TAJIKISTAN: MAY 2009 LAW ENFORCEMENT DEVELOPMENTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 000782 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN (HUSHEK) INL/AAE (BUHLER) JUSTICE FOR (DUCOT AND NEWCOMBE) DEFENSE FOR OSD/P E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM KJUS TI SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN: MAY 2009 LAW ENFORCEMENT DEVELOPMENTS REF: DUSHANBE 723 DUSHANBE 00000782 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ambassador Jacobson and Tajik Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamrokhon Zarifi signed Amendment 9 to the INL Letter of Agreement which provides almost $9.5 in additional counter-narcotics, law enforcement, and justice sector assistance to Tajikistan, and a Memorandum of Understanding regarding bilateral cooperation in a $7 million USAID project on Local Governance and Citizen Participation Program. Police seized sizable quantities of hashish, heroin, and destroyed large quantities of marijuana in the initial weeks of the annual anti-drug operation "Poppy-2009". An unfortunate mountain-road traffic accident uncovered 330 kilos of opium in a freight truck. The OSCE launched (but did not open) the Border Management Staff College. INL Dushanbe issued eight grants totaling $300,000 to Tajik non-governmental organizations for programs in court monitoring, legal aid to indigents, legal education, legal representation of minors, and third party arbitration. End summary. ¶2. On May 8 Ambassador Jacobson and Tajik Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamrokhon Zarifi signed Amendment 9 to the Letter of Agreement between Tajikistan and the United States to provide $9,426,000 in additional assistance for narcotics control, law enforcement, and justice sector reform. With this assistance, the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement program has provided more than $37 million to support Tajikistan's security, rule of law and counter narcotics efforts since 1992. ¶3. On May 8 Ambassador Jacobson and Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding bilateral cooperation in a $7 million project on Local Governance and Citizen Participation Program. The project has five areas of emphasis: promoting government decentralization, working with a Presidential Working Group to support reform empowering local government at the all levels and including local government and community stakeholders in the national policy dialogue on local government reform; training to make local governance more effective; increasing citizen awareness of local issues and participation in local governance; improving accountability of local governing institutions; sharing information with the public about government budgets, progress in decentralization, and how citizens can participate in government. The program is funded by USAID, and implemented by the Urban Institute. DRUGS. DRUGS, AND MORE DRUGS ¶4. Police seized 48 kilograms of hashish in the border village of Qizil Sou of Farkhor oblast in southern Tajikistan, and arrested an Afghan national Abdurazzoq valadi Abdugaffor. Police reported seizures on May 8 and 9 of more than 20 kilos of heroin in two separate operations. Police officers seized two kilograms of heroin in Dushanbe, more than 18 kilograms of heroin at the Sino Hotel in Chkalovsk, and also 1.5 kilograms of hashish in northern Tajikistan's Sugd's Spitamen district. Police officers detained a local resident and an Afghan national near the border village of Samonchi in Farkhor on May 17 on suspicion of drug trafficking. Police seized 36 kilograms of raw opium from them. One of them tried to flee and police wounded him in the leg. The Drug Control Agency destroyed 500,512 marijuana bushes in Sugd's Bobojon Gafurov district. ¶5. On May 10 the Police and the Drug Control Agency launched an anti-drug operation, dubbed Poppy-2009 which will continue until November 30. The operation involves all law enforcement agencies as well as Ministry of Agriculture, Agency for Environmental Protection, the Committee for TV and Radio-Broadcasting and local authorities. The Drug Control Agency is responsible for coordinating the operation. In all, law enforcement officers seized some 100 kilograms of narcotics in Tajikistan over the first ten days of the operation. DUSHANBE 00000782 002.2 OF 003 ¶6. Officers from the Sugd Counter-Narcotics Directorate began a large-scale effort to uncover heroin distribution rings in the province. According to Mirzoravshan Qutbiddinov, an official with the Sugd Counter-Narcotics Directorate, a number of operations carried out in the province since the beginning of the year led to the arrest of 11 heroin pushers. Narcotics confiscated from them would have been enough for 16,000 doses. The investigation discovered that about 80% of heroin pushers are drug addicts themselves. ¶7. On May 26 Police discovered about 330 kilos of opium when heavy truck fell off a precipice near Nurek. A heavy Kamaz truck loaded with 15 tons of rice fell into precipice 39 kilometers northwest of the city of Nurek. The truck was moving from GBAO's Shugnan district to Dushanbe when the driver lost control and drove off a 150-meter precipice. The driver died on the scene. When examining the vehicle, police officers discovered a number of hiding places containing the raw opium. ¶8. Officers from the Drug Control Agency broke up a drug-smuggling gang dealing with transporting narcotics to Russia. Drug Control Agency officers arrested a Tajik national in Rudaki district on May 26 on suspicion of drug trafficking. When searching his car, drug control officers found 12 packages containing over 11 kilos of heroin. ¶9. The Border Guards reported that Border Guards and officers from the Drug Control Agency carried out a special joint operation in GBAO's Darvoz district on May 23. The officers spotted and tried to detain a group of drug traffickers who were crossing the Pyanj river near the area of Zighar-Valvalak in Darvoz. A firefight ensued and the drug traffickers retreated to Afghanistan. Officers seized about 25 kilos of narcotics, including 12.5 kilograms of hashish, 12.3 kilograms of heroin, and one Kalashnikov sub-machine gun. ¶10. Border Guards and Drug Control Officers carried out an operation in the area of Patkmou-Sari Ob in Darvoz on May 25 and arrested 10 members of an organized drug-trafficking ring. Officers seized 65 kilograms of narcotics, including five kilograms of hashish and 58 kilograms of raw opium, as well as a large number of weapons. The ring consisted of both Afghans and Tajiks. YEAR-TO-DATE SEIZURE ¶11. Over the first five months of this year, Tajik law enforcement agencies seized more than 2 tons of narcotics. The total includes 444 kilograms of heroin, 362 kilograms of raw opium and some 1000 kilograms of cannabis. BORDER MANAGEMENT COLLEGE ¶12. On May 27 the OSCE launched the Border Management Staff College which will train border security managers and promote co-operation between OSCE States and Partner countries, including neighboring Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi, senior representatives from the Border Guards, the Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, Ambassador Vladimir Pryahin as well as ambassadors and other representatives of OSCE participating States attended the launch ceremony. The College is scheduled to open in the fall in temporary quarters on the DUSHANBE 00000782 003.2 OF 003 OSCE premises. A research and development centre will also be housed at the college. Training and research will focus on the free and secure movement of persons, border crossing procedures, facilitating trade and transport security. The College aims to provide a single point of knowledge delivery and promote international standards and best practices in all aspects of border management. JUSTICE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS ¶13. President Rahmon appointed Mahmad Zabirovich Rahimov, a Member of Parliament, as the Director of the National Legislative Center under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. President Rahmon called for the establishment of a National Legislative Center in his annual speech to the Parliament in 2008 and in March of 2009 he decreed its establishment. The goal of the Center is to eliminate contradictions in laws, improve the quality of new laws, and bring Tajik legislation into compliance with international treaties signed by Tajikistan. In the Soviet-era Mr. Rahimov headed the department of commercial law at the National University. INL Dushanbe developed a project with the Justice Sector portfolio to train lawyers who will work in the Center. ¶14. Via a recently launched Justice Sector Reform program, INL Dushanbe issued eight grants totaling $300,000 to Tajik non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to carry out programs in court monitoring, legal aid to indigents, legal education, legal representation of minors, and third party arbitration. (reftel). ¶15. INL and IOM are setting new priorities in counter trafficking. Emboffs met with Zeynal Hajiev, Head of IOM, to discuss ways to improve the INL anti-trafficking project implemented by IOM. IOM revised the project plan to focus on training to law enforcement bodies to increase detections, investigations, prosecutions and convictions in trafficking cases to help Tajikistan improve its counter trafficking efforts and avoid degrading. ¶16. Comment: The signing of two important documents on cooperation is an endorsement of the three-pillar approach the mission strategic plan: security cooperation, economic development, and democratic reform. The agreements signify continued Tajik Government interest in expanding cooperation in fighting the spread of narcotics, terrorism and trafficking in persons. ¶17. Comment continued: While Tajikistan's counter-drug operation is an annual event, we see increased interest in interagency coordination in Tajikistan and cross-border cooperation between the Tajik and Kyrgyz DCA. JACOBSON