INL QUARTERLY REPORT FOR JANUARY - MARCH 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000767 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE, AND EUR/ACE JUSTICE FOR OPDAT AND ICITAP CBP FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING BRANCH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PREL KCRM UZ SUBJECT: INL QUARTERLY REPORT FOR JANUARY - MARCH 2007 REF: A. TASHKENT 544 ¶B. TASHKENT 477 Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Post's INL program sponsored training in February for Uzbek Customs personnel assigned to the Termez River Port and Sarosiya Rail Depot, as well as an assessment of the current training curriculum in use at the Uzbek Customs Institute. A Department of Justice forensics team completed its initial visit to the Ministry of Health forensics laboratory and currently is developing a plan of action for future assistance. The UNODC-implemented Drug Demand Reduction Project conducted workshops in February and March for teachers in 16 pilot schools throughout Uzbekistan focused on risk factors for drug abuse in children and effective methods of communicating with at-risk youth in school settings. The International Organization for Migration began its INL-funded project to assist Uzbek law enforcement personnel to more effectively investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes. Post's RLA program continued to support the Tashkent City Bar Association's efforts to establish a legal training center, and has begun discussions with other international donors about ways to engage the government on the issue of its trafficking-in-persons legislation. End summary. -------------- Customs Training -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Post's INL program sponsored training February 27-March 8 for Uzbek Customs personnel assigned to the Termez River port and Sarosiya Rail Depot (ref A). These were the first international training courses held at either facility. In addition to teaching maritime- and rail-specific inspection techniques, U.S. Customs officers discussed topics such as detecting and investigating internal conspiracies, interviewing travelers, and inspecting travel documents. The trainers also provided examples of smuggling techniques common in North America, such as hiding narcotics within aluminum billets. Uzbek Customs officers said that many aluminum billets transit the Sarosiya Rail Depot from the large aluminum factory in Tursunazoda, Tajikistan, but that they had previously believed it was impossible to conceal 
contraband within them because of the high temperatures involved in casting the billets. ¶3. (SBU) U.S. Customs personnel also conducted an INL-funded visit to the Uzbek Customs Institute February 26-March 2. The visit was intended to assess the Institute's current training curriculum and to share information on training methodologies employed by U.S. Customs. U.S. personnel received full access to the Institute and renewed contact with its International Relations Office as a result of the visit. Post currently is reviewing the U.S. Customs report of the visit, and will shortly propose areas and topics where curriculum development assistance would be useful to the Institute. In addition, Post is discussing with U.S. Customs the timing of a proposed reciprocal visit by Uzbek personnel to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, assuming that the Government of Uzbekistan will allow such a trip to take place. -------------- Forensics Laboratory Project -------------- ¶4. (SBU) A U.S. Department of Justice forensics team visited Tashkent March 10-19 to begin an INL-funded project to assist the Ministry of Health's National Forensics Laboratory. The experts spent a week visiting the laboratory and interacting with staff to gain an accurate picture of its capabilities and the areas of greatest need. At the end of the visits, the DOJ team noted that the laboratory currently operates in a 40-year old building with mostly 30-year old equipment. The experts currently are developing a plan of action for future assistance to the laboratory, which Post will present TASHKENT 00000767 002 OF 002 to the Government of Uzbekistan. The DOJ team also visited the Ministry of Internal Affairs Explosives Laboratory, where they inventoried equipment previously donated by INL. -------------- Drug Demand Reduction Project -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that its INL-funded Drug Demand Reduction Project continues to conduct workshops for various target groups in 16 pilot schools in Andijon, Bukhara, and Tashkent. UNODC conducted workshops in February and March at Tashkent's teacher training institute for pilot school teachers that discussed drug abuse risk factors in children and effective methods for communicating with young people about drugs that can be used in school, family, and social settings. Several of the teachers who participated in these workshops will return in April for a train-the-trainer seminar to learn how to pass what they have learned to their colleagues. Since the project's inception, UNODC has conducted 96 workshops for students in grades five through nine and 48 workshops for parents and mahalla (neighborhood) leaders to raise awareness on drug abuse and the spread of HIV. In total, over 2,400 students and 1,000 adults have participated in the workshops. -------------- Anti-TIP Project -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) began implementation of an INL-funded project to assist Uzbek law enforcement and judicial personnel to investigate and prosecute trafficking-in-persons cases. The heads of Ministry of Internal Affairs anti-trafficking units from around Uzbekistan participated in a February workshop (ref B),while regular officers from these units were trained in March. Both workshops focused on law enforcement attitudes towards trafficking victims, prohibitions on trafficking-in-persons in Uzbek and international legal documents, and perceived obstacles to prosecuting traffickers. IOM reports that participants in both workshops were engaged; however, survey results and discussions with participants, which suggest that that most law enforcement officers continue to view trafficking victims as being themselves guilty of criminal acts, revealed that much work remains to be done. -------------- RLA Program -------------- ¶7. (SBU) RLA Assistant continued efforts to maintain contact with the Tashkent City Bar Association and to support the Association's efforts to establish a legal training center. The RLA program currently is reviewing a request to provide the Association with a law library. The RLA program also hosted a meeting in March with other international donor organizations interested in trafficking-in-persons issues to discuss ways to engage the government on enacting new trafficking legislation in accordance with international standards. UNODC reported that it was beginning to do an assessment of current Uzbek legislation. The group agreed that following the completion of the assessment, it will consider co-sponsoring a conference in Tashkent bringing together Uzbek and international experts on trafficking issues with the goal of agreeing on a set of recommendations to present to the Oliy Majlis (parliament). PURNELL