TURKMENISTAN: EU RAISES HUMAN RIGHTS CASES OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000824

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM EU TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: EU RAISES HUMAN RIGHTS CASES OF
CONCERN DURING "DIALOGUE"

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: An EU delegation met for nine hours with
Government of Turkmenistan officials on June 24, discussing
steps the government could take to improve civil, religious,
media, and other rights in the country. In the course of the
meeting, the delegation also passed an EU-vetted list of
individuals who are either prisoners of concern or
individuals who have been prevented from traveling abroad
this past year. The list requested information on the health
and whereabouts of the aforementioned prisoners, but also of
those individuals named in the Moscow Mechanism report of
March 2003 who are still imprisoned in connection with the
attack on former President Niyazov's motorcade in 2002. The
EU delegation did not raise the case of Sazak Durdymuradov,
whose detention and mistreatment only surfaced on the eve of
the meeting. Government of Turkmenistan officials did not
have an immediate reaction to the presentation of the list,
but stoically promised to respond formally to the list and
its requests. Any formal, written response to the EU request
will certainly provide indicators of the government's
commitment to address human rights abuses. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) PolOff met UK Ambassador Peter Butcher on July 2 to
discuss the bilateral human rights dialogue an EU delegation
held with Turkmen officials on June 24. The delegation, led
by Slovenian government representative Smiljana Knez, also
included Javier Solana's personal referent on human rights,
Riina Kionka. The Turkmen side was largely led by Institute
for Democracy and Human Rights Director Shirin Ahmedova, but
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Wepa Hajiyev and a
small contingent of MFA representatives were also in
attendance. The meeting was scheduled to last two hours, but
surprisingly extended a full nine hours as the delegation
sought general dialogue on freedom of religion, media,
movement, and other issues, and passed a list of human rights
cases and concerns for government response.


3. (C) Ahmedova, who had been provided with an advance
schedule of the topics of the dialogue, addressed each issue
with point-by-point prepared responses regarding
Turkmenistan's efforts to improve human rights conditions,
progress on development of a national strategy to implement
human rights obligations, and additional mentions of specific
conventions and agreements to which Turkmenistan is a party.
The EU delegation was impressed with Ahmedova, and
interpreted her engagement during the meeting as a sign of
her commitment to help the country fulfill its international
obligations. According to Butcher, delegation members were
less certain of how much influence Ahmedova will have on the
process, but her performance during the meeting convinced
them that she cared about the issue. German DCM Silke Hahn,
however, told poloff on June 27 that the delegation had not
been properly briefed for the unique conditions and
environment of Turkmenistan, and were ill-prepared to respond
to this government's responses during the course of the
meeting.


4. (C) As the discussion began to wind down, the EU
delegation indicated to Ahmedova that it was passing to her a
list of human rights cases of greatest concern to the EU.
However, when they passed the list to her, First Deputy
Foreign Minister Hajiyev took the list. The list, Ambassador
Butcher said, is a far shorter and better-vetted list than
one an EU delegation had presented to the Turkmen government
in late 2007. The older list had been long and contained
almost every name raised by international human rights
organizations since January 2007, many of which EU officials
were not able to verify. This list had caused some
consternation among EU representatives and European
diplomats, who thought the list was too long and had not been
assembled using any specific methodology.


5. (C) The list that had been given to Turkmen officials on

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June 24 contained nine names, and was divided into two
groups. The first were the names of individuals imprisoned
in Turkmenistan about whom the EU would like to receive
information regarding their health and whereabouts.
Journalists Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khajiyev,
former OSCE Ambassador Batyr Berdiyev, and construction
manager Mukhametkuli Aymuradov were listed. The second half
of the list was of individuals banned from travel abroad.
The EU requested confirmation that they are banned from
travel, and information on why the ban was imposed.
Environmental activist Andrey Zatoka, Christian pastor
Ilmyrat Nurlyyev, exile oppositionist sister Svetlana
Orazova, her husband Ovez Annayev, and RFE/RL reporter's
daughter Jennet Gylychdurdiyeva were listed. (NOTE: Post
added identifying descriptives of the individuals. This
information was not in the EU list. END NOTE.) The
delegation did not raise the case of RFE/RL contributor Sazak
Durdymuradov, news of whose detention and possible
mistreatment broke on the eve of the dialogue.


6. (C) As a third and final point on the list the
delegation passed, the EU requested further information on
the health and whereabouts of all persons named in the OSCE
Moscow Mechanism Report of 12 March 2003 who were still in
prison. It also asked whether there were any plans to review
their cases, and asked in particular for any information on
the health and whereabouts of former Foreign Minister Boris
Shikhmuradov, who was accused of being a master-mind of the
2002 attack on Niyazov's motorcade, and who is occasionally
reported to have died in prison. According to Ambassador
Butcher, Hajiyev took over at this point and made a lengthy
but somewhat confusing statement regarding the list, and
denied the country had any kind of formal list of persons
banned from travel abroad. At this point, Hajiyev seemed to
undermine this denial when he said that in the case of Andrey
Zatoka, "the principles of entry and exit do not apply."
Ultimately, Hajiyev and Ahmedova agreed to review the list
and requests contained within it, and said they would provide
the EU with a formal written response.


7. (C) COMMENT: Government of Turkmenistan officials did
not have an immediate reaction to the presentation of the
list, since the list included human rights abuses of the
previous administration as well as of the current one. Any
formal, written response to the EU request will certainly
provide indicators of this government's commitment to
acknowledging and/or addressing human rights abuses. END
COMMENT.
HOAGLAND