THIRD STRIKE FOR FORMER DEFENSE OFFICIAL ERKIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000049 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2018 TAGS: PHUM MASS PGOV UZ SUBJECT: THIRD STRIKE FOR FORMER DEFENSE OFFICIAL ERKIN MUSAEV Classified By: POLOFF R. FITZMAURICE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) Summary: On January 14, the independent Ferghana.ru website posted an open letter from the wife of Erkin Musaev, a former Uzbek Ministry of Defense and UNDP official who was sentenced to a total of 20 years' imprisonment in 2006 and 2007 for espionage and corruption in three separate trials. The letter reported that Musaev had been severely beaten in prison recently and his health was in critical shape. Earlier on December 13, poloff met with his father and sister, who described how Musaev and four border guards were convicted of espionage in a third trial in September 2007. In the Spring of 2007, Musaev was reportedly severely beaten by National Security Service (NSS) officers after he refused to testify against the border guards. Musaev's family believed that the charges in all three trials were politically-motivated and that he was targeted because of his long-standing ties with the Embassy, NATO, and the United Nations. They hoped that Musaev would be eligible for amnesty, noting that he is officially registered as an invalid. In addition, the family requested the Embassy's assistance in procuring documentation from two AmCits which they believed would demonstrate Musaev's innocence in the third trial. The espionage charges against Musaev are utterly baseless, and while it is not possible for us to confirm the validity of the corruption charges against him from the second trial, they also appear exaggerated at the very least. End summary. ¶2. (C) Family members believed that Musaev was persecuted by Uzbek authorities because of his long-standing ties with the Embassy, NATO, and the United Nations. Musaev was the first Uzbek Ministry of Defense (MOD) official to participate in a DOD-sponsored exchange program. From 1995-1996, Musaev studied English at the Army Language Institute in San Antonio. From 1997 to 2001, Musaev served in Brussels as the main Uzbek MOD representative at NATO for the Partnership for Peace Program. After returning to Uzbekistan, Musaev served in the MOD's International Military Cooperation Department, where he was responsible for implementing military-technical cooperation programs with foreign countries. His family said that Musaev retired from the army in 2004 due to illness and he was officially registered as an "invalid of the second class." Before his arrest in February 2006, Musaev worked as a Country Manager for the Border Management in Central Asia (BOMCA) program, funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). LETTER FROM WIFE REPORTS MUSAEV SEVERELY BEATEN AGAIN -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On January 14, the independent Ferghana.ru website reprinted a letter, reportedly from Musaev's wife, reporting that Musaev has been severely beaten again in prison. The letter states that Musaev's father visited Musaev in prison "days before" and discovered that his face was bruised beyond recognition through severe beatings. The letter further alleges that Musaev has been denied medical attention and that his health was in critical condition. Poloff has so far been unable to confirm the letter's content with Musaev's father and sister. ¶4. (C) According to family members, Musaev's wife remains in Canada along with his two young children. Raykhona Musaeva and the children were traveling abroad on U.S. visas when Musaev was first arrested in February 2006 and they have not since returned to Uzbekistan. Musaeva and the two children received political refugee status in Canada and are currently in the process of becoming Canadian citizens. MUSAEV CONVICTED FOR THIRD TIME IN SEPTEMBER -------------- ¶5. (C) On December 13, poloff met with Aidjan Musaev and Hayriniso Musaeva, the father and sister of Erkin Musaev, a former Uzbek Ministry of Defense official who was imprisoned to 21 years' imprisonment in 2006 after being convicted in two separate trials of espionage and corruption. According to his family, Musaev was convicted again of espionage in a third trial at the Tashkent Military Court on September 23. As a result, his prison term was extended from 16 to 20 years. On December 14, Musaev's appeal of his latest conviction was rejected by the court. MUSAEV ALLEGEDLY TORTURED AFTER REFUSING TO TESTIFY -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Musaev's family members told poloff that Musaev was transferred in March 2007 from Bekabad Prison in Tashkent province, where he was serving his sentence stemming from his 2006 convictions, to the National Security Service (NSS) headquarters in Tashkent. Once there, he was asked to serve as a witness against four border guards who were accused of espionage and to provide false testimony against them. In return, the NSS officers allegedly offered to have his prison sentence reduced. After Musaev refused to testify, NSS officers approached Musaev's father and asked him to convince his son otherwise. Musaev's father refused to intervene, but his other son visited Musaev in prison and tried to convince his brother to testify, to no avail. Shortly afterwards, NSS officers reportedly beat Musaev on the head, causing a severe concussion. Musaev's family stated