TURKMENISTAN: AUTHORITIES BACK OFF HARASSSMENT

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000120 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y DELETING CLASSIFIED BY STATEMENT AND REASON STATE FOR SCA/CEN, IIP, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: AUTHORITIES BACK OFF HARASSSMENT OF RFE-RL REPORTERS REF: ASHGABAT 0058 (NOTAL) ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Working conditions for RFE/RL reporters took a dive in December and January as Turkmen authorities stepped up their efforts to stop RFE's radio reporting that has focused on the country's economic and institutional troubles. Four reporters located around the country all experienced increased threats and harassment, and one reporter quit working for RFE after her interrogation. The intimidation ebbed after Senator Richard Lugar intervened with President Berdimuhamedov on January 11 (ref). Ultimately, it is a reminder that this is still a difficult place to practice independent journalism. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) Post confirmed on January 23 that living and working conditions had markedly improved for three of four RFE/RL reporters who had experienced a rather sudden onslaught of harassment and threats from Turkmen authorities who were reportedly displeased by the content of the journalists' recent radio reports. Senator Richard Lugar raising the issue with President Berdimuhamedov, and attention from Embassy Ashgabat appear to have caused the change in behavior. The senior Turkmen correspondent here, Halmurat Gylychdurdiyev, and the RFE/RL Central Office in Prague passed post updated information suggesting the Turkmen authorities have, for now, ceased their efforts to convince the journalists to quit reporting on Turkmenistan's economic challenges. ¶4. (SBU) Senior Turkmen correspondent Halmurat Gylychdurdiyev informed post on January 22 that Lebap Province reporter Osmankuli Halliyev was able to return to work and no longer fears arrest. In late December, provincial police had allegedly threatened him and members of his family, saying they would "suffer" if he continued reporting for RFE/RL. Fearing arrest, he remained in his home, which was under constant surveillance. Two of his siblings were sent "invitations" to come to the local internal affairs office for questioning, but they did not go. ¶5. (SBU) Gurbanguly Durdikuliyev, the RFE/RL correspondent in Balkanabat, was also able to return to work, and his phone was reconnected January 22. Durdikuliyev, who was imprisoned several years ago in a mental hospital for sending a grievance to the government, was visited by "doctors" in early January, who reminded him he was on a list of psychiatric patients and demanded that he stop working for RFE/RL. His home telephone was disconnected January 4. ¶6. (SBU) Gylychdurdiyev himself has been a longtime recipient of Turkmen law enforcement attention, but stated that harassment and surveillance of him and his family has lessened substantially since Senator Lugar's visit to Turkmenistan. He had been visiting the MFA regularly over the past several months in an effort to win press accreditation, but had always been refused information and was treated rudely. More recently, however, when he visited the MFA for an update, the Ministry representatives were polite and kind. Still, they were able to provide no information on his effort to gain accreditation. ¶7. (SBU) A fourth reporter, however, appears to have caved in to a demand to leave RFE/RL after an intense interrogation experience with Ministry of National Security representatives. Soltan Achilova, an Ashgabat-based correspondent who had been with RFE/RL for just two months, was forced to sign an agreement to stop working for RFE without accreditation. Ministry of National Security officials interrogated her for two days, during which they accused her of producing reports criticizing Turkmenistan's national policy. According to Gylychdurdiyev, Achilova became extremely angry during the interrogation by four or five questioners and told them that if she had a grenade she would blow them all up. The situation worsened thereafter, as the questioners proceeded to argue that she had terrorist intentions. Gylychdurdiyev said Achilova had lost her temper because the government had demolished her two houses in Ashgabat last year, for which she had received neither a new house nor financial compensation. (NOTE: Her interrogation was in process during Senator Lugar's visit, and his intervention may not have been enough to counteract her outburst of temper. END NOTE.) ¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: Although it appears that the overall situation has improved and government authorities have backed off their nationwide campaign against RFE, events of the past two months serve as a reminder that engaging in indepedent journalism here still has its perils. It is also particulary difficult when the reporters are "two-hatted" -- political activists as well as journalists, as sometimes is the case. Given the uniform negative attention that the reporters received at the same time, there is little doubt that Turkmenistan's government would have preferred that RFE/RL end its operations here. However, they did respond to high-level requests to back off. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND