UZBEKISTAN: EQUIPMENT DELIVERY WILL ASSIST BORDER

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000661

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN, EXBS FOR JEFF HARTSHORN, T (TIM
KATSAPIS)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2018
TAGS: PBTS ASEC PREL PGOV PTER KNNP UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: EQUIPMENT DELIVERY WILL ASSIST BORDER
SECURITY EFFORTS, POSSIBLY INCLUDING AFGHANISTAN

Classified By: Poloff Steven Prohaska for reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) Summary: The Deputy Chief of Mission and Emboffs
provided Uzbekistan's State Customs Committee with
radioisotope identification devices worth approximately
90,000 USD during a June 6 ceremony at the Higher Military
Customs Institute in Tashkent. Deputy Customs Chairman
Rustam Mansurov expressed his deep gratitude to the United
States for the equipment that will assist Uzbekistan's
efforts to enhance border security and prevent the spread of
narcotics and items of proliferation concern. Customs
officials then provided a tour of the state-of-the-art
facility--which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars
in U.S. assistance--describing how personnel are selected and
trained, what equipment they use, and what changes Customs is
implementing. The officials also appeared receptive to
assisting their Afghan counterparts. We were impressed with
the quality of the institute and the expertise of the
officials present. The event underscores the value of the
Export Control and Related Border Security program in
furthering our mutual counterproliferation interests, and the
investment in equipment and training is sure to provide
additional dividends down the road as more personnel are
trained at this academy. End summary.


2. (SBU) The Deputy Chief of Mission and Emboffs visited the
Higher Military Customs Institute on June 6 to deliver ten
Aspect MKC-A03 radioisotope identification devices (RIIDs),
provided by the Export Control and Related Border Security
(EXBS) program, to Uzbekistan's State Customs Committee. The
hand-held RIIDs, each worth approximately 9,000 USD, will
boost Customs officers' ability to detect radioactive
materials of proliferation concern. Deputy Customs Chairman
Rustam Mansurov welcomed the DCM and Emboffs to the
institute, thanking them on behalf of Customs leadership for
the devices as well as millions of dollars in EXBS-provided
equipment in recent years. Mansurov assured the U.S. side
that all U.S.-provided equipment is used regularly, and that
it plays an important role in Uzbekistan's counternarcotics
and counterterrorism efforts. He also remarked that about 50
Customs officials have received training in the United
States, and expressed hope that cooperation and interaction
with the United States will grow.


3. (SBU) The Deputy Chief of Mission noted that the handover
ceremony was the latest in a series of Embassy/EXBS equipment
deliveries to the academy that have taken place in recent
years, and described the many types of technical
equipment--including computers, projectors, radiation and
metal detectors, Product Acoustic Signature Systems, and
Geiger Counters--the institute has received. The DCM said
that with each piece of specialized equipment comes training,
and hailed the institute as the perfect place for such
training. He said that the United States has been pleased
and proud to cooperate with Uzbekistan in counterterrorism
and counternarcotics, and expressed hope that cooperation
between the United States Government and the Government of
Uzbekistan will continue in support of our mutual goals.

A Tour of the Higher Military Customs Institute
-------------- --


4. (SBU) Customs officials then escorted the DCM and Emboffs
on a tour of the Higher Military Customs Institute. A
E

Customs official explained that this is a relatively new
institute that had opened in 2003, and that while Customs has
a total personnel strength of roughly 4,000, only 125
personnel from one class have received a degree from this
academy so far. Officials noted that most students undergo a
four-year program, and currently about 500 students
(including about 20 women) study at the academy. The second
class will graduate at the end of June. A highly selective
institute, some 20 applicants apply for each available slot,
and the institute accepts students based on their
intelligence and physical condition. Emboffs strode across
pristine marble floors, with a massive blown-up photograph of
President Karimov--lifting a Customs official off the ground
in a bear hug--adorning one wall.


5. (SBU) The officials showed Emboffs a series of rooms and
laboratories replete with computers, life-size mock-ups of
Customs registration booths, and even a fully functional
Yantar-1P Aspect radiation portal monitor. In some cases
they pointed out equipment that had been provided by EXBS,
and praised how it helps Customs to fulfill its objectives.
Some of the institute's instructors are visiting specialists
and others have been recruited from universities in Tashkent.


Details on Customs Training
--------------


6. (SBU) Customs officials explained that students are
separated into Russian-speaking and Uzbek-speaking groups for
training. (The Russian group is smaller, one said.) The
institute also organizes trips to the theater and elsewhere
to improve the language skills of students who are having
difficulties with Russian, and does the same for those who
have trouble with Uzbek. The officials also said that each
training week has recently been lengthened from 36 hours to
48 hours per week, and that many other changes are going into
effect in Customs. The officials noted that the institute
offers three kinds of training: the standard four-year
program, shorter three-month training courses, and refresher
training for experienced personnel. Some of the training is
computer based, and the officials demonstrated sophisticated
UNODC-developed software with activities corresponding to
real-life situations.


7. (C) The institute also uses real-life examples of how
Uzbekistan has interdicted radioactive materials in their
training courses, the officials continued. One official
explained that sometimes smugglers will hide items of
proliferation concern with large quantities of naturally
irradiated materials during attempts to cross points of
entry, and noted that Customs once found such an item hidden
in the center of a truck.


8. (SBU) They remarked that the Vice President of the World
Customs Organization recently visited the Customs institute,
and so their academy may gain international status soon. The
officials also appeared receptive to the DCM's suggestion
that the institute train Afghan counterparts.


9. (SBU) The officials then showed Emboffs the institute's
sports center, gymnasiums, swimming pool, track, teahouse,
and library. The library has more than 2000 digitial books,
which the institute selected and then contracted out to be

digitized. Selected items in the library, which included a
book and video entitled "Visit to America" about President
Karimov's 2002 trip to the United States, prominently
displayed photos of President Bush meeting with President
Karimov.

Combating the Circulation of Fake Currency
--------------


10. (SBU) Customs also trains its personnel to find
counterfeit currency, including U.S. dollars. The officials
noted that all points-of-entry in Uzbekistan are equipped
with fake currency detectors. They said that some people
from Morocco who were producing fake currency were
apprehended in Tashkent about two weeks ago. The officials
said that Customs generally interrogates those who are
involved in such activities, starts a case, and then forwards
the case to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, National
Security Service, or General Prosecutor's Office, depending
on which law was broken.

Comment:
--------------


11. (C) We were impressed not only with the quality of the
Higher Military Customs Institute, but also the expertise of
the Customs officials we interacted with, who ably answered
our many questions on Customs operations and training. The
training and equipment that EXBS has provided is making an
impact on Uzbekistan's ability to detect and interdict items
of proliferation concern, and the dividends are sure to grow
as additional personnel are trained here. This institute also
has the potential to contribute to enhancing the security of
Afghanistan's borders if the Government of Uzbekistan does
indeed permit training of Afghan counterparts here.
NORLAND