EMBASSY HOSTS ROUNDTABLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000330

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ
SUBJECT: EMBASSY HOSTS ROUNDTABLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
ROLLOUT

REF: A. 07 TASHKENT 451

B. TASHKENT 307

C. 07 TASHKENT 2132

D. TASHKENT 281

E. TASHKENT 300

Classified By: POLOFF R. FITZMAURICE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Summary: On March 13, the Embassy hosted the rollout
of the 2007 U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report. In
stark contrast to last year's rollout, when several invitees
were detained and harassed (ref A),this year's event went
forward without any interference from the government. All of
the Embassy's invited human rights contacts attended and none
of them complained of any form of harassment, despite the
negative reaction to the Human Rights Report the Ambassador
received on March 12 from Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov,
who characterized it as a "an unfriendly act" and
"counterproductive" (ref B). The rollout itself took the
form of a roundtable, and provided activists from different
(and often sparring) human rights groups a rare opportunity
to sit down together and exchange views. The major topic of
discussion during the roundtable was whether the West should
impose sanctions against the Karimov regime and the degree to
which it should pursue increased engagement. The views
expressed by the human rights activists were mixed, with some
calling for imposing stronger sanctions, while others argued
that increased dialogue with the government was more likely
to bring about human rights progress. In the end, it was
clear that few of the activists in attendance favored
increasing the government's isolation, recognizing this as
counterproductive, and instead favored greater engagement
with the West. End summary.

NO DISRUPTION AT THIS YEAR'S ROLLOUT
--------------


2. (SBU) On March 13, the Embassy hosted the rollout of the
2007 U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report. In stark
contrast to last year's rollout, when several invitees were
detained and harassed (ref A),this year's event went forward
without any interference from the government. All of the
Embassy's invited human rights contacts attended and none of
them complained of any form of harassment, despite the
negative reaction to the Human Rights Report the Ambassador
received on March 12 from Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov,
who characterized it as a "an unfriendly act" and
"counterproductive" (ref B). The rollout was the second
major human rights related-event that the Embassy has been
able to host without government interference since the Human
Rights Day roundtable and reception in December (ref C).

ACTIVISTS EXPRESS DIVERGENT VIEWS ON SANCTIONS AND ENGAGEMENT
-------------- --------------


3. (C) The rollout itself took the form of a roundtable, and
provided activists from different (and often sparring) human
rights group a rare opportunity to sit down together and
exchange views. Fifteen representatives of human rights
organizations and minority religious groups participated in
the roundtable. In addition, the event was attended by
diplomats and local staff from the British, German, French,
and Swiss Embassies in Tashkent; representatives from
non-governmental organizations, including Human Rights Watch
and Istiqbolli Avlod, a local anti-trafficking group; and
local stringers from Ferghana.ru, the Associated Press, and
Reuters. In his opening remarks, the Ambassador emphasized
that the report only covered events occurring in calendar
year 2007, and noted that the government had taken "small but
significant" steps in improving its human rights records
since January, including releasing a number of political
prisoners.


4. (C) The major topic of discussion during the roundtable
was whether the human rights activists supported the
imposition of sanctions against the Karimov regime and the
degree to which they felt the West should pursue greater

dialogue with the regime (Note: The European Union will meet
again in April to consider whether to reinstate visa
sanctions on Uzbekistan, which were suspended for six months
in October 2007. The U.S. may also face a decision on visa
prohibitions shortly afterwards, based on legislation the
President signed in December 2007. End note.) The views
expressed by the human rights groups were mixed. Independent
Initiative Group of Human Rights Activists Chair Surat
Ikramov dismissed the recent amnesty and release of six
political prisoners, noting that the government had released
3 political prisoners last year only to arrest several more
later in the year (Comment: While Ikramov's observation is
accurate for 2007, for the record, no human rights activists
have yet been arrested since the most recent round of
amnesties began in January. End note.) He further argued
that as the "most powerful" nations on Earth, the United
States and European Union states had the power to affect
positive change on human rights in Uzbekistan through
isolating the Karimov regime.


5. (C) On the other hand, Rapid Reaction Group member
Abdusalom Ergashev argued that the West already attempted to
isolate the Karimov regime after the 2005 Andijon events, and
this isolation only resulted in the regime having a freer
hand to crack down on human rights activists. Rapid Reaction
Group member Shukhrat Ganiev observed that the situation for
human rights activists has improved in recent months, for
example, with the reopening of Human Rights Watch, and argued
that "a small window of opportunity for dialogue" was opening
now that should be seized upon. Mothers Against the Death
Penalty and Torture Chair Tamara Chikunovna, citing her own
organization's ultimately successful lobbying against the
death penalty in Uzbekistan (which was formally abolished in
January),argued that human rights progress can only be
achieved through dialogue and attempting to achieve mutual
understanding with the government.

