RED CROSS STILL WAITING FOR PRISON ACCESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000235 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL PRM FOR EMILY MESTETSKY E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2017 TAGS: PHUM PGOV ICRC UZ SUBJECT: RED CROSS STILL WAITING FOR PRISON ACCESS Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) Summary: After over two years of negotiation, the Government of Uzbekistan has still not reached agreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross to resume monitoring of prisons and other detention facilities. Red Cross officials state that while some elements of the government are cooperating, law enforcement and prison authorities are stonewalling. Delegation members emphasize that the selective access that some European Union officials have received is only symbolic, and may ultimately be counterproductive. In the meantime, the Red Cross continues to monitor prisons through interviews with detainees' relatives, and monitors the condition of returned Andijon refugees from a distance. End summary. ¶2. (C) International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation members told Poloff on February 9 that the Government of Uzbekistan still has not granted full access to prisons and other places of detention in accordance with its 2001 agreement. The Red Cross suspended its prison monitoring program in December 2004 due to lack of cooperation from the Uzbek side. For several months before the suspension, Uzbekistan was obstructing the monitoring program, in effect denying full access to detention facilities under the modalities to which it committed in its 2001 agreement with the Red Cross, and to which the organization adheres throughout the world. Red Cross officials told Poloff that they nevertheless remain optimistic, and they feel they are coming closer to an agreement. ¶3. (C) Delegation members said that the chief problem now is a lack of unity within the Uzbek government. While they believe they have a broad agreement with the Foreign Ministry, the "authorities directly concerned with access" (i.e., the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its central corrections authority, which manages the prison system) are throwing up obstacles. In an echo of previous statements, the Deputy Head of Delegation said that the Red Cross remains patient, and that it is better to keep negotiating than to compromise on modalities which are non-negotiable worldwide. ¶4. (C) The officers commented disparagingly on the December visit of European Union (EU) representatives, during which the government provided access to Andijon's city prison, the site of the prison break during the May 2005 Andijon violence. "What did they see in the prison?" one officer asked rhetorically. "The kitchen. That will help them to monitor improvements in food service." In other words, as Red Cross officials have told us before, when diplomatic missions request access to particular prisoners and facilities, authorities carefully control the environment so that visitors see only what Uzbek officials want them to see. This allows the Uzbek government to claim publicly that it is providing access, while still concealing the vast majority of their detention system. The Deputy Head of Delegation emphasized, "It is better to have access to all detainees in all facilities." (Note: An EU Parliamentary human rights delegation also made a short visit to the women's prison in Tashkent. Even German Embassy officials accompanying the delegation admitted the prison officials seemed intimidated by higher authorities to respond to delegations members' questions with what they expected the delegation wanted to hear. End note.) ¶5. (C) In the absence of prison access, the Red Cross delegation is monitoring prison conditions through interviews with prisoners' relatives. The delegation has also maintained indirect contact with Andijon refugees who returned from the United States in 2006. Their contacts in Andijon have reported that returnees are, in general, not being detained or harassed. Authorities are, however, closely monitoring them and preventing them from leaving their immediate neighborhoods. ¶6. (C) Comment: The willingness by certain elements of the government to work with the Red Cross is no doubt tied to the EU debate over the future of its sanctions against Uzbekistan. The Uzbek side is eager to demonstrate that it is upholding its international human rights commitments. So far, however, the commitment is in word only, and Uzbekistan TASHKENT 00000235 002 OF 002 has taken no concrete steps to demonstrate its goodwill aside from the release of two or three internationally known political prisoners. PURNELL