Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASTANA625
2009-04-13 09:47:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Astana
Cable title:
KAZAKHSTAN: OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE RELATIVELY
how-toVZCZCXRO8248 PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHTA #0625/01 1030947 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 130947Z APR 09 FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5150 INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 1484 RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0862 RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0549 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1565 RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY 1047 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY 0961 RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 2596 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2266
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000625
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, EEB, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EAID SOCI KDEM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE RELATIVELY
OPTIMISTIC, SEEKS TO DEFINE ITS ROLE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000625
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, EEB, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EAID SOCI KDEM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE RELATIVELY
OPTIMISTIC, SEEKS TO DEFINE ITS ROLE
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Soros Foundation's Open Society
Institute's (OSI) Executive Director in Kazakhstan judges
that the government of Kazakhstan's political will to provide
access to government-related information is "spotty but
encouraging." She laments lack of attention to vulnerable
groups, including terminally ill patients and sexual
minorities. She questions the government's political will to
increase freedom of expression. She said OSI intends to
focus its programmatic attention this year on young business
leaders. Freely admitting OSI in the recent past has had
somewhat of an adversarial relationship with other donors
concerned with democracy and human rights, she said she
intends to seek greater communication and cooperation with
the donor community. END SUMMARY.
3. (SBU) The Ambassador met with the Soros Foundation's Open
Society Institute (OSI) Executive Director Anna Alexandrova
(a Canadian citizen of ethnic-Russian origin) in Almaty on
April 10. He asked for her candid evaluation of Kazakhstan's
status on democracy and human rights. She responded that she
is divided on this question, but relatively optimistic. On
the one hand, she sees real momentum forward, backed by
apparently sincere political will from the top, on a number
of important issues, including increased transparency, at the
same time that the government's commitment to freedom of
expression and attention to most-vulnerable groups is lagging.
ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION SPOTTY BUT GETTING BETTER
4. (SBU) Alexandrova praised the Government of Kazakhstan's
apparently sincere commitment to complete the validation for
the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
She said she was especially encouraged that a number of
senior Kazakhstani officials are fully committed, and even
enthusiastic, about meeting this international goal. Further
on transparency, she said OSI has completed a survey of
Government of Kazakhstan web sites and has found "significant
political will" to provide citizens access to government
information. She said the Accounting Committee's web site is
"superb" with its detailed information about the national
budget and spending priorities, the web site www.zakon.kz
that posts legislative information is "spotty but generally
encouraging, and the Ministry of Interior's web site is
"surprisingly not bad." She judged the worst web site for
providing the public access to policy and information is the
Ministry of Education's.
MOST VULNERABLE GROUPS: TERMINALLY ILL AND SEXUAL MINORITIES
5. (SBU) Alexandrova said she personally would like to focus
OSI's attention on the "most vulnerable groups." She cited
two as of greatest concern -- terminally ill patients and
sexual minorities. She lamented that the Government of
Kazakhstan's health-care system does not guarantee terminally
ill patients access to pain-killing opiates. She said it is
an uphill battle to get anyone to pay attention to this need
because it's "such a foreign concept to the medical
establishment in Kazakhstan."
6. (SBU) She also expressed concern about the
Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender (GLBT) community, which she
mentioned was her professional focus before she came to
Kazakhstan. Alexandrova said OSI is in touch quietly with a
lesbian NGO, Amulet, led by an out-spoken ethnic-Russian
activist, and a gay NGO, Adilet (Justice),whose leadership
is more quiet. She said even though these small groups
desire to be more activist, they have little support from
their natural constituencies, because gay men and lesbians
tend to meet and socialize privately "below the radar" in
ASTANA 00000625 002 OF 002
Kazakhstan. Alexandrova alleged that a number of
high-profile government and business figures are gay and
lesbian, and that their lovers are well known "within certain
circles," but cultural standards prevent these big names from
"coming out." She noted that Almaty is well-known in Central
Asia as a sort of sexual-minority haven, with its several gay
and lesbian bars and nightclubs, which are, nevertheless,
subject to occasional police harassment, including
shake-downs of clients. She said the GLBT issue is not an
identified priority for OSI in Kazakhstan, although it's a
general OSI priority. Even so, she said she is personally
encouraging the handful of gay and lesbian activists to use
litigation to move their issues toward public recognition.