DISAGREEMENTS CARRIED OVER ONTO INDEPENDENT WEBSITES
-------------- --------------


6. (U) Further illustrating the disagreement among human
rights activists are contradicting articles that have
appeared recently on independent websites. For example, on
March 11, Ferghana.ru ran a story entitled "Uzbek Opposition
Welcomes Rapprochement with the West," covering a recent
Birlik opposition party's meeting in the Ferghana Valley city
of Kokand. However, on March 12, the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting (IWPR) ran a story entitled "Activists Fear
NATO Return to Uzbekistan," quoting an unnamed human rights
activist as stating that any rapprochement between the Uzbeks
and the West on security issues would come at the cost of
human rights.

INFORMAL STRAW POLL OF ACTIVISTS
--------------


7. (C) To better gauge the activists' views on sanctions and
engagement, the Ambassador conducted an informal, impromptu
straw poll. First, the Ambassador asked how many of the
activists believed that imposing sanctions would lead to a
cutoff in dialogue between the West and the government, and
seven activists answered yes, while six answered no.
Afterwards, the Ambassador asked how many of the activists
would still support sanctions if it resulted in a cutoff in
dialogue, and ten of the activists answered no, while only
four of them answered yes.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH TAKES POSITION ON EU SANCTIONS
-------------- --------------


8. (SBU) During the discussion on sanctions, Human Rights
Watch (HRW) Country Director Igor Vorontsov (who is still
awaiting accreditation) observed that the issue has been much
discussed in his organization. He stated that HRW's position
at this time is that the EU should not lift sanctions, as
this was not merited so far by actions on the ground, but HRW
also believed that the EU should also not impose new, tougher

sanctions. Instead, Vorontsov said that HRW's position was
that the suspension of EU sanctions should be extended for
another three months beyond April, rather than for another
six months.

EZGULIK ALSO PRESENTS ITS OWN REPORT AT ROLLOUT
-------------- --


9. (SBU) Ezgulik, one of the only registered human rights
groups in Uzbekistan, also presented its own annual report
during the Human Rights Report rollout at the Embassy. In
addition to English and Russian copies of the 2007 State
Department Human Rights Report, the Embassy also made copies
of Ezgulik's report available to participants. During her
brief remarks, Ezgulik Chair (and opposition Birlik party
leader) Vasila Inoyatova stated that her organization looked
favorably upon increased engagement between the government
and the West, which she believed was likely to result in
further progress on human rights.


10. (U) In its 35-page report, Ezgulik more or less
summarizes its reporting and activities for the past year.
The report covers a wide range of topics, including
limitations on the activity of non-governmental
organizations, harassment of journalists and human rights
activists, abuse of prisoners, the use of child labor in the
annual cotton harvest, and irregularities during the most
recent Presidential election in December. The report's main
recommendations include that the government should create a
special department to oversee the fulfillment of the
recommendations from the United Nations Committee Against
Torture's most recent meeting on Uzbekistan last November,
and that the government should also create a special
department to oversee the protection of children's rights.


11. (U) The Ezgulik report also notes that the government
has been reluctant to respond to inquiries from human rights
group. According to the report, Ezgulik sent 85 letters to
government bodies requesting additional information or
explanation on human rights cases, and that it received six
replies from the Prosecutor General Office (out of 21 letters
sent) and six replies from the Ministry of Justice (out of
nine letters sent.) In addition, Ezgulik did not receive any
reply letters the whole year from the Ministry of Internal
Affairs, the National Security Service, Parliament, the
Presidential Apparat, and the Prison Directorate of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs (GUIN). The report was also
critical of the Human Rights Ombudsman's office, which it
depicted as ineffective.

URLAYEVA RAISES DISRUPTION OF PUBLIC PROTEST
--------------


12. (SBU) During the rollout, Human Rights Alliance member
Elena Urlayeva reported that a group of women had disrupted a
protest on March 13 led by Alliance members calling for the
release of political prisoners (Note: Alliance members have
been holding the picket every Thursday since December 2007 in
front of the General Prosecutor's Office in Tashkent. It is
usually attended by the same group of eight to ten
protestors. End note.) She said that the women, whom she
described as "gypsies," had assaulted the protestors with
chains, sending two of them to the hospital.


13. (SBU) On March 14, poloff discussed the disruption of
the protest further with Alliance member Aktam Shaymardanov
(who, unlike Urlayeva, was actually present at the protest
when it was disrupted.) Shaymardanov said that approximately
35 protests participated in the picket on March 13, which was
much larger than usual and included human rights activists
that had traveled from Samarkand and Jizzakh provinces. He
said that protest was disrupted by approximately twenty women
and children who began to harass the protestors and push them
around. Shaymardanov said that the women and children
ultimately failed to break up the protest and that the
Alliance planned to hold another protest next week as usual.
Unlike Urlayeva, he did not report that the women used chains

to hit the protestors. He also said that two individuals
were treated after the incident for minor injuries. Though
the protestors at the picket had been outnumbered by police
in previous weeks, Shaymardanov said that only one police
officer was visible on March 13 and did not attempt to
intervene during the disturbance.

PRESS COVERAGE OF ROLLOUT
--------------


14. (U) The rollout of the human rights report was reported
in a March 13 Reuters story entitled "U.S. Praises Uzbekistan
for Rights Improvement." The article focused on the
Ambassador's recognition in his opening remarks of
Uzbekistan's "small but significant" steps to improve human
rights since January. The same article also noted that the
International Committee of the Red Cross resumed prison
visits in Uzbekistan after more than three years of
negotiation with the government (septel).

HAMROEV REPORTS LESS HARRASSMENT FOLLOWING AMBASSADOR'S VISIT
TO JIZZAKH
-------------- --------------


15. (C) After the formal discussion at the roundtable,
participants continued informal discussions with one another.
Poloff had an opportunity to talk at length with
Jizzakh-based activist Bakhtiyor Hamroev, who reported that
harassment of human rights activists in his province had
noticeably decreased since the Ambassador's visit on February

29. During his visit, the Ambassador met with Hamroev in the
company of a Jizzakh deputy hokim (governor) and another
human rights activist, Saida Kurbanova, who reported being
harassed by authorities for helping to organize a public
protest, and that unknown individuals had stolen a bag from
her which contained her and her son's passports (ref D).
Hamroev told poloff on March 13 that the day after the
Ambassador's trip to Jizzakh, police returned the missing
passports to Kurbanova, explaining that they were found on
the side of a road. He also said that she was no longer
being harassed by authorities. Hamroev also reported that
his son, who was amnestied and released from prison in
February, has not suffered harassment since his release.
However, Hamroev noted that his son is still on parole and is
obliged to meet with the police once a month, and he remained
concerned that authorities could decide to throw his son back
into prison at any moment.

EX-HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH STAFFER GETS EXIT VISA
--------------


16. (C) In another positive development, former Human Rights
Watch staffer Umida Niyazova, whose suspended sentence was
lifted after she was amnestied in February, told poloff on
March 14 that she was granted an exit visa, to her own
surprise (Comment: In the past, the Uzbeks have routinely
denied granting exit visas to human rights activists. Just
last week, the Ambassador sat down with a human rights lawyer
who has been waiting three years for an exit visa, ref E.
End comment.) She planned to apply soon for an EU Schengen
visa to visit her husband in Prague, who works at Radio Free
Europe. However, her passport only has one free page left in
it, she will need to apply for a new passport after she
returns. Niyazova also expressed interest in trying to
pursue some type of human rights-related internship, either
in Europe or the United States. She said she was not
interested in obtaining political asylum, as she still
intended to return to Uzbekistan to continue her human rights
work. She also noted talking to Human Rights Watch about
possibly working for them again.

COMMENT
--------------


17. (C) The straw poll results demonstrate that few of the
activists in attendance supported completely isolating the
Uzbek government. Instead, most of the activists in

attendance supported the West in pursuing greater dialogue
with the Karimov regime, whether they supported sanctions or
not. Furthermore, we have observed that some of the human
rights activists calling for sanctions have unrealistic
expectations about the ability of the United States and the
European Union to affect government policies through tools
like sanctions and fail to comprehend that sanctions could
well result in a breakdown in engagement. Perhaps the best
illustration of this at the roundtable were the remarks of
Human Rights Alliance member Elena Urlayeva, who said that
the West would "somehow find a way" to both impose sanctions
and increase dialogue with the government at the same time.
While we recognize that the threat of sanctions may have
prompted the government to take some of the "small but
significant" steps that it has made since January, at this
point, we believe that more sustainable progress on human
rights could be made through increased engagement with the
government.
HANSON