HAZING PERSISTS IN THE TURKMEN ARMY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001109 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV MCAP KCRM SOCI TX SUBJECT: HAZING PERSISTS IN THE TURKMEN ARMY ¶1. (SBU) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Inherited from Soviet times, the practice of hazing still occurs widely in the Turkmen army. Recruits are usually hazed because of their ethnicity or tribal affiliation. As it can involve violations of human dignity and morale such as brutality, verbal abuse and rape, and it often results in physical injury, psychological damage, and suicide. The Turkmen Government keeps silent about this problem and does little to protect the soldiers' rights. Although military officers report that hazing has been decreasing during recent years, military death statistics indicate the opposite. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (U) BACKGROUND: "Dedovshchina" (literally "the rule of grandfather") is the term used for hazing in the Soviet and post-Soviet military. It refers to the relationship, in the form of violence, torture, and humiliation, between a soldier in his final half-year of conscription (referred to as a "ded"(grandfather) or "dembel" stemming from a vulgarization of the verb demobilize) and a soldier at the first half-year of conscription (referred in army slang as "dukh," or soul). END BACKGROUND. ¶4. (SBU) The practice of hazing in the Turkmen military is a carry-over from Soviet times. The practice accelerated dramatically in the 1990s and still occurs widely. Hazing in the Turkmen army is usually based on ethnic, geographic or tribal affiliation. Soldiers from minority tribes are reportedly hazed more than others. According to one source who did military service in Mary city in 2003-2005, conscripts from Lebap and Dashoguz provinces were hazed more in their military units than the conscripts from Mary or Ashgabat. Meanwhile, another source who did his military service in 2000-2001 at Ashgabat's military unit 1002 belonging to the Ministry of Interior Affairs claimed that hazing is a tradition and every soldier recruited for military service sees it. "It doesn't matter which tribe you are from," this source continued, "it's all about behavior and tolerance. If you do what dembel wants you to do, than you become "chmo" (the abbreviation for "chelovek moralno opushenny" - slang meaning morally disgraced person) and everyone keeps hazing you all the time. If you don't do what the dembel orders you to do, than you were beaten. If you report about it to the officers the next day, then you become a "kozel" (goat in Russian, slang meaning snitch),and that is even worse than chmo, no one talks to you after that and you may be hazed to death. If you don't report that you were beaten, than you may be beaten a couple more times, but after a while the dembels stop hazing you and you may become "polozhenets"(respected person),if dembels find you as a cool guy." ¶5. (SBU) Hazing harms physically as well as psychologically. Bayram, who performed military service in 2003-2004 at the military unit 20040 of Ashgabat, says that dedovshchina was not habitual beating, but a culture or philosophy. According to Bayram, hazing involved different "games," like "plov" (a traditional Turkmen dish),when a dembel invited a dukh to eat plov. "If the dukh accepted the offer, dembel then asked him to bring a spoon. When the dukh brought a spoon, dembel hit the top of the dukh's fingers with the spoon. After a couple of hits, the dukh's fingers become dark blue and nails become black or fall out the next day." Another "game" Bayram described was "breath." The dukh took a deep breath and the dembel punched the dukh in the chest while dukh held his breath. A couple such punches could lacerate the lungs, which used to happen quite often to conscripts. As an example of psychological hazing, Bayram described roll-calls conducted by dembels. "The dembel screamed an animal name to a group of dukhs, who were supposed to respond with the sound that the animal normally produces." ¶6. (SBU) For most ex-conscripts, dedovshchina is associated with the "toilet cleaning" ritual, the worst of all the dembels' games. One of the sources, reiterating his military experience at Ashgabat's military unit 20016 belonging to the Honor Guard ASHGABAT 00001109 002 OF 003 Squadron, told how he went through this "ritual." "Me and nine other newly-arrived conscripts were taken to the bathroom by a dembel on the first day of our service. We were lined up in the bathroom and the dembel handed a dirty piece of cloth to each of us and ordered us to clean the toilets. Cleaning a toilet is "zapadlo" (disgracing action). I refused to take the cloth and was immediately hit in my chest. All the others who also refused with me were beaten by the dembel. Only two guys among us took the cloth after several punches. After that, they became "chmo." Nobody respected them and they were the ones who then cleaned toilets everyday. Sometimes dembels made them clean the toilets with a toothbrush, which was basically just for fun. Many "chmos" who couldn't stand hazing committed suicide. It is quite common that conscripts commit suicide in the army because of hazing." ¶7. (SBU) Meanwhile, military officers claim that the trend of dedovshchina has diminished in the past couple of years as the military service conditions have improved. According to a Senior Lieutenant from the military division of Bekreve, dedovshchina occurs very rarely. Describing the soldiers daily life, the Senior Lieutenant said, "Soldiers get up at six in the morning do physical exercise from six-thirty to seven, then go to breakfast. They line up for roll-call at eight. From nine to ten they take classes; from ten to eleven they do the territory clean-up. From 1100 to 1700, soldiers watch TV in barracks. No activity is allowed for soldiers during this time due to the hot weather, except for a walk to cafeteria for lunch. At 1800, they go to dinner and after that they watch TV in barracks till 2200. They have good food including meat, potatoes, and melons. Their barracks are equipped with satellite TV dishes. There is no time to think about dedovshchina in the army. Officers watch soldiers all the time. We stay with them in the barracks day and night." However, the Senior Lieutenant admitted that on some occasions officers or dembels have no other choice but to "punish" soldiers who do not obey orders. "I once hit a soldier on the head with a stool because he refused to sweep the territory," the source said. "I explained to him that territory clean up was not "zapadlo," but he refused, and I took a stool and hit him," confessed the officer. ¶8. (SBU) Dedovshchina is a crime that the Turkmen government prefers not to talk about. No official statistics have been published on crimes committed in the military, although a source from the Ashgabat Central Directorate for Military Health reported that the military death statistics and suicides for 2008 have been significantly high compared to previous years, even though the length of compulsory military service was reduced from two years to a year and a half in 2008. Reportedly, the majority of these death cases were related to military hazing. Usually, officers conceal hazing incidents. For instance, a military source reported that the officers at a military unit in Ashgabat hid the suicide note of a conscript, who hung himself after being hazed. Although the conscript wrote in the message that he was beaten and raped by the dembels, the military unit's administration told his parents that he hung himself because of his girlfriend. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: The officer's description of a typical soldier's day seems excessively positive, especially the claim that soldiers get meat, potatoes and melons. We've heard that soldiers not getting enough to eat is one reason people pay bribes to get their family members to serve near home ... so Mom can feed her poor son. One possible method to combat dedovshchina would be the implementation of a professional non-commissioned officer corps and a professional military. A few years ago, CENTCOM advocated for NCO academies throughout Central Asia. Certainly no one will volunteer for service if they think they're in for a beating. In any case, Turkmenistan seems quite happy with its conscript military, so drastic changes to current practices are not in the offing. ¶10. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: Article 16 of the Law on the Status and Social Protection of a Military Serviceman, issued August 31, 2009, states that the State guarantees the health and life of a ASHGABAT 00001109 003 OF 003 military serviceman. This law alone will not stop the persistent practice of dedovshchina in the Turkmen military, but it could be a first step in combating its prevalence. In order for progress to take place, however, old attitudes will need to change, such as that of the Senior Lieutenant who said skeptically "dedovshchina existed, exists and will exist, if there are at least two people in the army." END COMMENT. CURRAN