TURKMENISTAN: LEGAL DATABASE PROJECT STOKES COMPETITION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000329

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, EUR/ACE, DRL
AID/W FOR EE/EA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL EAID KDEM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: LEGAL DATABASE PROJECT STOKES COMPETITION
BETWEEN DONORS AND GOVERNMENT

REF: A. ASHGABAT 0099


B. ASHGABAT 0206



1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Internal competition to compile a legal database
seems to have broken out among several government entities, spurred
probably by a desire to get credit for fulfilling a high government
priority and at least in part by an overzealous European
implementing partner. As a result, no less than three international
organizations in Turkmenistan have expressed their support for
variations of a similar project with three different governmental
ministries or agencies. USAID and OSCE have agreed to join their
efforts by cooperating with the Institute for Democracy and Human
Rights, while the most recent entrant, the European Union, awaits a
funding decision from NATO on a proposal made by an implementing
partner university to the Supreme Council for Science and Technology
that enjoys only modest local EU support. END SUMMARY.

USAID'S ENTRY TO THE DATABASE RACE


3. (SBU) On January 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a
positive reply to USAID's October 29 proposal for cooperation with
the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (reftel A). Among the
approved areas for USAID's cooperation with the Institute for
Democracy and Human Rights reply was "Support(ing) the production of
an online legal database." (NOTE: The legal database project was
originally one component of a USAID community empowerment program
launched in late 2006 that envisioned the database as a tool to
increase access to information for community activists. Recent
opportunities for cooperation with the Institute led to the ongoing
discussions related to joint work in this area. END NOTE.)
Subsequent meetings with the Institute's director, Shirin Ahmedova,
have addressed her desire to move forward on this joint project with
USAID's implementing partner, the American Bar Association (ABA)
(reftel B). Giving a hint of the internal competition brewing
behind the scenes, on March 1 Ahmedova told USAID's Country
Representative that she was ready to move forward with even an
incomplete database and proposed adding a disclaimer that
acknowledged that it was not complete.


4. (U) At the same time, USAID was aware that the OSCE previously
had undertaken similar projects to gather legislation from most CIS
countries and was interested in doing the same in Turkmenistan. In
the March 1 meeting, Ahmedova expanded the proposed database's focus
beyond the national database that USAID originally proposed. As a
result, her vision now closely corresponds to an existing online
OSCE resource, www.legislationonline.org.

OSCE'S DILEMMA - WHO'S THE PARTNER?


5. (U) After being rejected for the past three years, the OSCE's
proposal to develop a legal database was approved by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) for the first time this year. The MFA,
however, identified the Ministry of Justice as OSCE's government
counterpart which limited its ability to work jointly with the
Institute for Democracy and Human Rights - and USAID.


6. (SBU) On March 3, OSCE and USAID met with the Institute's
director to address this issue (reftel A).
Ahmedova said that the OSCE's approved project list does not
preclude cooperative work with the Institute as well. She noted
that the Ministry of Justice and Institute of Democracy are already
partners on informational matters, and that it should not matter if
the OSCE worked with the Institute on this project. Ahmedova said
that she would call the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ask the MFA
to remove the offending clause from its agreement with the OSCE so
that the proposed partnership could continue. She also requested
that the OSCE Ambassador contact the MFA to have the clause removed.
OSCE intends to submit a diplomatic note to the MFA requesting the
change in partners, and if approved, this presents an ideal

ASHGABAT 00000329 002 OF 002


opportunity for donor coordination and joint work with a government
partner. The OSCE would provide the physical components (such as
database software, scanning of laws and loading onto the internet)
necessary for putting the database together, and USAID through ABA
would provide technical assistance on using the database.

BEHIND CURTAIN NUMBER THREE? THE EU AND SUPREME COUNCIL


7. (SBU) On March 4, USAID Country Representative learned that the
EU was considering a request from the Supreme Council on Science and
Technology to establish a legal database. After being caught off
guard when asked about the project at a reception that night, the
EU's Advisor to the National Coordination Unit shared details of the
proposal the next day. He clarified that he had personal
reservations about the proposal, which he felt duplicated activities
with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice and the Mejlis
(Parliament).


8. (SBU) The EU advisor made clear that the idea for the project
came not from the Supreme Council, but instead EU/NATO's existing
partner on the Virtual Silk Highway project, Hamburg Harburgh
University, which had promised support for the database project to
the MFA from NATO, EU-TACIS, the German Technical Cooperation Agency
(GTZ),and the Embassy of Germany in Turkmenistan without prior
dialogue with any of these organizations until after its own
meetings with the Government of Turkmenistan. As a result, promises
were made to the government which Hamburgh Harburgh University
cannot fulfill.


9. (U) The EU Advisor acknowledged that this created confusion
since the EU has already agreed to start a legal reform technical
assistance program later in 2008, which has been approved by the
Government of Turkmenistan. The partners under the upcoming EU
program are the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice and the
Mejlis (Parliament),plus the Institute of Democracy and Human
Rights and the Turkmen State University Law Faculty. As a result,
he was unhappy since he perceived the Hamburg proposal to have been
made for diplomatic gain rather than for the benefit of the wider
stakeholders in Turkmenistan. The Deputy Director of the Supreme
Council is scheduled to travel to meet with NATO leadership next
week, where the question of funding is expected to be resolved.


10. (U) COMMENT: This is a complicated tale that contains elements
of competition between government entities and donor organizations
alike. It is clear that certain government officials want to move
full speed ahead to bring a legal database online, even an
incomplete one. Our guess is that the legal database is probably a
high priority for the president, and so various government entities
are competing with each other to get it done. At the same time, an
international implementing partner appears to have promised a
project that it cannot deliver without external financing. Despite
much talk about donor coordination, it is a rare occurrence in
practice, due at least in part to such competing interests and
unilateral actions. END COMMENT.

HOAGLAND