TURKMENISTAN: NGO ACTIVISTS ADVANCE LEGAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001370 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL AID/W FOR EE/AA (BOB WALLIN) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL AID SOCI TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NGO ACTIVISTS ADVANCE LEGAL ADVOCACY AND SOCIAL REFORM UNDER THE RADAR ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: NGO activists sat down with members of the visiting DRL delegation led by DAS Erica Barks-Ruggles in the modest ABA/CEELI office in Ashgabat to talk about the work they have been doing in cooperation with a variety of international and diplomatic partners. Much of their work has been focused on legal advocacy, legal reform and issues relating to women and Turkmen youth. This nascent network of civil society leaders formed as a result of one or two initial small projects. These projects, in turn, drew in additional talented professionals who began their own projects, thus expanding the pool of citizen leaders invested in social change here. Although the projects they have undertaken have been limited in nature, the potential exists for these organizations to form the foundation for an expanded social and legal reform agenda, if the host government would relax the constraints it imposes upon them. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) Four proactive, professional NGO heads shared with the DRL delegation some of their ongoing work, some in cooperation with ABA/CEELI, that focuses on legal education for different demographics, legal assistance and advocacy, and social reform on a tactical scale. Inga Byalkina was a former juvenile police officer for 23 years when she moved into social work. For two years she has been running a project in coordination with UNICEF and a Kazakh NGO called "Street Kids." The project is producing cartoons that help teach kids about the risks associated with AIDS and illicit narcotics use. Children took part in the development of the cartoons, which helped to ensure that the message therein would be easily understood. She is also an expert speaker and trainer for ABA. ¶4. (SBU) Zoya Pros is an engineer-economist by profession. She implemented a project called "My Right" which focuses on teaching consumers about how to assess the quality of products and services and initiate demands for improvements. She has published a brochure on citizens' consumer rights. She implemented several other projects jointly with Counterpart, the Embassy, and the Ministry of Trade that resulted in the publication of a legal guide to consumer and 
business rights. She has also conducted training jointly with UNHCR on the topic of preventing domestic violence for refugee Afghan women. She complained about the difficulty of registering her public organization. She had gotten around the registration problem by operating within the framework of the U.S. Visitors Program's Alumni network and had successfully created a training module and conducted a seminar on trafficking of persons for young women. Currently she is working with ABA on a project called "Social Lawyers" that provides legal assistance on social welfare issues. ¶5. (SBU) Nabat Babayeva is a lawyer. She is also an alumni of the 2003 U.S. Visitors Program. She became interested in NGO activity after becoming involved in Ms. Pros' "My Right" project, and also assisted her with the program for Afghan refugee women. She reflected the overall enthusiasm of the women when she noted that once she started, "she just could not give it up." Ms. Babayeva then decided to establish her own organization, which established a legal assistance center called "Hemayat" that provides citizens with help in drafting complaint letters to government ministries. She has provided training and seminars in coordination with the ABA, the Embassy, and Counterpart. She has also worked with Bosfor, the OSCE Centre and the UN. Within the framework of the ""Social Lawyers" program, she worked on Turkmenistan's Family, Residence, and Labor Laws, converting them to ASHGABAT 00001370 002 OF 002 easy-to-read materials available to the public. Having become an expert on these laws, she has become a "certified trainer of trainers". She also helped the ABA to adapt their Social Advocacy Manual from Russian into Turkmen. Her work resulted in the production of a "Social Lawyer's Manual." ¶6. (SBU) Kristina Izyumova runs an information resource center called "Lachin Ay." She is involved in a project right now that teaches children about civil rights and a "Social Lawyers" project, where basic information on citizens' rights is compiled. She is also involved in the "Social Lawyers" project. Additionally, Ms. Izyumova and her mother have been operating a summer camp for at-risk children that teaches civil rights and keeps them from crossing paths with law enforcement. ¶7. (SBU) The delegation asked the women to name the three most significant ways the U.S. government could facilitate their work. The women said they would like more grants in order to fund their ongoing activities, as well as financial assistance to pay for their groups' participation in international training opportunities and conferences. They also emphasized the importance of the Embassy's advocacy of a more standardized NGO and grant registration process. They would value any assistance the U.S. government can provide in assisting them with registration of their organizations and grants. They noted that they are waiting to begin many projects, due to the slow grant registration process. They also commented that human trafficking is becoming a bigger problem and urged assistance for work in that field. ¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: These NGO leaders are operating on a small scale, and largely staying under the radar in avoiding negative attention from the government. In a relatively short amount of time, however, they have established a small but modest footprint in working for social and societal change here. Each was aware of the risks they were taking, but all wanted more support formthe international community and more assistance for their efforts. Each expressed skepticism about the scope and pace of change in Turkmenistan, but all noted that there are openings now that they need to try and take advantage of to expand their work. It is also interesting to note that each organization came into being after its leader was pulled into the gravitational range of another earlier project. Within the existing cadre of unemployed professionals, individuals with leadership qualities seem to abound. Because of this phenomenon, there is now a small, entwined network of capable activists who could potentially provide a solid foundation for greatly expanded public organization activity in Turkmenistan. They could, in the future, help to address the country's most basic social and societal issues. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND