Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07TASHKENT1146
2007-06-18 12:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tashkent
Cable title:  

UZBEKISTAN DENIES ACCREDITATION TO HUMAN RIGHTS

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL UZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8396
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHNT #1146/01 1691225
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 181225Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8028
INFO RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA 9238
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 3102
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 3713
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 3576
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 7103
RUEHSI/AMEMBASSY TBILISI 1259
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001146 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN DENIES ACCREDITATION TO HUMAN RIGHTS
WATCH AMCIT JUNIOR STAFFER

REF: A. TASHKENT 782


B. TASHKENT 830

C. TASHKENT 927

D. TASHKENT 1061

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001146

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN DENIES ACCREDITATION TO HUMAN RIGHTS
WATCH AMCIT JUNIOR STAFFER

REF: A. TASHKENT 782


B. TASHKENT 830

C. TASHKENT 927

D. TASHKENT 1061

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


1. (U) This cable contains an action request. See para. 6.


2. (C) Summary: On June 14, the Ministry of Justice denied
accreditation to Human Rights Watch's (HRW) newly arrived
junior expatriate staff member. Unless the Government
reverses its decision, HRW will be left without any
accredited expatriate staff and severely crippled in trying
to operate normally. The Government has denied accreditation
to three HRW staffers in the last two years, most recently to
German citizen Andrea Berg. That denial was reversed,
however, after interventions by the German Ambassador and the
Chairman in Office of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Post intends to protest this
latest action as contradictory to Uzbekistan's declared
intention to uphold its international human rights
commitments. We plan to encourage others to do so as well,
and ask that the Department raise the issue with the Uzbek
Embassy. End Summary.


3. (C) On June 14, Ministry of Justice officials summoned
HRW's Amcit junior staffer to the Ministry and informed her
that her application for accreditation had been denied. The
employee arrived in Tashkent only one month ago, having
already waited over one year for a visa. A letter from the
Ministry gave no reason for the accreditation denial, and the
staffer told Charge and Poloff that she asked them three
times during the meeting for some justification of the
action, to no avail. The staffer said that she intends to
remain in Uzbekistan until her three-month visa expires in
late July, unless the authorities either instruct her to
leave sooner, or until the government reverses its decision.


4. (C) In April, the Ministry of Justice refused to renew the
accreditation of HRW's office director, German citizen Andrea
Berg (ref A). However, after interventions by the German
Ambassador and the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),the Government
quickly reversed its decision, granting Berg a three-month
extension (ref B). This decision came shortly before the
European Union's May 14 decision to prolong its sanctions
against Uzbekistan, and Western diplomats in Tashkent viewed
the move as a political gesture aimed at the EU. Berg left
Uzbekistan shortly after the sanctions decision, convinced
that she would soon be expelled in any case. Also shortly
before the sanctions decision, a Tashkent court released
former local staffer Umida Niyazova from custody on
probation, overturning the seven-year prison sentence handed
down by a lower court on charges of distributing subversive
literature and illegal border crossing (ref C). However,
Niyazova's criminal conviction remains on her record, and she
is prohibited from working for HRW. Since Berg's departure,
the HRW office has been run by temporary staffers from
Georgia and Russia who do not need visas to enter Uzbekistan
(ref D). However, they do not have accreditation and are not
authorized to represent HRW here. Until the organization
identifies a new expatriate office director, and until that
person receives a visa, HRW's Tashkent office will exist in
name only.


5. (C) Comment: The Uzbek Government has had HRW in its
crosshairs for two years and has leveled at the organization
numerous accusations of violating Uzbek law, distributing
biased and inaccurate reports about alleged human rights
abuses, and interfering in the country's internal affairs.
This is the third time in two years that the Ministry of
Justice has denied accreditation to an expatriate staffer.
Without accredited expatriate staff, the organization is
incapable of operating normally. On several occasions Post
has pointed out to Uzbek officials that HRW's actions here
are no different from its work in other countries, and that
no country is immune to criticism of its human rights record.
Nevertheless, the Government has pursued a consistent policy
of attacking those who criticize Uzbekistan's human rights
practices. Post plans to protest the Government's actions
against HRW yet again, noting that these actions undermine
the Government's stated aim of upholding its international

TASHKENT 00001146 002 OF 002


human rights commitments. By denying accreditation to the
only permanent expat staff left in Tashkent, the Government
has effectively--and, we think, intentionally--gutted HRW's
work in Uzbekistan.


6. (C) ACTION REQUEST: Amcit HRW staffer informed Charge and
Poloff on June 15 that HRW would fight the denial of
accreditation and would be seeking support from the
Department and EU to try and reverse the denial. Charge and
Poloff will raise the issue with key EU member states'
representatives in Tashkent to encourage the EU to raise the
issue with the Foreign Ministry. Post asks Department also
to raise the issue with the Uzbek Embassy.

HANSON