UZBEK-EU ANDIJON DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS GENUINE, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000728 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS GM UZ SUBJECT: UZBEK-EU ANDIJON DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS GENUINE, BUT NOT SHARED WITH EU REF: TASHKENT 717 (NOTAL) Classified By: Political Officer Tim Buckley for reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) German Charge Rudiger Bohn verified to DCM that the two volume set of documents regarding the discussions between the Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) and the EU on Andijon in December 2006 and April 2007, which were shared by the MFA with the Embassy under cover of diplomatic note on April 25, are genuine. Bohn had a German Embassy Political Officer, who was at the table, review the two volumes. He described the documents as the GOU,s notes of the meetings conducted with the EU as well as copies of documents and photographs shown to the EU delegations. ¶2. (C) Curiously, the two volume set of documents has not been shared by the GOU with EU member states in Tashkent. Bohn has queried Brussels whether the GOU shared the two volumes at the EU headquarters, but as of June 20 had not received any response. He found it odd that the GOU would share them with the U.S. Embassy but not with the EU. He speculated the volumes were prepared to provide a documentary record for senior GOU officials and perhaps third parties, such as the U.S., who were not participants in the talks. Comment: -------------- ¶3. (C) Providing the U.S. Government with documents relating to the May 2005 Andijon events but not to the EU, the other side participating in these talks, suggests that the GOU is interested not only in setting the record straight from their point of view, but also in perhaps starting a conversation with the USG on Andijon. NORLAND