UNHCR KYRGYZSTAN REVEALS DETAILS OF UZBEK REFUGEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BISHKEK 000940 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KG SUBJECT: UNHCR KYRGYZSTAN REVEALS DETAILS OF UZBEK REFUGEE DISAPPEARANCE BISHKEK 00000940 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On August 19, Poloff met with Anya Nee, the national protection officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),to discuss the recent case of an Uzbek refugee who disappeared near his temporary home in Bishkek, only to reappear one week later in Osh. Nee also addressed the ongoing dispute between the UNHCR and the Kyrgyz government over the registration of refugees from certain countries. In addition, Nee shared new information about a developing problem with stateless women in southern Kyrgyzstan. End Summary. THE CASE OF SANJAR KHUDAIBERGANOV -------------- ¶2. (C) Nee informed Poloff that Sanjar Khudaiberganov, the Uzbek refugee who disappeared on July 30 and reappeared on August 6, was currently holed up in his Bishkek apartment waiting for the UNHCR to complete his resettlement process. Khudaiberganov, an Uzbek citizen and former captain in the Uzbek Ministry of Interior (MVD),is the older brother of Iskander Khudaiberganov. According to Nee and local media reports, Uzbek authorities arrested Iskander in November 2002 and sentenced him to death for terrorism, Islamic extremism, and conspiracy to overthrow the constitutional order. ¶3. (C) Iskander's family maintained his innocence, claiming that he was not an extremist but merely a devout Muslim. (Note: The fact that Iskander was a human rights activist and chairman of the Democratic Initiatives Center may have been more provocative to the Uzbek government than his religious devotions. Moreover, at the invitation of the International League for Human Rights, Iskander traveled to the U.S. in March 2001 to attend the 71st Session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. During this visit, he met with the Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at State, the Helsinki Commission, National Endowment for Democracy, and other non-governmental organizations. End Note.) ¶4. (C) Khudaiberganov told Nee that his sister led the charge to advocate for Iskander's release, joining the group Mother's Against Torture and attracting international media attention. She eventually forced the government to reduce the sentence to life imprisonment but his family endured significant pressure from the Uzbek authorities. Nee said that Sanjar's sister, together with most of his family, fled to Kyrgyzstan last year and have since been resettled in Sweden by the UNHCR. Khudaiberganov and his 11-year old son fled Uzbekistan weeks after the rest of his family. The UNHCR intended to send the entire Khudaiberganov family together but, because of his background as a low-level officer with the Uzbek MVD, the extensive analysis conducted by the UNHCR delayed the vetting process for Sanjar. ¶5. (C) Nee interviewed Khudaiberganov after his disappearance and relayed the details to Poloff. Khudaiberganov said that he was awaiting resettlement procedures by the UNHCR when, on July 30, "unknown Uzbek speakers" abducted him and his son, Sarvarbek, outside his Bishkek apartment, transported him to southern Kyrgyzstan and across an unknown Uzbek border, and interrogated him for several days about his brother, Iskander. The abductors allegedly released Khudaiberganov's son to his in-laws during the interrogation process. Khudaiberganov told Nee that the questioning made him think that Iskander had escaped and the Uzbek authorities were trying to find him. After several days of interrogation, the unidentified Uzbek men allowed Khudaiberganov to return to Kyrgyzstan, but only after he agreed to help them find his brother. BISHKEK 00000940 002.2 OF 003 ¶6. (C) The UNHCR ascertained Khudaiberganov to be psychologically traumatized and provided him with counseling and other social assistance. Khudaiberganov reported that, in recent years, he had been pressured by other Uzbek MVD officers, interrogated about his family's human rights activities, and eventually fired from his job. Nee said that the previous stresses, coupled with the recent abduction, had "seriously traumatized" the refugee. According to Nee, the UNHCR planned to resettle Khudaiberganov and his son in Sweden, reuniting them with the rest of their family. Nee also reported that the Kyrgyz are still deliberating whether or not to open an investigation into the abduction. PROBLEMS WITH REFUGEE REGISTRATION -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Nee reported that the Kyrgyz government's refusal to register newly arriving refugees from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, a problem since June 2008, was ongoing. Upon arrival to Kyrgyzstan, the UNHCR registers refugees from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria and provides them with proper identification cards and other documentation. However, the Kyrgyz government changed its policies for refugees from these countries and refuses to register them with the State Committee for Migration and Employment. According to Nee, approximately 400 refugees held UNHCR registration but lacked Kyrgyz government documentation. For the moment, Nee said, the Kyrgyz MVD recognized the UNHCR documents, which allowed for some protection from police harassment during random identification checks on the streets of Bishkek. ¶8. (C) The Kyrgyz government also refused to register Uzbek citizens (with the exception of Uzbeks joining family members already resettled). Nee claimed that the Kyrgyz government's decision to end an agreement with the UNHCR regarding Uzbek refugees, which granted legal status and protections, would leave them vulnerable to repatriation back to Uzbekistan. The Kyrgyz government informed the UNHCR that its change in stance on incoming refugees, many of which arrived by crossing the borders illegally, would aid in the fight against illegal migration. NEW GROUP OF STATELESS PERSONS DISCOVERED -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Nee told Poloff that a UNHCR-commissioned survey on statelessness in southern Kyrgyzstan revealed a serious issue of statelessness among Uzbek women who married Kyrgyz men in the last 10-15 years. Over the years, these women's Uzbek passports have expired. In addition, the Kyrgyz and Uzbek governments do not have a bilateral agreement for expedited change in citizenship, which prevents the Kyrgyz government from allowing the Uzbek women to become citizens of Kyrgyzstan. This predicament leaves the Uzbek women without any official documents from either country. Nee said that the Uzbek women lacked the proper identification to legally cross into Uzbekistan and were unable to attain the appropriate registration, legal address, or other documents required for a new Uzbek passport. ¶10. (C) Nee claimed that Kyrgyzstan wanted to avoid any dispute with Uzbekistan and, therefore, dismissed the need for resolving the Uzbek women's statelessness. Kyrgyz officials told Nee that they were "protecting the bilateral relationship and preserving regional stability" by ignoring the problem of statelessness among Uzbek wives to Kyrgyz men. This stance, Nee asserted, prevents these women from working in legitimate jobs, receiving social benefits, or accessing medical care at the government rate. Nee estimated that several thousand women in southern Kyrgyzstan lacked official documentation BISHKEK 00000940 003.2 OF 003 COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (C) The UNHCR did not release the details of the Khudaiberganov case because there are still a number of unanswered questions about the abduction and his subsequent return. With or without answers to their questions, the UNHCR decided to advance the resettlement process and hopes to relocate Khudaiberganov and his son as soon as possible. Although Nee gave the impression that there were significant holes in Khudaiberganov's story, she continued to affirm that he was a legitimate case for asylum and should be resettled immediately. GFOELLER