ETHNIC FRICTION
7. (SBU) Alexandrova said she is worried that ethnic
conflict is growing. When pressed to explain -- since this
judgment is generally contrary to common perception in
Kazakhstan -- she said that some ethnic Russians and other
"European" non-Kazakhs have complained to her privately that
they feel disadvantaged in independent Kazakhstan and would
prefer to return to the standards of the Soviet era. In
further discussion, she admitted this might simply be normal
post-colonial experience.
WHERE TO FOCUS?
8. (SBU) Alexandrova said she would like OSI to focus
attention on freedom of expression, where (she said)
"political will is lacking." Specifically, she cited
occasional attacks on journalists, and "unproven but
apparently official" harassment of opposition and independent
media web sites, especially against www.zona.kz and
www.respublika.kz When the Ambassador acknowledged these
problems but pointed out the surprising amount of political
debate and criticism of the government in the print media,
Alexandrova said she agreed; but she noted that the
international community tends not to monitor the day-to-day
press in detail and, thus, "doesn't get this nuance" because
foreign analysts focus mainly on high-profile problems.
OSI PRIORITIES?
9. (SBU) Alexandrova did not shy away from admitting OSI
needs to regain its footing in Kazakhstan. She freely stated
that her predecessor had employed "a bit of a
divide-and-conquer strategy," going it alone rather than
working with other donors committed to promoting democracy
and human rights. She said she sincerely hopes to repair the
damage this caused and re-establish communication and
cooperation. When asked where OSI intends to concentrate its
energies, Alexandrova lamented that OSI tends to work from "a
menu of global programs," rather than craft country-specific
agendas. She said the best compromise solution she has found
so far is for OSI to "choose from the menu" the theme of
"youth engagement," which means she will focus for this
current year on young business leaders. She praised the
"Bolashak Generation" as the great hope for the future of
Kazakhstan.
HOAGLAND
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, EEB, DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EAID SOCI KDEM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE RELATIVELY
OPTIMISTIC, SEEKS TO DEFINE ITS ROLE
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Soros Foundation's Open Society
Institute's (OSI) Executive Director in Kazakhstan judges
that the government of Kazakhstan's political will to provide
access to government-related information is "spotty but
encouraging." She laments lack of attention to vulnerable
groups, including terminally ill patients and sexual
minorities. She questions the government's political will to
increase freedom of expression. She said OSI intends to
focus its programmatic attention this year on young business
leaders. Freely admitting OSI in the recent past has had
somewhat of an adversarial relationship with other donors
concerned with democracy and human rights, she said she
intends to seek greater communication and cooperation with
the donor community. END SUMMARY.
3. (SBU) The Ambassador met with the Soros Foundation's Open
Society Institute (OSI) Executive Director Anna Alexandrova
(a Canadian citizen of ethnic-Russian origin) in Almaty on
April 10. He asked for her candid evaluation of Kazakhstan's
status on democracy and human rights. She responded that she
is divided on this question, but relatively optimistic. On
the one hand, she sees real momentum forward, backed by
apparently sincere political will from the top, on a number
of important issues, including increased transparency, at the
same time that the government's commitment to freedom of
expression and attention to most-vulnerable groups is lagging.
ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION SPOTTY BUT GETTING BETTER
4. (SBU) Alexandrova praised the Government of Kazakhstan's
apparently sincere commitment to complete the validation for
the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
She said she was especially encouraged that a number of
senior Kazakhstani officials are fully committed, and even
enthusiastic, about meeting this international goal. Further
on transparency, she said OSI has completed a survey of
Government of Kazakhstan web sites and has found "significant
political will" to provide citizens access to government
information. She said the Accounting Committee's web site is
"superb" with its detailed information about the national
budget and spending priorities, the web site www.zakon.kz
that posts legislative information is "spotty but generally
encouraging, and the Ministry of Interior's web site is
"surprisingly not bad." She judged the worst web site for
providing the public access to policy and information is the
Ministry of Education's.