that he almost died from loss of blood before he could be brought to a hospital. MUSAEV MADE DEFENDANT IN TRIAL AGAINST BORDER GUARDS -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) As further punishment for refusing to testify against the border guards, Musaev was allegedly made a defendant in the same trial. According to Musaev's family, two of the border guard co-defendants in the trial, Ulugbek Abdusalomov and Alisher Fayziev, falsely testified against Musaev. Specifically, they alleged that Musaev introduced them in 2005 to an AmCit Washington Group International (WGI) employee in Termez, who tried to recruit them as spies and provided financing, through Musaev, for the 2005 Andijon uprising. Musaev's family confirmed that Musaev knew the two border guards from the time he worked on the BOMCA program at UNDP. On January 14, UNDP Resident Representative Fikret Akcura told DCM that he had asked other UNDP employees who had accompanied Musaev to Termez, and none of them had any recollection of Musaev introducing the two border guards to the AmCit WGI employee. ¶8. (C) Family members added that Musaev did not know the remaining two border guard co-defendants, Natayla Medjidova and Muratov (first name unknown),who were accused of passing on secrets to Abdusalomov and Fayziev. All of the border guard defendants, except for Medjidova, were convicted and received prison terms of between eight and 12 years. Musaev's lawyer in the trial, Farkhad Hatamov, told poloff that Medjidova's prison sentence was immediately commuted to three years' probation, but this has not been confirmed through other sources. FAMILY BELIEVES MUSAEV SHOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR AMNESTY -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) Musaev's father Aidjan reported being able to talk to his son during lunch breaks at the trial in September. The elder Musaev said his son was in poor health and appeared to have lost significant weight since he was first arrested in ¶2006. He noted that his son had a persistent cough, although he doubted that he was infected with tuberculosis. ¶10. (C) According to family members, Musaev was already in poor health before he was arrested and was officially registered as an "invalid of the second order" after retiring from the Ministry of Defense. Musaev reportedly suffered from high blood pressure and unspecified problems with his kidneys and stomach. Musaev's family believed that he should be eligible for amnesty given his status as an invalid (Note: The December 2007 amnesty includes "invalids" as a group of persons eligible for amnesty. End note.) MUSAEV CONVICTED OF ESPIONAGE AFTER FIRST TRIAL IN 2006 -------------- -------------- ¶11. (C) Musaev's troubles first began when he was arrested in February 2006 at the Tashkent airport as he was attempting to fly to Bishkek on official business for UNDP. Afterwards, Musaev was held incommunicado for two months in the basement of NSS headquarters in Tashkent. During this time, Musaev was reportedly tortured, enduring severe beatings to his head, chest, and feet, and forced to sign a confession that he had spied for the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations. On July 13, 2006, Musaev was convicted in a closed trial at the Tashkent Military Court of "treason" (criminal code article 157) and "disclosure of state secrets" (criminal code article 162) and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. MUSAEV CONVICTED OF CORRUPTION IN SECOND TRIAL -------------- - ¶12. (C) Musaev's second trial began the day after his first trial concluded. This time, he was charged with committing fraud while employed at UNDP. Family members admitted that an investigation into Musaev's conduct at UNDP began in December 2005, but Musaev was not formally charged until his conviction in the first trial. In the second trial, Musaev was convicted of "abuse of office" (criminal code 301) and "negligence" (criminal code 302) and his prison term was extended by another year to a total of 16 years' imprisonment. ¶13. (C) The second case against Musaev hinged on the accusations of a local businesswomen, Rita Khasanova, who provided dogs for the Uzbek National Dog Training Center in Tashkent as part of the BOMCA program. Family members denied that Musaev had committed fraud, arguing that he was only involved in the program's operational aspects and not its finances. They were highly critical of UNDP Resident Representative Fikrat Akcura, who they accused of refusing to meet with them at first and then not doing enough to advocate on Musaev's behalf. They further argued that as a UNDP employee, he should be immune from prosecution by Uzbek authorities (Note: A December 24 article on the Radio Netherlands website quoted UNDP Legal Affairs Department Director James Provenzano as stating that Musaev was a temporary employee who was not entitled to such immunities. End note.) UNITED NATIONS INVOLVEMENT IN THE CASE -------------- ¶14. (C) In a meeting on January 14, UNDP Resident Representative Akcura told DCM that he believed that the charges against Musaev from the second trial were "fraudulent" and "trumped up." He also noted that UNDP tried to provide information to Musaev's attorney to use in his defense against the corruption charge (Note: Indeed, Musaev's family had earlier provided poloff a copy of written testimony from two UNDP project staff members relating to the corruption charge and which included