that in
conversations with Karimov and Ganiev, FM De Gucht conveyed
that the OSCE is ready to cooperate with the GOU in a
balanced way in all three OSCE dimensions. De Gucht
recommended that the Economic and Environmental Activities
Coordinator Bernard Snoy visit Tashkent to develop related
projects and initiatives. Karimov stressed to De Gucht that
cooperation with the OSCE is only possible when all
participating states are treated as equal partners. He said
that the OSCE needs to work on building consensus among all
its members, including regarding statements by senior OSCE
officials. Additionally, Karimov said stability in Central
Asia depends on regional cooperation, therefore the OSCE
should develop projects to promote larger-scale regional
cooperation, along the lines of the Central Asia plus Japan
forum.


3. (C) Karimov told De Gucht the GOU is still discussing the
OSCE Tashkent Center,s mandate, and the decision will
&depend on next steps and cooperation in the near future.8
Implicit in this response was that the decision will be made
before the current mandate runs out in June. The Swiss
Ambassador asked Jenca if Karimov might be referring to the
upcoming report on Andijon trial monitoring by the Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights when he mentioned
&the next steps.8 Jenca said the report was not mentioned
at the meeting and that he did not want to speculate on what
Karimov might have meant by &next steps.8 Jenca said
Karimov specifically noted, however, that with the new
mandate he would like the Center to become more like an OSCE
&Project Coordinator,s Office.8


4. (C) De Gucht said that access to information on the May
2005 events in Andijon was crucial to understand what
happened and to prevent similar events in the future.
Karimov said the GOU provided all information on the events
during open trials monitored by foreign diplomats. Karimov
then relayed his version of the events, adding that he
believes Uzbekistan is the object of an ongoing information
campaign to discredit the country. He also said that what
happened in Andijon in May was a terrorist act and a
continuation of what began in Kyrgyzstan in late March 2005.
Karimov said that without outside influence, such events
will not occur again in the future.


5. (C) When De Gucht raised concerns over the status of civil
society and imprisoned human rights activists, Karimov said
the democratization process is on track. He added that all
NGOs should obey the law, giving the impression that only
those operating illegally are subject to pressure. De Gucht
promised to forward Karimov a list with specific details on
jailed activists.


6. (C) De Gucht also met briefly with local NGOs. A MFA
representative also participated. Talib Yakubov,
long-standing Chairman of the Human Rights Society of
Uzbekistan, spoke about human rights abuses and presented a
statement. (Note: According to another OSCE contact, he was
asked not to read it due to time constraints. Yakubov was
agitated and even though the OSCE translated the statement
and sent it to the appropriate ministries, he wrote a
scathing op-ed piece in a local newspaper the following day
(septel). End note.)


7. (C) Comment: De Gucht,s visit to Uzbekistan was the last

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leg of his Central Asian tour. In fact, from our
understanding, the stopover was only finalized at the last
minute, as it was unclear if De Gucht would receive an
audience with Karimov. The visit yielded no tangible
results, and the Uzbeks made it clear they were trying to get
as much leverage as possible out of the mandate renewal for
the Tashkent office. The assembled ambassadors at the
debrief found little from which to take encouragement. As
the German said on the way out, &There doesn,t seem to be
much point to having senior OSCE officials come here.8
PURNELL