TURKMENISTAN: DONORS COMPARE NOTES ON HUMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000647

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA A/S BOUCHER
STATE ALSO FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, EUR/ACE
USAID/W FOR EE/EA
ASTANA FOR USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL EAID KDEM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: DONORS COMPARE NOTES ON HUMAN
RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW PROJECTS AND PROPOSALS

REF: A. ASHGABAT 0638

B. ASHGABAT 0436


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


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Representatives from several Western
embassies and international organizations met May 16 at the
British EMBASSY to compare notes on current and planned
projects that focus on human rights and the rule of law.
Attendees learned that a wide variety of projects are
underway that will focus in particular on facilitating
legislative reform, developing expertise and capacity, and
developing legal resources. UNDP and OSCE have also
succeeded in engaging the government on electoral reform
issues in advance of December 2008 Mejlis (parliamentary)
elections. Donors appear to be finding a number of areas
where the government is open to cooperation, and the level of
cooperation is likely to expand. END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) British Ambassador Peter Butcher hosted the first
of what are to be quarterly meetings of Western and
international donors to share information on program activity
in the areas of human rights and rule of law. Participants
included representatives from the French and U.S. embassies,
EU-TACIS, a visiting Central Asia program manager from the
EU's EuropeAid Cooperation Office, Europa House, UNDP,
Germany's GTZ, and OSCE.


4. (SBU) Ambassador Butcher reported on a number of UK
proposals the government of Turkmenistan is now reviewing:
study visits to build human capacity on conforming to
international standards, and a proposal to develop an
"ombudsman for human rights." The UK has also proposed a
project to improve the function of the citizens' complaint
department within the Institute for Democracy and Human
Rights, as well as to develop an exhibit on using media to
raise public human rights awareness. The UK EMBASSY hopes to
work with GTZ to assist with revision of the penal code, and
has also proposed capacity-building work with Turkmen prison
officials on human rights standards. Other projects include
a publicly-accessible legal resource center and an
English-language self-study center that will open in June.
EU representatives noted their interest in providing
additional support to several of these projects and also
discussed whether Europa House could oversee the projects
(Ref. A).


5. (SBU) French Ambassador Christian Lechervy reported on a
plan to organize the visit of a "human rights ambassador"
before the end of the year. Such a visit would be an annual
event, designed to underscore the priority the French
government places on progress on human rights issues. The
embassy is also developing a scholarship program to send
Turkmen students to provincial French universities, and
possibly also to the Franco-Turkish University in Istanbul.
The first scholarship winners will begin their studies in
Fall 2009.


6. (SBU) Deputy Resident UNDP Representative Inita
Paulovica reported that UNDP will soon begin a new election
reform project that seeks to build expertise and capacity on
election issues for members of the Central Election
Commission. The project also envisions providing civic
education training on elections, as well as training modules
for potential candidates, all in advance of the December 2008
Mejlis elections. She said that UNDP is also seeking to
expand its work with Turkmenistan's government to develop
expertise on the management of disability rights.


7. (SBU) OSCE Human Dimension officer Benjamin Moreau noted

ASHGABAT 00000647 002 OF 002


OSCE's cooperative work with UNDP on conducting a legal
review of Turkmenistan's law on elections, and added that
OSCE will also have the opportunity to review the revised
draft law for compliance with international standards. OSCE
has proposed to review the constitutional draft as well for
its compliance with international standards, but has not
received a response. Recently, however, OSCE was able to
send six Turkmen government lawyers to Warsaw to attend a
constitutional justice seminar.


8. (SBU) The project manager of German technical
cooperation organization GTZ, Laurence Fara, discussed some
of the details of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that
GTZ signed with Turkmenistan's government in 2007. The MOU
provides for expert assessment of the criminal procedure code
and opportunities to provide recommendations for the family
code and the penal code (Ref. B). GTZ will also assist
Turkmenistan's government to create a public register --
i.e., government-held documents that are made accessible to
the public. Fara noted that GTZ will be sponsoring a
conference on habeas corpus issues at the end of June, and
added that the MFA has asked GTZ to organize an international
law conference with EU and experts from the former Soviet
states that may take place as soon as September, although
specific areas of focus have not yet been determined. GTZ
will also assist the government to reform the civil procedure
code beginning in 2009.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: This ad hoc donors' meeting provided a
good snapshot of the work that western missions and
organizations are doing to help Turkmenistan move into the
21st century on human rights and justice issues. A number of
areas have been identified in which Turkmen counterparts,
particularly at the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights,
are increasingly ready to cooperate. Donors appear to be
ready and willing to support and even expand on those
opportunities. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND