TASHKENT TIDBITS NOVEMBER 17, 2008

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 001324 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON UZ SUBJECT: TASHKENT TIDBITS NOVEMBER 17, 2008 Classified By: P-E Chief Nicholas Berliner for reasons 1.4 b and d. BRITISH COUNCIL'S AGREEMENT WITH GULNARA'S FUND -------------- -- ¶1. (SBU) The British Embassy's Third Secretary who is responsible for Public Affairs, Richard Pike, shed additional light on the recent agreement that the British Council signed with Gulnara Karimova's Forum for Culture and Arts. He explained that the agreement outlined no specific projects, but was more an expression of intent to collaborate on cultural and educational projects in the future. He reported that British Council will likely continue to consider each potential project on a case-by-case basis. He speculated that ONE factor motivating the British organization to sign this agreement was to reassure local organizations that it is safe to collaborate with the British Council on projects and that there will be no adverse consequences from doing so. He said that in the past, potential partner organizations had hesitated to openly collaborate without express permission from GOU authorities. GASOLINE SMUGGLED FROM TURKMENISTAN TO UZBEKISTAN -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) While traveling in Karakalpakstan on private tourism on Sunday, November 9, poloff noticed that gasoline supplies in the province were very low and his driver had difficulty finding open gasoline stations in Nukus and between Nukus and the town of Mangit. With his tank near empty, poloff's driver eventually bought gasoline from private citizens near Mangit, which he explained was smuggled over the border from Turkmenistan (where gasoline is both more plentiful and much cheaper than in Uzbekistan). The driver explained that such smuggling continues on a regular basis, even though Turkmen border guards have been known to shoot suspected smugglers. In contrast, the driver explained that Uzbek border guards in that region largely do not interfere with smuggling. Poloff also noticed a much greater number of donkey carts on Nukus' roads than during previous trips to the city, but the driver explained this had more to do with Sunday being market day than the gasoline shortage. Comment: poloff has heard recently from a human rights activist in the Ferghana Valley that Uzbek border guards have recently shot and killed several suspected smugglers, though we are unable to verify this report. End comment. UZBEK JUDGE: FINES REPLACING JAIL TERMS -------------- ¶3. (U) On November 13, the Russian news agency Regnum reported that the Chairman of the Uzbek Supreme Court, Boritosh Mustafoyev, has told reports that - in line with the government's legal reforms - increasing numbers of criminal defendants are being given alternative punishments, such as fines, in lieu of jail terms. He was also quoted as stating that the concept of arbitration ("out of court settlements") has been introduced and is being used more widely. According to Mustafoyev, 10,785 criminal defendants have been given alternative punishments instead of jail sentences over the last seven years. ABDURAKHMANOV APPEAL SCHEDULED IN KARAKALPAKSTAN -------------- --- ¶4. (C) The appeal of Salidjahon Abdurakhmanov, the journalist who received a ten-year sentence on politically motivated drug charges in Karakalpakstan in October (ref A), will be held at the Karakalpakstan Supreme Court in Nukus on November 19. At least ONE local activist confirmed that he would try to attend the hearing. Poloff inquired with several European Embassies in town if they would send someone to monitor the hearing (poloff attended the sentencing of human rights activist Akzam Turgunov, who also received a ten-year sentence in Karakalpakstan in October, see ref B). The appeal for Turgunov has not yet been scheduled. AIDS OUTBREAK REPORTED IN NAMANGAN -------------- ¶5. (C) Several independent websites - including IWPR, Ozodlik.org and Ferghana.ru - recently reported on an alleged AIDS outbreak at a regional hospital in Namangan. While the websites originally reported that a group of 40 newborns were accidentally infected, they are now reporting that approximately 65 individuals - adults and 28 children under age 15 - were infected. Ferghana.ru quoted anonymous sources from the Prosecutor General's Office and Ministry of HEALTH as confirming that the persons had been infected with AIDS after doctors negligently reused syringes that were previously used to treat HIV and AIDS sufferers. The same sources also reported that a special "task force" from Tashkent - made up of investigators from the National Security Service, General Prosecutor's Office, and Ministry of HEALTH - has been investigating the incident in Namangan for the past week. The General Prosecutor's Press Secretary denied the rumors of a mass infection, but vaguely alluded to some violations of law that were being investigated. Comment: USAID HEALTH Advisor believes that the reports are credible, citing a similar outbreak at a Tashkent pediatric hospital in 2004, which CDC was invited to discreetly investigate. Both CDC and DTRA are looking into the incident but have no additional leads so far. End comment. WILL THE GOVERNMENT STRIP SMALL FARMERS OF LAND? -------------- --- ¶6. (C) Several independent and international websites - including Agence France Presse, IWPR, Ferghana.ru, Uzmetronom, and the website of human rights activist Surat Ikramov - have reported in recent days that small-scale farmers in Uzbekistan fear that government agricultural reforms will result in their land being given to large-scale farmers. Ikramov reported that "land is being illegally confiscated from farmers by means of threats, blackmail, and terror" and that local officials in Ferghana, Andijon, Tashkent, Kashkadarya, and Surkhundarya provinces are already forcing farmers to surrender their lands. Uzmetronom reported that "95 percent of farmers in Tashkent region had been coerced by police into signing 'voluntary' applications to hand back their lands." Ferghana.ru had a somewhat more measured take, noting that the push to consolidate farmland appears to be related to a decree signed by President Karimov in October, which reportedly stated that cotton quotas should be reduced and that greater amounts of land should be devoted to the production of foodstuffs. ¶7. (C) Comment: We are unable to fully confirm the story yet, though the government does appear to be moving towards the amalgamation of farmland (although precisely how it will go about this remains unclear). The Embassy's agricultural assistant confirmed that the government issued a decree stating that farms of less than 80 hectares will be amalgamated into larger farms (farmland is not privately held in Uzbekistan, but is leased to farmers for 49-year periods). However, we believe the reporting by Ikramov and Uzmetronom of large-scale disenfranchisement of farmers is alarmist. We believe the government should reduce cotton quotas and allow farmers to choose whether to grow greater amounts of other crops. It also may make economic sense for the government to encourage the consolidation of farmland to increase efficiency and yields, but of course we do not condone authorities arbitrarily forcing farmers to give up their lands, if that is indeed what is happening. We will look into the matter further and report any updates. Interestingly enough, last week the state-controlled UzReport.com website reported that there were 218,000 private farms in Uzbekistan, the average size of which was only 27 hectares. The article also reported that the farms employed a total of 1.7 million persons. End comment. NORLAND