UZBEKISTAN REACTS TO EU SANCTIONS DECISION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 001029

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DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EUN UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN REACTS TO EU SANCTIONS DECISION

REF: A. USDAO TASHKENT UZ 211109Z MAY 07

B. TASHKENT 989

C. TASHKENT 913

D. TASHKENT 994

Classified By: CDA BRAD HANSON, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Summary: The Government of Uzbekistan reacted on
several fronts to the EU General Affairs and External
Relations Council (GAERC) decision on May 14 to prolong
sanctions against Uzbekistan. The Foreign Ministry issued a
critical statement; state-controlled media published negative
stories; the Government refused visas to foreign officials
and pulled officials from an international conference and
training. According to an Embassy contact, the decision to
prolong sanctions took President Karimov by surprise, as his
senior officials had told him that the EU would remove
sanctions. In a meeting with the Charge, the German
Ambassador stressed that the EU's decision had not hampered
bilateral cooperation with Uzbekistan. Visiting NATO
officials were able to hold a business-like meeting with the
Government. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Project Coordinator's Office believes the GOU
increasingly views OSCE activities and presence through an EU
lense. The OSCE is still awaiting approval on its six
remaining projects for 2007. While the Uzbeks are clearly
displeased, they nevertheless seek to continue cooperation
with the EU on selected issues on their terms. End Summary.

EU Council Decides to Prolong Sanctions
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2. (C) The EU's General Affairs and External Relations
Council (GEARC) decided on May 14 to prolong for six months
the sanctions of the visa ban against Uzbek officials.
Earlier sanctions include a one-year arms embargo. However,
the EU reduced the visa ban list from twelve to eight names.
The German Defense Attache told emboffs that the four
officials dropped from the list are Major General Kosimali
Ahmedov, Head of the Chirchik Armor School; Saidullo
Begaliyev, Andijon's former governor; Major General Ismail
Ergashev, a former top Defense Ministry official; and Kadyr
Gulyamov, who served as Minister of Defense during the
Andijon events and was later tried and convicted of
corruption and lives in Tashkent under house arrest. In
their statement, EU ministers said they will review sanctions
again if the GOU engages constructively on human rights, rule
of law and fundamental freedoms.


3. (C) An Embassy contact in the Parliament suggested that
the sanctions decision may have come as a surprise to
President Karimov. The contact reported that Uzbek
Ambassador to the Benelux Countries and NATO Isan Mustafoev
and Chairman of the National Security Service Rustam Inoyatov
had advised President Karimov that the EU would lift
sanctions. According to the contact, Karimov is wary of
growing Russian influence and seeks to improve relations with
the EU as a counterbalance.

Official GOU Statement
--------------


4. (U) On May 15, the Foreign Ministry released a statement
that called the EU's decision "unfounded and biased" and
criticized the EU for using human rights rhetoric and
sanctions as a means of applying "systematic pressure" on
Uzbekistan. It also accused human rights groups,
nongovernmental organizations and Western media of engaging
in an "antigovernment anti-Uzbek information campaign." The
statement was posted on the Foreign Ministry's website and
published in several state-run newspapers.

Press Reaction
--------------


5. (U) The state-controlled press criticized the EU for
cynically using human rights concerns as a stick in its
relations with Uzbekistan and for being influenced by
particular countries. On May 25 in the "Novosti Uzbekistana"
newspaper, political commentator Gennaidy Fond accused the EU

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of using the "post-Andijon" intrigue as a "geo-strategic
bludgeon" to intimidate Uzbekistan. Likewise, on May 18, the
English-language newspaper "Uzbekistan Today" wrote that the
EU covets Central Asia's energy reserves and seeks to keep
Uzbekistan on a "short leash" through its human rights
rhetoric. On May 25 in the "Mohiyat" newspaper, Ibrohim
Normatov vaguely alluded to a "powerful force from outside,"
presumably the United States, which influenced the EU's
decision. The article also repeated the well-worn claim that
"foreign violent forces had planned and tried to carry out"
the Andijon events. On May 17 in the "XXI Asr" newspaper,
journalist Abduvali Soibnazarov sharply rebuked Great
Britain's "hypocritical" foreign policy and blamed the
"groundless and biased ambitions" of countries such as Great
Britain for the EU decision. On May 18 the national
newspaper "Xalq Sozi" quoted several foreign politicians and
journalists critical of the EU's decision. French
publication "Bastille-Republique-Nation" Editor Pierre Levy
is quoted as saying that the EU decision is "illegal, unjust
and even dangerous" and represents a "double standard" in EU
foreign policy.