a cover letter signed by Akcura. End note.) Akcura also noted that the United Nations has weighed in on the case with the GOU. In September 2007, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights communicated with the GOU via a diplomatic note sent by UNDP asking for elaboration on the corruption charges against Musaev and suggesting that it was improper for Musaev to be tried for corruption in a secret, military court rather than an open, civilian court. Akcura added that there was high-level United Nations interest in the case, noting that the Secretary-General's Office in New York had raised it with the Uzbek Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. The GOU reportedly responded to the UN inquiries by stating that the Musaev case was an internal matter. BOMCA OFFICIAL AND RETIRED DUTCH GENERAL ADVOCATE FOR MUSAEV -------------- -------------- ¶15. (C) On December 13, Musaev's family shared with poloff a recommendation letter written by BOMCA Regional Program Manager Philip Peirce. The letter, dated July 4, 2006, praises Musaev's "integrity, commitment, and significant managerial skills." Furthermore, the letter notes that UNDP conducted its own internal investigation into the allegations against Musaev and found that they were baseless. ¶16. (C) Musaev's family also provided poloff with a copy of a letter dated March 5, 207, addressed to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon from Ton Kolsteren, a retired SIPDIS Dutch General who worked together with Musaev on NATO's Partnership for Peace program. The letter argued that the UN is morally responsible for the protection of its employee and requested that the organization do "everything in its powers" to get Musaev released from prison. INTERNATIONAL PRESS ATTENTION -------------- ¶17. (C) Musaev's case has garnered limited attention in the international press. On its website on December 24, Radio Netherlands reported on Musaev's three convictions and was sharply critical of UNDP's failure to provide Musaev with legal assistance during his second trial. On December 26, the independent Muslim Uzbekistan website reported on Musaev's case, noting that the United Nations "has done little to help" him since his arrest. FAMILY SAYS GOU LARGELY IGNORED THEIR PLEAS -------------- ¶18. (C) The Musaev family said that they have tried to plead Musaev's case to several government officials, without much success. Musaev's father has tried for over a year to meet with Uzbek General Prosecutor Rashid Kadyrov. According to Uzbek law, the General Prosecutor is obliged to set a time aside to meet with aggrieved citizens at least once a month. However, Musaev's father stated that Kadyrov generally refuses to meet with anyone. Musaev's father said that he was able to meet with a Deputy General Prosecutor six months ago, who promised to look into the case but never produced an official response. ¶19. (C) The family said that they sent several letters pleading Musaev's case to Human Rights Ombudsman Sayyora Rashidova and were able to meet with her on one occasion. Interestingly enough, Rashidova reportedly told them that their best option was to acquire a recommendation letter on Musaev's behalf from the United Nations as a means of bringing greater international attention to the issue. They later received a letter from the Ombudsman's office (not signed by Rashidova) stating that the office had looked into the case and had determined that Musaev was guilty of the charges against him. FAMILY ASKS EMBASSY'S ASSISTANCE IN ACQUIRING DOCUMENTATION FROM AMCITS -------------- -------------- ¶20. (C) The Musaev family requested the Embassy's assistance in acquiring documentation or a letter from the WGI Amcit employee indicating that he actually arrived in Uzbekistan in 2006, and not in 2005 as alleged in court by Uzbek authorities. According to the family, Uzbek authorities further alleged that the WGI AmCit employee arrived in Uzbekistan using the passport of another AmCit. The family stated that the second AmCit briefly visited Uzbekistan as part of a Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) delegation in February 2005. The family also requested documentation or a letter from the second AmCit demonstrating that his passport was not used by the first AmCit to enter the country. Earlier, the Embassy's defense attache was able to provide the family a copy of the Embassy's former air attache's passport and Uzbek visa, clearly indicating when the air attache served in Uzbekistan. In Musaev's first trial, authorities alleged that Musaev conspired with the air attache to commit espionage, though the family contends that the air attache was not serving in Uzbekistan during the time when the espionage allegedly occurred. COMMENT -------------- ¶21. (C) We cannot independently confirm the family members' allegations, but they appear plausible. The espionage charges against Musaev are without merit, and though we are unable to confirm the validity of the corruption charges from the second trial, we suspect that they are trumped up at the very least. We believe that Uzbek authorities pursued all three cases against Musaev due to his strong links with the West. Post will try to contact the two AmCits in order to try to provide the additional documentation requested from the family, which we believe may help demonstrate the hollowness of the espionage allegations from the third trial against Musaev and the four border guards. NORLAND