MIFFED ABOUT INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND VOTE, TAJIK FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 000514

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/27/2019
TAGS: PREL EFIN ASEC CVIS PHUM EAID TI
SUBJECT: MIFFED ABOUT INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND VOTE, TAJIK FOREIGN
MINISTER VENTS

REF: A) DUSHANBE 508 B) DUSHANBE 310 C) DUSHANBE 48

DUSHANBE 00000514 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: TRACEY A JACOBSON, AMBASSADOR, EXE, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: With the Tajik government highly annoyed that
the United States dared to oppose a new IMF loan, Foreign
Minister Zarifi called in the Ambassador April 27, accompanied
by the DCM and RSO. In a departure from normal practice, Zarifi,
who is comfortable in both Russian and English, insisted on
conducting the meeting in Tajik with interpretation.
Accompanied by a supporting phalanx of staff, he complained not
just about the IMF vote, but a long list of grievances,
including the U.S. Human Rights Report, U.S. comments on the
Religious Freedom Law, the use of "green zone" security
territory surrounding the Embassy, Embassy hiring practices and
visa issuance, and finally an alleged failure to inform MFA
about A/S Boucher's press conference April 21. The tenor of the
conversation suggested that the Embassy should deal exclusively
with the MFA in all our work, and not use information from
ordinary citizens, civil society, or opposition parties in
reporting and assessment. Zarifi contended that no third party
had any right to take action based on the special audit report
of the national bank.



The Ambassador told Zarifi that of course donors would consider
the audit report, which should be an impetus to undertake
serious economic reform. She welcomed the Minister raising the
human rights report as chance to elevate the dialogue on this
issue, but noted that we are obliged not only to prepare the
report annually, but also to include information from a variety
of sources outside government, including civil society and
opposition groups. On the Embassy perimeter zone, she secured
agreement to delay any immediate action until the June visit of
an OBO planning team (ref B and septel). Finally, she laid out
the internal controls in our hiring and visa review procedures
in detail. The IMF vote was the main substantive issue, but it
also provided Zarifi a pretext to demand what he has long wanted
-- more control over who we hire, how we work, and what we
report back to Washington. End Summary.



Unfriendly Gestures




2. (C) As predicted in reftel A, Foreign Minister Zarifi
convoked the Ambassador to a meeting to discuss "bilateral
relations," in an apparent fit of pique that the United States
had dared to oppose a new IMF loan (which was nonetheless
approved 23-1 on April 21.) Accompanied by the Head of
Diplomatic services, two staff from the North America Desk, the
head of MFA Consular Affairs and the MFA press office as well as
an interpreter, Zarifi set an unusually formal tone by
conducting the meeting in Tajik with interpretation.
Recognizing that the recently released executive summary of the
Ernst & Young Special Audit probably played a factor in our
opposition Zarifi claimed that it was not legitimate to use the
report as the basis for any kind of decision, and again
criticized A/S Boucher's mention of the missing money during his
meeting with the President on April 20. He read the audit's
disclaimer in full (in Russian) which noted that because so much
information was withheld from the auditors or destroyed the
numbers therein could not be certified as accurate. Zarifi
claimed that the audit therefore could not be considered
evidence of any wrongdoing. The Ambassador said that if the
audit did not provide proof that anything was stolen,
nonetheless it showed that over $500 million was not properly
accounted for, and donors would take that information into
consideration in designing future programs for Tajikistan. She
offered the Minister the U.S. Treasury statement on its
opposition to the loan, but he refused saying he was not
interested. He called the no vote an "unfriendly gesture." The
Ambassador noted because the United States is a major donor to
the IMF and other international financial institutions, we have
an obligation to ensure that U.S. taxpayers' funds reach the
people who need them and are not diverted for some other
purpose. She noted that the United States wants to work with
Tajikistan to help its development, including in the energy
sector, and that we would continue projects to help improve
agriculture and the business environment. We are willing to
help facilitate a dialogue with neighbors if that would be
useful. But she also noted that improving the management of
Tajik's national resources and economic practices were
prerequisites for real economic growth, and over the long term,
real Tajik sovereignty. Tajikistan will not be able to overcome
its reliance on donor funding until it undertakes serious
reform, and the audit should be an impetus.




