TURKMENISTAN: RELATIVE OF OVERSEAS OPPOSITION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000780

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN; DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM OSCE TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: RELATIVE OF OVERSEAS OPPOSITION
LEADER SEEKS INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO OVERCOME TRAVEL BAN

REF: 07 ASHGABAT 1377

Classified By: CDA RICHARD E. HOAGLAND: 1.4 (B),(D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Allowed to depart Turkmenistan for heart
surgery in Moscow in May 2007, Ovez Annayev, brother-in-law
of exile opposition leader and former Central Bank Chairman
Khudaiberdy Orazov, is not being allowed to return to Moscow
following a short trip home earlier this month to see his
wife and younger daughter, who have not been allowed to
depart Turkmenistan (reftel). Annayev has been seeking
through legal means to overcome the government's travel ban
on him and his family for several years, but has run out of
legal options in Turkmenistan. Annayev says he needs to
return to Moscow as soon as possible for follow-up treatment
for his heart condition, and is seeking assistance -- in the
form of intervention -- from the international community.
His unfortunate decision to return to Turkmenistan, however,
may in part have been encouraged by misinformation circulated
among international human rights activists. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) POLOFF met June 17 with Ovez Annayev, the husband of
Svetlana Orazova, sister of former Turkmen Central Bank
Chairman and exile opposition leader Khudaiberdy Orazov.
Annayev went to Moscow in May 2007 to undergo treatment and
surgery for a heart ailment after having been refused
treatment in 2006 at an Ashgabat cardiology center because he
was Orazov's brother in-law. Since returning to Ashgabat in
early June 2008 for a brief visit with his family, however,
he has not been allowed to return to Moscow.

ANNAYEV'S STORY


3. (C) According to Annayev, he first learned that the
government would not allow his family to travel abroad in
late summer 2006, when his older daughter was barred from
returning to her university studies in Beijing after summer
vacation and he was prevented from traveling to Russia. He
said he filed a law suit on his own case, challenging the
government to provide information regarding what laws support
the ban on his family's travel, and the reasons such a ban
had been imposed. (NOTE: The OSCE Center in Ashgabat
assisted Annayev to file the law suit and advised the family
throughout the legal process. END NOTE.) Through a series
of legal inquiries from district court up through the Supreme
Court, Annayev eventually received a written response from
the Procurator General's office upholding the ban on his
family's travel, based on statements provided by the MVD and
the MNB. (NOTE: The document provided no information
regarding the content of the statements. END NOTE.) In
February 2007, he was invited to meet with a deputy district
representative of the MNB, who expressed his displeasure with
Annayev's suit. Nonetheless, after this meeting, the
authorities permitted his daughter to return to Beijing, and
him to travel to Moscow for medical treatment in April and
May 2007 respectively.


4. (C) In November 2007, thinking that the ban had been
lifted on the family, Svetlana Orazova and a young daughter
attempted to travel to Moscow to visit Annayev, who was
recuperating from heart surgery. They were, however,
prevented from departing (reftel). In early June 2008, Ms.
Orazova met with OSCE Chairman-in-Office Alexander Stubb, who
subsequently asked Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister
Rashid Meredov to lift the ban on Ms. Orazova's travel during
an official meeting on June 5. According to OSCE Centre
Human Dimension Officer Benjamin Moreau, Meredov offered no
commitment to the Chairman regarding the case. However,
Moreau said, several international human rights organizations
sent him congratulations regarding the resolution of Ms.
Orazova's case following the Chairman's meeting with Meredov,
having either misunderstood or received misinformation
regarding the outcome of the discussion with Meredov. He had

ASHGABAT 00000780 002 OF 002


had to respond to their notes, informing them that he had no
information that the case had been resolved.


5. (C) Mistakenly believing that Meredov had agreed to lift
the restriction on Orazova, and further interpreting it as a
sign that the issue had been resolved for the whole family,
Annayev flew back to Turkmenistan in early June 2008. He
said that, as immigration authorities studied his passport at
great length, he realized the travel restriction on his
family was still in place. Two days after returning to the
country, he made a formal request at the immigration service
for information on the status and origin of the family's
travel ban. He had intended only to visit his family for a
short time, and was to have returned to Moscow on June 15.
The immigration service responded to his query on June 14,
providing no information other than to confirm that a ban was
still in place for the family.


6. (C) On June 14, Annayev also sent a telegram to the same
deputy district MNB representative he had met with before,
formally requesting permission to travel. The official met
with him, and verbally assured him that he would be allowed
to travel abroad. On June 15, however, Annayev was pulled
from his Moscow flight. Upon another inquiry, the
immigration service confirmed that there was a ban on his
travel, and that it had been imposed by law enforcement
authorities. Since then, he sent a certified letter to
Meredov seeking permission to travel, and said the OSCE
Center in Ashgabat had sent a diplomatic note to the MFA
regarding his case. He also instructed his older daughter to
postpone her travel back to Turkmenistan, fearing that if she
returns, she might once again be barred from returning to her
studies in Beijing.


7. (C) Annayev indicated that he has exhausted all possible
legal options for challenging the government's authority to
impose the travel ban on him and his family, although OSCE
legal advisors have assured him that Turkmen law does not
support the travel ban on the family, and Annayev denies
having any criminal history. He shared all of his legal
documents, including government responses, with Post. His
primary purpose in turning to the U.S. Embassy was to seek
advice in making contact with international legal authorities
or the UN Commission on Human Rights, in order to challenge
the government's ban on his family's travel on an
international level. He indicated that his heart condition
could worsen again if he does not return to Moscow soon.


8. (C) OSCE Officer Moreau said Chairman-in-Office Alex
Stubb sent a letter to President Berdimuhamedov the week of
June 16, reminding him of the case and of OSCE's concern. He
said the OSCE Center in Ashgabat also sent a letter this week
to express its concern to the government regarding Annayev's
case as well.


9. (C) COMMENT: While the government's travel ban on
Annayev's family, its temporary lifting, and re-imposition
suggests there may have been some internal indecision and
contradiction about the case, someone in power seems to
believe that the travel ban should be maintained on the
family. It is anyone's guess as to how international human
rights organizations came to believe that Meredov had
promised to resolve Ms. Orazova's case, but the
misinformation has not helped Annayev's current situation.
END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND