KYRGYZ ALLIANCE OBSERVERS ALMOST BARRED FROM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000811

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZ ALLIANCE OBSERVERS ALMOST BARRED FROM
ELECTION

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Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Earle D. Litzenberger, Reason 1.
4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Late on July 22, on the eve of the July 23
presidential election, the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission
(CEC) called in members of the Alliance of Civic
Organizations regarding the Alliance's issuance of a "Final
Report" on the election. Concerned about the possibility
that the CEC would void the credentials of the Alliance's
3,000 domestic observers, the Charge intervened immediately
with Foreign Minister Sarbayev to thwart such action.
Sarbayev informed the Charge that the CEC had planned to take
such a step, but, he agreed that public statements by the
Alliance and the Embassy clarifying the "Final Report" issue
would help resolve the situation and, in the event, that
solution allowed the Alliance's 3,000 observers to monitor
the vote on election day. However, the CEC also claimed the
report was reissued during a blackout period before the
election, and the Prosecutor General is investigating the
allegation. End Summary.

Alliance Called In Over "Final Report"
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2. (SBU) On the eve of the July 23 Kyrgyz presidential
election, Scott Kearin, head of the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) office in Kyrgyzstan, contacted the Embassy
to report that the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission (CEC)
had voided the accreditation of nearly 3,000 domestic
observers affiliated with the Alliance of Civic Organizations
(Alliance). Kearin told Embassy that Alliance
representatives had been summoned to the CEC earlier on July
22, notified orally that the credentials had been revoked,
and advised of issues relating to the Alliance's July 17
final pre-election report. (Note: Alliance member
organizations have been the recipients of NDI and other
training. End Note.) The Alliance had issued what was
entitled in English a "Final Pre-Election Report," but which
in Russian was called a "Final Report," earlier in July.

Foreign Minister Unaware
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3. (C) Fortunately, at the time Embassy received this news,
the Charge was meeting Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev,
who was unaware of this development. Sarbayev, however, did
indicate that the Alliance's issuance of a "Final Report" on
an election which had not yet taken place raised concerns in
the Kyrgyz government. As barring the 3,000 observers would
severely tarnish Kyrgyzstan's reputation in the international
community, the Charge advised Sarbayev that even if the
report had been mistakenly labeled, "two wrongs do not make a
right." The Charge suggested that Kyrgyz authorities take a
positive step, keep to the high road, and not void the
credentials. Sarbayev soon left, but promised to "see what I
can do."

NDI Confirms "Mistake"
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4. (SBU) Later, NDI's Kearin called Embassy to confirm that
there had been a "mistake" in the report's title, but also
mentioned that Kyrgyz authorities had raised questions about
the timing of the report's release. Specifically, Kyrgyz
authorities pointed to internet publication of the report
within a pre-election window that bars such statements being
made. Kearin argued that the Alliance issued this report
before the deadline established in the electoral code, and
said that the internet site that reissued the report was not
under the Alliance's control.

Press Statements Attempt to Clarify
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5. (C) FM Sarbayev later informed the Charge that the CEC
planned to void the Alliance's credentials, but that he had
intervened to prevent this step. However, he requested that
the Alliance and the Embassy both issue statements clarifying
the title issue. The Charge contacted Kearin who agreed that
such a step could be arranged, and the Charge communicated
this agreement to Sarbayev, as well as Embassy's agreement to
issue a related statement. In Embassy's view, these actions
ensured participation of the Alliance observers in the
election. The Alliance later released a statement which
contested many issues related to the date of the report, but
conceded that "the content of the report reflected the
situation in the Kyrgyz Republic for the period up to July
15, 2009, and could not contain information about upcoming
events (the July 23 election)."


6. (U) The Embassy issued the following statement July 23:

"The United States places great importance on the role of
domestic and international observers in providing an
independent assessment of the conduct of elections. Final
assessments of an election, however, can only be completed
after the election has taken place. Earlier this month, the
Alliance of Civic Organizations issued its last pre-election
assessment of the July 23 Presidential election in the Kyrgyz
Republic. Unfortunately, the Russian language version of the
report was incorrectly titled, "Final Report." The Alliance
of Civic Organizations has issued a subsequent statement
clarifying that the report reflected its assessment of the
pre-election situation in the Kyrgyz Republic, and was not
its final report. The United States welcomes that
clarification, and welcomes the full participation of
domestic and international observers to the July 23
Presidential election in the Kyrgyz Republic."

Alliance Members Report to the Prosecutor General's Office
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7. (U) On July 23, the Prosecutor General's office "invited"
three key leaders of the Alliance to a meeting to discuss the
report. The Alliance representatives provided the Prosecutor
General's office an "explanation" of the timing of their
report and its release to mass media. They disavowed any
knowledge of the new internet release of the report
immediately prior to the election. The Alliance members
departed the meeting, and the Prosecutor General's office has
made no subsequent comments about its investigation into the
CEC's allegations against the Alliance.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) Although numerous irregularities appear to have
marred the election, we believe that we averted an even more
serious problem by intervening to secure the credentials of
this large group of domestic observers. The Foreign
Minister, who played a critical role in the negotiation of
the Transit Center arrangements, proved extraordinarily
helpful in this instance as well.
GFOELLER