UZBEKISTAN'S EVOLVING RESPONSE TO CPC DESIGNATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000717

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2017
TAGS: PHUM KIRF UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN'S EVOLVING RESPONSE TO CPC DESIGNATION

REF: A. 06 TASHKENT 2159

B. 06 TASHKENT 2307

C. TASHKENT 353

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Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)


1. (SBU) Summary: Reflecting its disappointment at being
designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for
religious freedom, last December the government issued a
line-by-line rebuttal to the 2006 International Religious
Freedom Report. Officials have made limited efforts to
engage in dialogue with religious groups, particularly
Jehovah's Witnesses, in hopes of lifting the CPC designation.
An extensive media campaign highlighted the country's
tolerance and religious diversity, denouncing any criticism
as absurd by implication. Recent statements in the official
media suggest that Uzbekistan feels it has balanced the CPC
designation with a successful public relations effort
highlighting its achievements in expanding Islamic religion
and culture. Obstacles to a substantive dialogue on
religious freedom persist, and additional sanctions would
have minimal persuasive effect given the current state of
U.S.-Uzbek relations. End summary.

DISAPPOINTMENT
--------------


2. (C) Uzbek authorities expressed initial disappointment at
the U.S. decision to designate Uzbekistan a Country of
Particular Concern for religious freedom in November 2006.
When first informed of the designation, Ismat Fayzullayev,
director for U.S. affairs at the Foreign Ministry's Americas
Department, suggested that "lack of information" was at the
root of the designation, and that we should attempt to
resolve disagreements over religious freedom through dialogue
rather than economic sanctions (ref A). Some contacts in
government privately suggested that the former State Advisor
for Religious Affairs, Shoazim Minovarov, lost his job as a
result of the designation, as President Karimov had
specifically tasked him to improve Uzbekistan's international
image.

THE WRITTEN RESPONSE
--------------


3. (U) In December, the government delivered a 62-page
rebuttal to the 2006 International Religious Freedom Report
which called accusations of limitations on religious freedom
"unfounded." The analysis cites Uzbekistan's legislative
guarantees of religious freedom, its growing number of
religious groups, and specific examples of government
tolerance. It acknowledges systemic restrictions on
religious freedom, but characterizes them rather as
guarantees of personal liberty and social stability. It
justifies the ban on proselytism and missionary activity,
saying that "forceful imposition of religious views is
unacceptable." It justifies the ban on religious education
outside theological seminaries as a guarantee of "the secular
quality of the education system." It further maintains that
teachers of religion must be properly qualified and certified
by state bodies. The rebuttal declares: "Nobody is
persecuted for his or her religious beliefs." Those
prosecuted for extremism, it states, have been proven guilty
of criminal or terrorist activity by "official competent
bodies."


4. (U) The government's rebuttal justifies strict
registration requirements for religious groups as a means "to
avoid establishment of numerous sects that advocate for
dangerous and hostile doctrines from Satanism to Jihadism."
(Note: Here the commentary ignores the fact that the
government has the legal right to deny registration to groups
that advocate violence. End note.) It explains that certain
groups denied registration either had violated the religion
law or had not complied with registration guidelines. The
ban on all unregistered religious activity, it claims, is
normal in any democratic, law-based state. Further, it
disputes the Religious Freedom Report's statement that the
government controls the content of imams' sermons. Rather,
it notes, the themes distributed by the Muslim Board of
Uzbekistan to imams for Friday sermons "have a solely
consultative character and are of an educational nature."

DIALOGUE
--------------


5. (C) The government has attempted limited dialogue with

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specific religious groups in an effort to have the CPC
designation lifted. In one example, the Associate General
Counsel for Jehovah's Witnesses told Poloff that he met with
Ambassador Abdulaziz Kamilov in Washington in December to
discuss the legal status and treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses
in Uzbekistan. He said that Kamilov wanted to know what the
Government of Uzbekistan could do to have the Country of
Particular Concern designation removed. The Associate
General Counsel said that, among other issues, he raised
concerns about a government investigation of the Jehovah's
Witnesses in the Tashkent Province town of Chirchik, the only
remaining registered local congregation, and also requested
that the congregations be allowed to carry out the group's
principal religious observance, the Memorial of Jesus' Death,
on April 2. On both points, according to the Associate
General Counsel, Kamilov said that the government would do
everything possible to accommodate the group.

THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN
--------------


6. (U) Almost immediately after the announcement of the CPC
designation, the official press began an active campaign in
both print and electronic media highlighting Uzbekistan's
freedom of religious expression and, usually only by
implication, denouncing the CPC decision (ref B). The stream
of articles and interviews often included quotes from
international experts hailing Uzbekistan's commitment to
tolerance and religious diversity. In one example, the
national newspaper "Halq Suzi" quoted the Egyptian state news
agency as stating that CPC designation amounted to
"interference in Uzbekistan's internal affairs." A group of
community leaders in the Andijon area wrote an open letter to
the Ambassador protesting the CPC designation. Russian
Orthodox clerics were quoted in the official press and
television thanking the government for the freedom to
practice their religion, while at the same time warning of
the dangers of Christian missionary groups. A television
report featured an interview with the head of a Jewish
Cultural Center who said that "Uzbekistan is the only state
in the world where one may enter synagogues without security
control."

GROWING ACCEPTANCE
--------------


7. (U) In January, the Islamic Education, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (ISESCO) announced that it had selected
Tashkent as the world's Islamic cultural capital for 2007.
State media highlighted the decision as international
vindication of Uzbekistan's status as a cornerstone of the
Islamic world. On March 30, the religious affairs program
"Ziyo" on state television highlighted Tashkent's selection
as the 2007 Islamic cultural capital and counterbalanced it
with the negative effect of CPC designation. The program
characterized the ISESCO honor as "an adequate blow to those
who are currently accusing Uzbekistan of violating religious
freedoms."


8. (C) In recent public statements and meetings, government
officials have been unusually silent on the subject of CPC
designation. When SCA DAS Evan Feigenbaum met on March 1
with Bakhrom Abdukhalimov, the State Advisor on Religious
Affairs (ref C),Abdukhalimov did not contest the issue.
Instead, he simply asserted Uzbekistan's religious diversity,
its importance in Islamic cultural history, and the
government's efforts to ensure peaceful relations among
religious groups.

COMMENT: DOES UZBEKISTAN CARE?
--------------


9. (C) The government seems to have accepted Uzbekistan's
designation as a Country of Particular Concern. The
government characterizes the designation as a purely
political gesture tied to the perceived U.S.-led effort to
discredit Uzbekistan in world opinion. It seems to regard
the designation primarily as a blow to the country's pride.
The U.S.-Uzbek relationship is already so severely restricted
that any additional sanctions resulting from CPC designation
would have little tangible effect. The government is firmly
entrenched in the conviction that its restrictions on
religious activity are reasonable and consistent with its
international human rights commitments.

PURNELL