HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH DIRECTOR STILL WAITING FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000508

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH DIRECTOR STILL WAITING FOR
ACCREDITATION

REF: A. 07 TASHKENT 1345


B. TASHKENT 465

TASHKENT 00000508 001.2 OF 002


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


1. (C) Summary: More than two months after applying for
accreditation with the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights
Watch Director Igor Vorontsov still has not received any
indication from the Ministry on whether he will be accredited
or not. According to a Cabinet of Ministers resolution from
2003, the Ministry is supposed to provide a decision on
accreditation within one month of receiving an application.
Vorontsov told poloff that he is content to wait for a
decision until May, at which point he plans to force the
government's hand by increasing his activities. In the
meanwhile, Vorontsov's travel to the regions has been largely
unrestricted. We believe that it is possible that the
government might be waiting until after the European Union's
formal decision on whether to sustain or not a suspension of
visa sanctions against selected Uzbek officials before making
a decision in Vorontsov's case. We will continue to raise
Vorontsov's accreditation in our discussions with government
officials. End summary.


NEITHER ACCREDITATION NOR EXPLANATION FORTHCOMING
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Vorontsov originally applied for accreditation with
the Justice Ministry on February 19. According to Vorontsov,
the Ministry is obliged to provide a decision on
accreditation within one month of receiving an application.
Vorontsov forward to poloff an extract from Cabinet of
Ministers Resolution number 543 from December 2003, which
states that the Ministry of Justice is to issue a personal
accreditation card within one month of receiving an
application (Note: The Embassy's Legal Affairs FSN verified
that this resolution is still in effect and agreed with
Vorontsov's interpretation of it. End note.) Vorontsov has
repeatedly called the Ministry for explanation, but he has
been told nothing except that his application remains
pending.


3. (SBU) Human Rights Watch, which remains registered in
Uzbekistan, was forced to temporarily close its doors in
Tashkent in July 2007 after its last remaining expatriate
staff member was denied accreditation (ref A). The office
reopened with Vorontsov's arrival in February. As a Russian
citizen, Vorontsov did not need a visa to enter Uzbekistan,
but he still needs to receive accreditation to continue
working in the country. While awaiting his accreditation,
Vorontsov has limited some of his activities in Uzbekistan.
For example, he has refrained from talking directly to the
press or monitoring trials, and has somewhat limited his
travels around the country.

"SILENCE IS ACCEPTANCE"
--------------


4. (C) On April 21, poloff asked Vorontsov for his thoughts
on the Dutch government's proposal to tie in concrete EU
sanctions and Vorontsov's accreditation (ref B). Vorontsov
was ambivalent, saying HRW was content to wait until the EU
made its own decision. He added that, sometime in May, if
accreditation is not forthcoming, HRW has decided he will
just start acting as if he is accredited and see what
happens. Referring to the Ministry of Justice's lack of
responsiveness, Vorontsov quoted the Russian saying that
"silence is acceptance."

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH TRAVELS TO THE REGIONS
--------------


5. (C) During the week of March 31st, Vorontsov and Sasha
Petrov (the former deputy director of HRW's Moscow office,
and now a HRW consultant) traveled for several days to
Jizzakh, Samarkand, and the Ferghana Valley to meet with

TASHKENT 00000508 002.3 OF 002


activists who had been recently amnestied and released from
prison. Since he lacked accreditation, Vorontsov anticipated
that authorities might try to interfere with his travel.
However, he noted that authorities largely did not interfere
with the trip, and he was able to meet with five of the six
human rights activists who had been amnestied since February.
Vorontsov said that he was unable to get in contact with
Andijon-based activist Gulbahor Turayeva, and speculated that
she might be seeking to avoid contact with other human rights
activists at the moment (Comment: Separately, poloff was told
by another Andijon-based activist that Turayeva still
appeared to be under heavy surveillance, despite her recent
amnesty, but this has not been independently confirmed. End
comment.)

RECENTLY AMNESTIED ACTIVITS IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Vorontsov reported to poloff that the health of three
of the recently amnestied activists - Saidjahan Zaybiddinov,
Bobomurod Mavlanov, and Ulugbek Kattabekov - had suffered in
prison, and that they were in need of medical assistance.
Poloff has already submitted an application to provide
medical assistance to Zaybiddinov, and will provide
applications for Kattabekov and Mavlanov as soon as he is
able to gather the necessary information.

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


7. (C) As Vorontsov himself has speculated to poloff, it is
possible that the Uzbek government is determined to wait on
Vorontsov's accreditation until after the European Union
decides (perhaps on April 29) on whether it will continue a
suspension of the visa prohibition on selected Uzbek
officials. Now that it looks likely that the EU will
announce a continuation of the suspension of the ban, it is
possible, though far from certain, that Vorontsov will
receive a positive response on accreditation shortly. We
sincerely hope that the Uzbeks do not intend to delay a
decision on Vorontsov's accreditation until late June, when
the United States will consider whether to implement its own
visa ban against selected Uzbek officials. We will continue
to urge the Uzbeks to grant Vorontsov accreditation in our
discussions with government officials, and our delegation at
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) also discussed the issue during a private meeting with
the Uzbek Charge to the OSCE on April 28. Other diplomatic
missions, including the Germans, have weighed in with the
government to accredit Vorontsov.
NORLAND