Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
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06TASHKENT938 | 2006-05-15 13:13:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Tashkent |
VZCZCXRO4777 PP RUEHDBU DE RUEHNT #0938/01 1351313 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 151313Z MAY 06 FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5740 INFO RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY PRIORITY 7897 RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT PRIORITY 1971 RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK PRIORITY 2500 RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE PRIORITY 2402 RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 1460 RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 6652 RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000938 |
1. (C) Summary: Alisher Taksanov (please protect), the local representative of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), told us that he was denied an exit visa at the end of March, preventing him from attending an international landmine conference. Taksanov, who is also an independent journalist and former MFA official, stated that he had not written an article critical of the government posted on the Internet and attributed to him. Landmines are still a taboo subject in the local mass media. An Uzbek colonel responsible for laying mines on the Kyrgyz and Tajik borders told Taksanov that over 300,000 landmines were laid in 1999, and that a further 200,000 mines are in storage. End summary. 2. (C) Alisher Taksanov (please protect), an independent journalist who also represents the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), told Poloff that his corruption reporting and landmine activism have angered the GOU. In March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) refused to renew his exit visa, preventing him from attending a landmine conference in Cambodia. An MVD officer told Taksanov that the National Security Service (NSS) had instructed the MVD to deny his exit visa. The MVD has ignored Taksanov's letters appealing the decision. Taksanov told the Swiss DCM that not long after, he received an anonymous phone call informing him that he will never leave Uzbekistan again, and will soon be buried here. 3. (C) Taksanov told Poloff that in mid-April, Tashkent Hokimiyat (City Administration) and MVD officials interrogated him, focusing on his income sources. Around the same time, Centrasia.ru published a provocative piece on the Internet attributed to Taksanov. Taksanov denies writing the article, and believes that the NSS placed it under his byline to entrap him. (Note: Taksanov is not the first to claim that the NSS is responsible for falsely attributed articles critical of the government - ref A. End note.) 4. (C) Uzbekistan mined its borders with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 1999 to prevent border infiltrations from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) following a series of bombings in Tashkent. (Note: The Tajik DCM told the DCM that the mines along the Uzbek-Tajik border were laid in 2000-2001. - ref B. End note.) Uzbekistan is not a signatory to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines. A Colonel responsible for laying mines on the Kyrgyz and Tajik borders told Taksanov that 300,000 were laid on those borders, and that a further 200,000 remain in storage. (Note: The former Soviet border with Afghanistan was mined 25 years ago. End note.) Taksanov added that during a tense period between Karimov and Turkmen President Niyazov three years ago, the GOU considered mining the border with Turkmenistan, but decided against it. 5. (C) Taksanov has written a myriad of letters to the Ministries of Defense, Health, Emergency Situations, Prosecutor's Office, and other agencies requesting information on landmine deaths. All correspondence has gone answered. A Ministry of Health official told Taksanov that such statistics are a state secret. Taksanov told us that information is more accessible through Kyrgyz and Tajik sources. According to Taksanov, since 1999 at least 39 people have been killed by Uzbek landmines (25 Kyrgyz, 7 Uzbeks and 7 Tajiks) and a large number injured (75 Tajiks, 15 Kyrgyz, and an unknown number of Uzbeks). He noted that an Uzbek parachutist was killed in a landmine incident two years ago after dropping in an area near the Tajik border. 6. (C) The Deputy Commander of Border Services, Rashid Khabiev (please protect), told Taksanov that all mines were removed from the Sokh and Shahimardon enclaves in September 2005. (Note: These Uzbek enclaves are located within Kyrgyz territory. End note.) According to an ITAR-TASS media report, Khabiev told a Dushanbe conference of CIS border troop commanders in October 2005 that the GOU had begun to clear mines from other border areas. The same report stated that in December 2005, Uzbekistan's Ambassador to Tajikistan formally notified the GOT that mine-clearing operations had TASHKENT 00000938 002 OF 002 begun. (Note: However, during the same month the Tajik DCM in Tashkent told the DCM that the Tajik government had no confirmation of the GOU's de-mining claims - reftel. End note.) According to a Kyrgyz Kabar news agency report, in late April of this year, Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Niyazov stated that the Uzbek National Security Council Secretary had informed him that mine clearance had begun in SIPDIS some sections of the Kyrgyz and Tajik borders. 7. (C) Khabiev also told Taksanov that Uzbek minefield maps no longer reflect accurate landmine locations, noting that many have shifted due to rain and land movements. Khabiev added that mines along the borders are still necessary to prevent terrorist and Wahhabi infiltrations, as well as weapons and narcotics trafficking. Taksanov told us that landmines are considered a taboo subject in the local mass media. Taksanov is unaware of any other anti-landmine activists in the country. 8. (C) Bio note: Taskanov is an independent journalist, who writes for Arena, Ozod Ovoz ("Free Voice") and Centrasia.ru. He has attended ICBL conferences in Croatia, Kenya, Bosnia, and Kyrgyzstan. He represented a Swedish social science journal until December 2001, and served as Deputy Chief Editor of "Business Vestnik Vostoka" newspaper from 1999 until 2001. He has also served as Second Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Uzbek Embassy in Moscow (1997-1998), and First Secretary of the MFA's CIS department (1994-1998). 9. (C) Comment: Landmines have claimed many lives in the Ferghana Valley, where citizens often cross borders to trade and perform daily errands, and along the border with Tajikistan. The GOU would have an interest in de-mining areas where Uzbeks are most likely to become victims. Taksanov's battle against landmines is a lonely struggle, pitting him against a state apparatus valuing secrecy. The GOU does not take kindly to activists seeking to challenge the state. Taksanov will likely face further harassment in the months ahead. PURNELL |