KAZAKHSTAN: STRUCTURE OF THE BORDER GUARD SERVICE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 002178 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN (OMARA),INL/AAE (BUHLER),ISN/ECC (HARTSHORNE), SCA/RA (CUMMINGS),CENTCOM FOR MALCOM AND ROESNER, DHS FOR CBP - GLYNCO GEORGIA, DTRA FOR SULLIVAN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PGOV KCRM KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: STRUCTURE OF THE BORDER GUARD SERVICE ASTANA 00002178 001.2 OF 003 -------------- OVERVIEW -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Post continues to work with the Border Guard Service through programs to combat narcotics, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and trafficking in persons. Programs are implemented by Department of State International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Office (INL) and Export Control and Border Security Office (EXBS), the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA),and CENTCOM's Office of Military Cooperation (OMC). The Defense Attach's office is an active participant in program development and implementation. Close coordination among embassy offices is maintained through monthly embassy Security Assistance Working Group meetings chaired by the Deputy Chief of Mission. The programs have enhanced mission capacity on the land, sea, and river borders through the provision of equipment and training to maritime border guards, improvement of checkpoint infrastructure and personnel training, establishment of new training centers and improvement of existing centers, and curriculum reform. In the U.S., Kazakhstani border guards have been trained in the DHS Customs and Border Protection Academy in Glynco, Georgia, which has created a professional relationship between the U.S. Border Patrol and the Border Guard Service of Kazakhstan. Post provides the following information as a reference for addressees interested in working with the Border Guard Service. -------------- BORDER GUARD MISSION AND STAFFING -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The 4,700 male and female officers of the Border Guard Service are charged with protecting the land, sea, and river borders of Kazakhstan, interdicting illegal goods and people attempting to cross the border, facilitating legitimate transit of people and commerce through authorized checkpoints, and repelling invading troops. The Border Guards also protect Kazakhstan's economic and environmental interests as they relate to the borders of the country. The Border Guard Service cooperates with the regional departments of the Committee for National Security, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and other security and law enforcement agencies. Border Guard Officers are assisted by contractors hired locally at each post, the majority working in passport control. -------------- ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Border Guard Service is within the Committee for National Security. Bolat Seitkazynovich Zakiyev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for National Security, is the Director of the service. He was appointed to the position in July 1999. Deputy Director of the Border Guard Service is Khussain Imangaliyevich Berkaliyev. ¶4. (SBU) The Border Guard Service is headquartered in Astana and has four regional border control departments: a) Ontustik in Southern Kazakhstan Oblast oversees the Kazakhstani- Uzbekistani border. Headquarters are in Shymkent. b) Soltustik in Northern Kazkahstan Oblast oversees the Kazakhstani Russian border. Headquarters are in Ust-Kamenogorsk. c) Batys in Mangystau Oblast oversees the Caspian Sea and the Russian border in Uralsk oblast. Headquarters are in Aktau. d) Shygys in Eastern Kazkahstan Oblast oversees the Kazakhstani-Chinese and Kazakhstani-Kyrgyzstani borders. Headquarters are in Almaty. Each of the regional border control departments is comprised of border guard detachments (pogranichnyi otryad or the short form - pogranotryad) which are responsible for a specified portion of the border, usually 40-100 kilometers. Within the area of responsibility each detachment is responsible for patrolling the green border and manning the crossing points (punkt propuska). Green border areas are patrolled from frontier stations (pogranichanya zastava). Officers at frontier stations patrol by ASTANA 00002178 002.2 OF 003 vehicle, horse, and on foot. They communicate via radio and use night vision goggles (where available) to locate people illegally crossing the border. Note: INL and EXBS have provided the Border Guards with modular buildings to use as offices, communications and inspection equipment, and vehicles for patrol and personnel transport. End note. ¶5. (SBU) There are more than 160 border crossing points. One hundred twelve have been officially designated by the government and approximately 50 additional posts are pending delimitation/demarcation of the border. Of the 112 official crossing points, only 95 are operational. The remainder have been closed primarily because of Uzbekistan's closure of its border with Kazakhstan at some locations. -------------- SPECIAL UNITS -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Border Guards have fixed and rotary wing aviation assets in each of the four regional border control departments. They have a total of about twenty MI-8 helicopters and have plans to refurbish old helicopters in order to increase this number. Three helicopters are undergoing capital repair at Aircraft Plant #405 in Almaty at any given time. Eight MI-8 helicopters and two airplanes have been seen in Atyrau and Aktau. Note: Using CENTCOM counter-narcotics funding, OMC is upgrading three MI-8 helicopters which will be located in Aktau to provide night vision and forward looking infrared capability (FLIR) for use in patrolling the southwest desert border and Caspian coast line. End note. ¶7. (SBU) The Maritime Division of the Border Guards is headquartered in Astana. The division also has offices in Aktau and Atyrau and a large maritime base in Bautino on the Caspian Sea. According to press reports in June 2005, a Berkut-6 boat, produced at the Zenit factory in Uralsk, was launched on the Caspian Sea. A 200-ton ship is also under development. The Berkut provides greater speed and navigation capability to interdict traffickers and poachers. There are approximately 10 boats in Bautino, including three SAFE boats donated in May 2006 by EXBS. In addition, a Sea Ark was donated in 1996 and is located in Bautino. There are also believed to be two boats in Atyrau. Finally, the Maritime Border Guards patrol the Ural River with a small boat. ¶8. (SBU) The Border Guard Structure includes an intelligence office, an internal security office to combat corruption, and a quartermaster corps. -------------- TRAINING -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The primary training facility for Border Guard Officers is the Military Institute located in Almaty. It is a four-year training academy for agents of the Committee for National Security and officers of the Border Guard Service. Post had learned that the Military Institute will relocate to Astana in 2008, although the Head of the Institute told INL Officer that Border Guard training would remain in Almaty. The cadets are trained in a full range of subjects and at the conclusion are commissioned as border guard officers and receive the equivalent of a bachelor's degree. Although assignments vary upon graduation, reportedly depending on any particular graduate's political connections or financial capabilities, new officers are assigned to posts on the border and slowly work up through the ranks. Officers rotate from region to region approximately every three years and rarely will serve in the border district where they were born. ¶10. (SBU) The primary training facility for maritime officers is the Ministry of Defense's Naval Institute located in Aktau. The institute in Aktau is a military training academy for naval officers. After commissioning, officers serve either in the Navy or in the Maritime Border Guard. ¶11. (SBU) In high-visibility posts such as Almaty or Astana border guard officers will staff the passport control booths while in other ASTANA 00002178 003.2 OF 003 posts, particularly non-international posts in the heavily-populated south, local residents will be hired as contractors to check identity cards and passports. Contractors receive on-the-job training from border guard officers or other contractors. Contractors who show skill and interest may be sent to a passport control training facility in Almaty for more advanced, formal instruction. (Note: INL established a regional training center in Saryagash, on the Kazakhstani-Uzbekistani border, and expects to establish another in the northeast near the Russian and Chinese borders in the coming year. End note.) The level of knowledge and professionalism of the contractors is uneven at best. For example, training sessions sponsored by INL using professional educators from the Military Institute were attended by contractors who could not properly identify an expired Uzbekistani identity card. ORDWAY