MOST VULNERABLE GROUPS: TERMINALLY ILL AND SEXUAL MINORITIES
5. (SBU) Alexandrova said she personally would like to focus
OSI's attention on the "most vulnerable groups." She cited
two as of greatest concern -- terminally ill patients and
sexual minorities. She lamented that the Government of
Kazakhstan's health-care system does not guarantee terminally
ill patients access to pain-killing opiates. She said it is
an uphill battle to get anyone to pay attention to this need
because it's "such a foreign concept to the medical
establishment in Kazakhstan."
6. (SBU) She also expressed concern about the
Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender (GLBT) community, which she
mentioned was her professional focus before she came to
Kazakhstan. Alexandrova said OSI is in touch quietly with a
lesbian NGO, Amulet, led by an out-spoken ethnic-Russian
activist, and a gay NGO, Adilet (Justice),whose leadership
is more quiet. She said even though these small groups
desire to be more activist, they have little support from
their natural constituencies, because gay men and lesbians
tend to meet and socialize privately "below the radar" in
ASTANA 00000625 002 OF 002
Kazakhstan. Alexandrova alleged that a number of
high-profile government and business figures are gay and
lesbian, and that their lovers are well known "within certain
circles," but cultural standards prevent these big names from
"coming out." She noted that Almaty is well-known in Central
Asia as a sort of sexual-minority haven, with its several gay
and lesbian bars and nightclubs, which are, nevertheless,
subject to occasional police harassment, including
shake-downs of clients. She said the GLBT issue is not an
identified priority for OSI in Kazakhstan, although it's a
general OSI priority. Even so, she said she is personally
encouraging the handful of gay and lesbian activists to use
litigation to move their issues toward public recognition.
ETHNIC FRICTION
7. (SBU) Alexandrova said she is worried that ethnic
conflict is growing. When pressed to explain -- since this
judgment is generally contrary to common perception in
Kazakhstan -- she said that some ethnic Russians and other
"European" non-Kazakhs have complained to her privately that
they feel disadvantaged in independent Kazakhstan and would
prefer to return to the standards of the Soviet era. In
further discussion, she admitted this might simply be normal
post-colonial experience.
WHERE TO FOCUS?
8. (SBU) Alexandrova said she would like OSI to focus
attention on freedom of expression, where (she said)
"political will is lacking." Specifically, she cited
occasional attacks on journalists, and "unproven but
apparently official" harassment of opposition and independent
media web sites, especially against www.zona.kz and
www.respublika.kz When the Ambassador acknowledged these
problems but pointed out the surprising amount of political
debate and criticism of the government in the print media,
Alexandrova said she agreed; but she noted that the
international community tends not to monitor the day-to-day
press in detail and, thus, "doesn't get this nuance" because
foreign analysts focus mainly on high-profile problems.
OSI PRIORITIES?
9. (SBU) Alexandrova did not shy away from admitting OSI
needs to regain its footing in Kazakhstan. She freely stated
that her predecessor had employed "a bit of a
divide-and-conquer strategy," going it alone rather than
working with other donors committed to promoting democracy
and human rights. She said she sincerely hopes to repair the
damage this caused and re-establish communication and
cooperation. When asked where OSI intends to concentrate its
energies, Alexandrova lamented that OSI tends to work from "a
menu of global programs," rather than craft country-specific
agendas. She said the best compromise solution she has found
so far is for OSI to "choose from the menu" the theme of
"youth engagement," which means she will focus for this
current year on young business leaders. She praised the
"Bolashak Generation" as the great hope for the future of
Kazakhstan.
HOAGLAND