Karimov Changes Mind on U.S.-Romanian Defense Symposium
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Following the EU decision, Uzbekistan pulled its
officials from attending a NATO symposium in Romania. The
Chief of the Ministry of Defense's Counterintelligence
Department and a staff member had accepted an invitation from
the Embassy's Office of Military Cooperation to attend a
symposium on Black Sea and Caspian Sea Security co-hosted by
Romania's Military Intelligence Directorate and the U.S.
National Defense Intelligence College in Romania May 18-23.
On May 15, the pair picked up their plane tickets in the
afternoon, but later backed out that evening, claiming they
were sick (ref A). According to the Embassy contact at the
Human Rights Ombudsman Office, President Karimov had
personally approved the officers' participation in the
symposium, but then reversed his decision after the sanctions
announcement and ordered the cancellation of all planned
events with the United States and the EU. In addition, on
May 17 two Uzbek officials scheduled to participate in a
French-sponsored mountain warfare training event asked for
the trip to be postponed and shortened, according to the
French DCM.

Visas Denied
--------------


7. (C) Following the EU decision, the GOU denied a visa
without explanation to the Eurasia Foundation's Regional
Director, who was invited to Tashkent to give a presentation
at Westminster University. (Note: Eurasia Foundation, seeing
the writing on the wall, did not fight court-ordered
liquidation in 2006 and departed Uzbekistan. End Note). On
May 17 the Foreign Ministry cancelled a meeting in Tashkent
with two British consultants from the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office's Human Rights, Good Governance and
Democracy Department, claiming that it was "too busy." The
Ministry had approved the trip before the EU sanctions
decision, but later did not issue visas to the two Brits.

German Ambassador: No Backlash Bilaterally Nor Against NATO
-------------- --------------


8. (C) On May 21, German Ambassador Matthias Meyer told CDA
that German bilateral cooperation with Uzbekistan continues
despite the EU's decision. To explain the EU decision, Meyer
met on May 15 with Deputy Foreign Minister for European
Affairs Otabek Akbarov, who expressed displeasure with the
EU's decision. Meyer believed President Karimov to be upset
with the decision but noted that the issue of sanctions was
not raised by officials of the Presidential Apparat in later
discussions. After initial grumbling about the EU decision,
Uzbek interlocutors conducted a businesses-like meeting with
NATO officials on May 18 (ref B). Germany's use of the air
base at Termez has not suffered any negative repercussions
according to the German Ambassador. In an earlier discussion
with Poloff, Meyer said that the Uzbeks are making too much
money from the base to consider closing it (ref C). The

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German Ambassador also mentioned to the Charge that it was
too early to tell if the GOU would continue its human rights
dialogue with the EU.


9. (C) Meyer mentioned to the Charge that the GOU has refused
to register the Goethe Institute in Tashkent and demanded its
financial records. However, this case does not appear to be
connected with the sanctions decision. Rather, the German
Embassy, which largely funds the Goethe Institute's
activities, may have made a tactical error by trying to
register the institute with the Ministry of Justice instead
of with the Foreign Ministry. In the end, Meyer believes
that the Government will not shut down the institute.

OSCE Increasingly Viewed as EU Institution
--------------


10. (C) With the EU decision not to end the visa ban, the
OSCE Project Coordinator's Office (PCO) is pessimistic about
gaining the GOU's approval for its six remaining projects for

2007. In a meeting with the Charge on May 16, the PCO
coordinator told the Charge the Uzbeks increasingly view the
OSCE as an EU institution and its relationship with the EU
will impact greatly its relations with the OSCE (ref D).

Comment
--------------


11. (C) The EU sanctions have had little, if any, practical
effect on Uzbekistan. However, their significance is
important politically and symbolically. The somewhat harsh
official Uzbek verbal reaction to the prolonging of the visa
ban suggests that the decision came as an unwelcome surprise.
The EU decision should have sent the very strong message
that mere discussions of human rights cannot justify lifting
sanctions. It appears that the message has still not gotten
through. On the eve of the sanctions decision, an Uzbek
appeals court abruptly reversed the conviction of Human
Rights Watch local staffer Umida Niyazova in an apparent
political gesture toward the EU, but many other human rights
activists and journalists remain imprisoned or under
investigation, and the overall situation is unchanged. By
repeatedly shooting itself in the foot, particularly on human
rights issues, Uzbekistan missed an important opportunity to
improve relations with the EU during Germany's Presidency.
The German Ambassador commented to the Charge that it would
be more difficult for the Uzbeks to make their case with
Portugal as EU chair come July 1, implying that Germany had
worked hard during its EU Presidency to get the GOU to take
some concrete steps on human rights in order to lift EU
sanctions. Nevertheless, the GOU still appears interested in
cooperating with the EU in certain areas, although
exclusively on its own terms.

HANSON