Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT879
2008-07-14 10:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: SON OF A POSSIBLE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE
how-toVZCZCXRO6267 PP RUEHAG RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV DE RUEHAH #0879 1961058 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 141058Z JUL 08 ZDK FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1145 INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 4012 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 1829 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1696 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 2265 RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 2682 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0830
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000879
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: SON OF A POSSIBLE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE
ALLEGES CORRUPTION AT PRISONS AND AN MNB MOLE AT OSCE CENTER
REF: ASHGABAT 0848
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000879
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: SON OF A POSSIBLE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE
ALLEGES CORRUPTION AT PRISONS AND AN MNB MOLE AT OSCE CENTER
REF: ASHGABAT 0848
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).
1. (C) Shanazar Shaberdiyev, who first approached an emboff
several weeks ago looking for advice on how he might get his
father -- imprisoned on corruption charges -- freed (reftel),
told poloff on July 14 that, for a reasonably small bribe of
600,000-1,000,000 manat (about $40-$70),he could bribe the
head of the prison so that an embassy officer could get in
and talk to his father. He indicated that he himself has a
deal worked out with the prison warden that allows him to see
his father regularly. When the prison authorities at one
point were talking about transferring his father from the
prison in Mary to the notorious Owadandepe Prison north of
Ashgabat, he was able to "persuade" the authorities through
bribes to turn the idea off.
2. (C) Shaberdiyev also claimed that he knows a number of
Ministry of National Security (MNB) officials through his
schooling and his job, and they talk to him about many
things. For example, he said, he was told by one officer,
named "Nazar," that there is an MNB "coordinator" who works
within the OSCE Center. Nazar reportedly told him about a
month ago that, for a bribe and a promise to report to the
MNB, this "coordinator" can help ensure that somebody like
Shanazar could get a job at the OSCE Center. However, when
emboff probed for details, Shaberdiyev said that he couldn't
remember the name and did not know the position of the
"coordinator."
3. (C) COMMENT: We will pass on Shaberdiyev's allegations
to the OSCE Center, which, as a result of the legal
consulting that its full-time lawyer does for Turkmenistan's
citizens, probably sees at least as many human rights cases
as the U.S. embassy. While we doubt that an MNB mole could
ensure that a Turkmen would get a job at the OSCE Center, the
MNB would consider having someone at the Center, with its
contacts with human rights activists, valuable. If there is
an MNB plant there, they need to be aware so that they can
take proper measures to address the issue. More to the
point, however, Shaberdiyev's assertions that he could
arrange for an embassy officer to meet with his father in
prison strikes us as both naive and unlikely. While
corruption is omnipresent and he possibly could arrange to
get an attorney in to see his father, we believe that, given
the government's sensitivity to allowing foreigners to see
its prisons, trying to smuggle an embassy officer into prison
would be a very different matter entirely. END COMMENT.
CURRAN
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: SON OF A POSSIBLE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE
ALLEGES CORRUPTION AT PRISONS AND AN MNB MOLE AT OSCE CENTER
REF: ASHGABAT 0848
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).
1. (C) Shanazar Shaberdiyev, who first approached an emboff
several weeks ago looking for advice on how he might get his
father -- imprisoned on corruption charges -- freed (reftel),
told poloff on July 14 that, for a reasonably small bribe of
600,000-1,000,000 manat (about $40-$70),he could bribe the
head of the prison so that an embassy officer could get in
and talk to his father. He indicated that he himself has a
deal worked out with the prison warden that allows him to see
his father regularly. When the prison authorities at one
point were talking about transferring his father from the
prison in Mary to the notorious Owadandepe Prison north of
Ashgabat, he was able to "persuade" the authorities through
bribes to turn the idea off.
2. (C) Shaberdiyev also claimed that he knows a number of
Ministry of National Security (MNB) officials through his
schooling and his job, and they talk to him about many
things. For example, he said, he was told by one officer,
named "Nazar," that there is an MNB "coordinator" who works
within the OSCE Center. Nazar reportedly told him about a
month ago that, for a bribe and a promise to report to the
MNB, this "coordinator" can help ensure that somebody like
Shanazar could get a job at the OSCE Center. However, when
emboff probed for details, Shaberdiyev said that he couldn't
remember the name and did not know the position of the
"coordinator."
3. (C) COMMENT: We will pass on Shaberdiyev's allegations
to the OSCE Center, which, as a result of the legal
consulting that its full-time lawyer does for Turkmenistan's
citizens, probably sees at least as many human rights cases
as the U.S. embassy. While we doubt that an MNB mole could
ensure that a Turkmen would get a job at the OSCE Center, the
MNB would consider having someone at the Center, with its
contacts with human rights activists, valuable. If there is
an MNB plant there, they need to be aware so that they can
take proper measures to address the issue. More to the
point, however, Shaberdiyev's assertions that he could
arrange for an embassy officer to meet with his father in
prison strikes us as both naive and unlikely. While
corruption is omnipresent and he possibly could arrange to
get an attorney in to see his father, we believe that, given
the government's sensitivity to allowing foreigners to see
its prisons, trying to smuggle an embassy officer into prison
would be a very different matter entirely. END COMMENT.
CURRAN