Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASHGABAT885
2008-07-14 13:29:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: OSCE TRAINING EXPOSES TURKMEN
how-toVZCZCXRO6391 PP RUEHAG RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV DE RUEHAH #0885 1961329 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 141329Z JUL 08 FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1154 INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4019 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1836 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1703 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 2272 RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2687
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000885
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL
DOJ/OPDAT FOR CHRIS LEHMANN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KJUS TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: OSCE TRAINING EXPOSES TURKMEN
JUDGES, PROSECUTORS AND POLICE TO WESTERN JURISPRUDENCE
REF: ASHGABAT 0436
Classified By: CHARGE SYLVIA REED CURRAN FOR REASONS
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000885
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL
DOJ/OPDAT FOR CHRIS LEHMANN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KJUS TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: OSCE TRAINING EXPOSES TURKMEN
JUDGES, PROSECUTORS AND POLICE TO WESTERN JURISPRUDENCE
REF: ASHGABAT 0436
Classified By: CHARGE SYLVIA REED CURRAN FOR REASONS 1. 4 (B) AND (D).
1. (C) An OSCE-sponsored team made up of a prosecutor from
the Republic of Georgia and a judge from the UK recently
spent two weeks in Turkmenistan giving seminars on British
jurisprudence. The British judge told emboff July 11 that
they had held sessions in Turkmenbashy, Turkmenabat, Mary,
and Ashgabat. Each session had 25 participants - judges,
prosecutors, police, and at least four defense advocates.
2. (C) The judge said the idea of a jury trial was a
difficult concept for participants to grasp and many of the
questions from the group were rather pointed. One man asked
how could a Muslim woman be expected to give testimony about
a sexual assault in front of 12 strangers? Other questions
has less to do with cultural concerns and more with how one
could be sure the jurors were qualified or honest.
3. (C) Each session ended with a mock trial, and the team
always tried to get participants to play a role different
from the one they play in real life. For example, they
assigned a female judge from Turkmenbashy, who is known to be
very severe, as a defense advocate. She really became
enmeshed in her role. She strongly advocated for her client
and pointedly cross examined the participants who played the
police in the trial regarding their actions, calling them on
every instance viewed as misconduct.
4. (C) The judge said he was not sure how much of an impact
the training had on all participants. However, there were
glimmers that perhaps it was causing some participants to
think. For example, during one dinner at the end of a
session, one of the prosecutors gave a toast, thanking the
team for showing them how things are done in the UK.
5. (C) COMMENT: Capacity-building training for judges,
prosecutors, and defense advocates is an excellent way of
promoting rule of law and advancing human rights. German aid
agency GTZ is helping to draft a law on the role of attorneys
and amend legislation on prosecutors, hoping to incorporate
international standards (reftel). Even with the passage of
(hopefully) improved laws, much will depend on how well they
are implemented. It seems there may be an opportunity for
Department of Justice to provide training for judges and
prosecutors to nudge the Turkmen farther down the road of
reform. END COMMENT.
CURRAN
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL
DOJ/OPDAT FOR CHRIS LEHMANN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KJUS TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: OSCE TRAINING EXPOSES TURKMEN
JUDGES, PROSECUTORS AND POLICE TO WESTERN JURISPRUDENCE
REF: ASHGABAT 0436
Classified By: CHARGE SYLVIA REED CURRAN FOR REASONS 1. 4 (B) AND (D).
1. (C) An OSCE-sponsored team made up of a prosecutor from
the Republic of Georgia and a judge from the UK recently
spent two weeks in Turkmenistan giving seminars on British
jurisprudence. The British judge told emboff July 11 that
they had held sessions in Turkmenbashy, Turkmenabat, Mary,
and Ashgabat. Each session had 25 participants - judges,
prosecutors, police, and at least four defense advocates.
2. (C) The judge said the idea of a jury trial was a
difficult concept for participants to grasp and many of the
questions from the group were rather pointed. One man asked
how could a Muslim woman be expected to give testimony about
a sexual assault in front of 12 strangers? Other questions
has less to do with cultural concerns and more with how one
could be sure the jurors were qualified or honest.
3. (C) Each session ended with a mock trial, and the team
always tried to get participants to play a role different
from the one they play in real life. For example, they
assigned a female judge from Turkmenbashy, who is known to be
very severe, as a defense advocate. She really became
enmeshed in her role. She strongly advocated for her client
and pointedly cross examined the participants who played the
police in the trial regarding their actions, calling them on
every instance viewed as misconduct.
4. (C) The judge said he was not sure how much of an impact
the training had on all participants. However, there were
glimmers that perhaps it was causing some participants to
think. For example, during one dinner at the end of a
session, one of the prosecutors gave a toast, thanking the
team for showing them how things are done in the UK.
5. (C) COMMENT: Capacity-building training for judges,
prosecutors, and defense advocates is an excellent way of
promoting rule of law and advancing human rights. German aid
agency GTZ is helping to draft a law on the role of attorneys
and amend legislation on prosecutors, hoping to incorporate
international standards (reftel). Even with the passage of
(hopefully) improved laws, much will depend on how well they
are implemented. It seems there may be an opportunity for
Department of Justice to provide training for judges and
prosecutors to nudge the Turkmen farther down the road of
reform. END COMMENT.
CURRAN