ICRC TO RESTART PRISON MONITORING, CAUTIOUSLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000948

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ICRC UZ
SUBJECT: ICRC TO RESTART PRISON MONITORING, CAUTIOUSLY

REF: TASHKENT 947

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


1. (C) Summary: International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) Head of Mission told Poloff that his Mission plans to
organize a monitoring visit of one of Tashkent's principal
detention facilities on May 21. This will be the first such
visit since ICRC suspended its prison monitoring program in

2004. However, he noted, this visit is only a "test case,"
and he is not optimistic about the prospects for future
prison monitoring. The Government of Uzbekistan, he said, is
clearly only interested in ICRC prison visits for their
political value as EU delegates meet in Brussels to decide on
the future of sanctions against Uzbekistan. He said that
ICRC is under pressure not only from the Uzbek side, but also
from "certain EU member states" (i.e., Germany),who have a
political interest in seeing prison visits resume. He said
that he sees no genuine desire on the part of the Uzbeks to
cooperate with ICRC according to its worldwide modalities.
Unfortunately, we agree with his assessment. End summary.


2. (C) International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Head
of Mission Edmond Corthesy (protect) told Poloff on May 11
that his Mission plans to undertake a monitoring visit to
Tashkent's main pre-trial detention facility, "Tashtyurma,"
on May 21. (Note: Tashtyurma is a key facility in
Uzbekistan's detention system, with an estimated 2,000
inmates at any given time. This is the location where
virtually all defendants are housed while awaiting trial in
Tashkent's criminal court system. End note.) This would be
the first visit under ICRC's prison monitoring program since
the program was formally suspended in December 2004. ICRC
suspended the program after several months in which Uzbek
officials failed to cooperate with ICRC to facilitate
monitoring according to ICRC's international modalities.
Since that time, the two sides have conducted continual
negotiations aimed at restarting the monitoring program, but
without concrete results.


3. (C) Corthesy said he was under no illusions about the true
reason that the Uzbek Government is suddenly so eager to
cooperate with ICRC. He said that Uzbek officials have put
strong pressure on his Mission to organize a monitoring visit
before May 14, the date when the European Union meets in
Brussels for its General Affairs and External Relations
Council meeting, where it will decide whether to maintain or
alter sanctions against Uzbekistan. Corthesy said that
"certain EU member states" were also pressuring ICRC to show
results before May 14. (Comment: Corthesy was clearly
referring to Germany, which has made improved EU-Uzbekistan
relations a key component of its Central Asia strategy during
its EU Presidency. End comment.) However, Corthesy said, he
is not interested in allowing ICRC to be used as a political
pawn in the sanctions debate. He said that ICRC had selected
May 21 as the projected date for the next monitoring visit
ostensibly for logistical reasons -- so that a Geneva-based
ICRC physician may receive an Uzbek visa and participate in
the monitoring. However, he implied strongly that had this
reason not conveniently placed the monitoring after the EU
sanctions decision, ICRC would have found another suitable
reason to delay it.


4. (C) Corthesy noted that he holds out no great hopes that
the May 21 monitoring visit will herald the end of ICRC's
difficulties with the Uzbeks. He said that it is obvious to
him, based on his Uzbek interlocutors' attitude and "body
language," that they have no genuine interest in cooperating
with ICRC. Rather, he said, they want to display a show of
cooperation to the international community for political
purposes. He said that the Uzbek Government has attempted at
every turn to blame ICRC for the lack of progress in resuming
prison visits. At the EU-Uzbekistan Human Rights Dialogue in
Tashkent on May 9, Uzbek officials told EU delegates that
they had been prepared for some time to facilitate new ICRC
prison visits, but that ICRC had failed to respond to their
offer (reftel). The May 21 visit, he said, would be a "test
case," and based upon the results, ICRC would decide whether
or not to continue the program with further visits.


5. (C) Comment: For an ICRC official, Corthesy is unusually
frank in discussing his irritation with his Uzbek
interlocutors. Unfortunately, his assessment of the host
government's willingness to cooperate tracks precisely with
our own view. The Government of Uzbekistan has no intention
of laying open its detention system to international scrutiny
except on its own terms, for its own political gain. Post
will note the results of ICRC's May 21 monitoring visit with
great interest.

HANSON