DUSHANBE 00000514 002.3 OF 003


Human Rights and Religious Freedom




3. (SBU) After the obligatory diplomatic language about the
importance of our bilateral relationship and the Minister's
satisfaction with the work of the embassy, Zarifi launched into
a complaint about the U.S. human rights report, calling it
inaccurate and biased and an interference in internal affairs.
He said Tajikistan discussed these issues with international
organizations but did not recognize it as a valid topic for the
bilateral relationship. He complained that Embassy staff had
discussed the religion law with Tajik citizens and opposition
parties and said if we had concerns we should address them to
the government and more specifically to the MFA, and not engage
in a "provocative" dialogue with individuals outside of
government. He suggested that the United States look to its own
problems with human rights, for example Guantanamo and the war
in Iraq. The Ambassador noted we were mandated by law to
compile the report using the widest variety of sources, both in
and outside the government. The more information the government
gives us the better the report would be. She noted that human
rights in the United States is a broad and constant topic both
inside and outside the country, but only through listening to
constructive criticism could we hope to make improvements to our
policies. She also noted that in our discussions on the election
law and religion law, we have not made bilateral recommendations
but supported recommendations of international organizations
like the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe and
United Nations.



Green Zone




4. (SBU) Zarifi raised the Embassy's control over the 20 meter
perimeter around its compound, known as the "Green Zone," saying
that we had no right to this property, had not paid for it, and
needed to remove the guard booths and perimeter fence on this
property. The Ambassador handed over the diplomatic
correspondence on the issue dating back to 2002. The first was a
diplomatic note from the United States saying that before
entering the lease for Embassy property we requested written
agreement that the Embassy would be allowed to control for
security purposes a 20 meter perimeter zone. She also offered
the MFA's reply noting receipt of our diplomatic note and
forwarding a letter from the City administration granting the
United States control of that territory. The Minister claimed
that the City administration letter was not valid and that only
the MFA could approve an agreement with a foreign mission. The
Ambassador pointed out that since the MFA sent us the City's
letter under the cover of a diplomatic note, we had relied on it
as approved by MFA. Zarifi maintained his claim that it was not
valid, but agreed to the Ambassador's request, that in view in
the recent increase in surveillance of the Embassy, we could
wait until a visiting OBO team came in June to discuss the
matter before any current structures were removed. The
Ambassador also pointed out the Embassy does not use the
territory or guard booths, which are rather used by Tajik
security staff protecting the Embassy. In view of this the RSO
will inform the State Committee for National Security that the
current structures might soon be removed. By septel we will be
requesting DS and OBO assistance in maintaining embassy
security.



Embassy Functions




5. (C) Zarifi claimed that the hiring of staff at the U.S.
Embassy was controlled by a corrupt regional mafia who hired
their friends and relatives. He further claimed that local
consular staff arranged visas in exchange for bribes and
consulate gave visas to criminals or people escaping child
support payments or court cases. The Ambassador acknowledged
that she was aware of the rumors about a "hiring mafia" but in
fact all hiring was done by Americans with controls in place to
ensure local staff could not influence the process. She also
described internal controls in the visa process. She noted that
there are groups in Tajikistan who tell applicants they can help
them get a visa for a fee, so we have a robust public diplomacy
effort including media and universities to explain that no one
needs to deal with a middleman to get a visa. The Ambassador
noted that we had requested the government to share information
on criminals and terrorists so we could include them in the
database and avoid inadvertently issuing visas to such people.

DUSHANBE 00000514 003.2 OF 003


She said that the embassy wanted to take Tajik government
information into consideration when making visa decisions - real
information on court rulings, arrests, etc., would be welcome.
However, we cannot refuse a visa based solely on a call from
someone inside or outside the government that is not backed up
by documentation. She suggested that the MFA adopt a policy
along the lines of the State Department's practice of refusing
passports to parents in arrears on their child support. (Note:
Last year, Zarifi raised one on one with the Ambassador the case
of the son of a friend, who had left his first wife and
"immigrated illegally to the United States to avoid paying child
support." The parents wanted him returned to Tajikistan.
Ambassador explained that the individual had a valid marriage
according to Tajik law, and also had a valid immigrant visa, and
that the embassy could not revoke a visa or deport a legal
immigrant on the basis of an oral request). Zarifi asked that
the Embassy provide a list of local employees to the Ministry.
The Ambassador agreed to provide a list, but noted that we
already requested the Ministry to provide a background check on
anyone before we hired them (which led the surprised Minister to
check with his staff for confirmation).




6. (C) Comment: The IMF vote was the main substantive issue,
but it also provided Zarifi a pretext to demand what he has long
wanted -- more control over who we hire, how we work, and what
we report back to Washington. We suspect there is also a
financial incentive - we have heard from the head of diplomatic
services that if the MFA can get information that leads to the
collection of unpaid taxes (from local employees and landlords,
for instance),or rental fees (for example, for the perimeter
around the Embassy) then the MFA gets to keep a cut. The
Ambassador will be briefing the European Missions about our IMF
vote and the Tajik response on April 28.
JACOBSON