Uzbekistan: U/S Burns Meeting with Uzbekistan Civil Society

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/07/22
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ
SUBJECT: Uzbekistan: U/S Burns Meeting with Uzbekistan Civil Society
and ICRC

CLASSIFIED BY: Holly Lindquist Thomas, P/E Officer, Department of
State, Pol-Econ Office; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: On July 12, Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs Bill Burns and a delegation of U.S. officials
met with five Uzbek civil society activists. The group explained
that during the years since the 2005 Andijon events, civil society
had been all but decimated. They were hopeful that increased
engagement with the West in general, and with the United States in
particular, would give civil society groups space to develop again.
The activists also discussed intimidation of the defense bar and
growing extremism among prison and migrant populations. On July
13, Burns met with representatives from the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) to discuss efforts to access places of
detention. End summary.




2. (C) Under Secretary Burns, NSC Senior Director for Russia
and Central Asia Michael McFaul, and Ambassador Norland met with
five representatives of Uzbekistan's civil society: human rights
analysts Sukhrob Ismailov and Shukhrat Ganiev, attorneys Gulnora
Ishankhanova and Kamilov Ruhiddin Nuriddinovich, and
activist/journalist Abdurakhmon Tashanov.




3. (C) Human rights advocate and journalist Abdurakhmon
Tashanov offered a historical perspective on the role of civil
society in Uzbekistan, asserting that between 2000 and 2005, civil
society in Uzbekistan was at its most free and most effective. He
attributed this relative freedom to close relations with the United
States and other western countries, as well as to the resulting
increased participation of international NGOs in Uzbek civil
society. Following Andijon, the GOU severely curtailed civil
society by refusing to register both local and international NGOs,
as well as by limiting the activities of those NGOs it allowed to
remain. According to Tashanov, human rights in Uzbekistan across
the board, from political prisoners to child labor to civil
liberties, were at an all-time low. He believes, however, that
improved relations with the United States and the West will bring a
"wind of freedom" that could renew civil society, bring a return
of international NGOs, and restore an environment in which NGOs
could positively impact the full range of human rights issues.




4. (C) Two attorney activists spoke about intimidation of the
defense bar. Under new licensing rules, every defense attorney,
regardless of years of practice, must pass a grueling examination
procedure that includes standing before a panel to answer questions
on any conceivable area of law. The activists reported that this
testing procedure was being used to rein in the activities of
long-serving defense attorneys who took controversial cases.
Gulnora Ishankhanova, one of the attorney participants, noted that
good defense attorneys were either losing their licenses or
refusing to take the exam. She asserted that the government was
further intimidating those that remained, noting that the same
Ministry of Justice appointee decided both testing procedures and
disciplinary actions against defense attorneys. Thus, before
taking any case, a defense attorney will have to consider how it
might impact his or her ability to practice.




5. (C) Meeting participant Kamilov Ruhiddin Nuriddinovich was
a case in point. For twenty years he defended human rights
advocates on trial for what have been largely considered trumped up
charges. Following this new bar exam he was stripped of his
license; he was unsure of his future professional activities. He
said that other, less-controversial attorneys did not even show up
for the exam, yet still managed to retain their licensure. He
concluded the exam is "not to test the skills of the lawyer, but to
test loyalty to the government," and he lamented the death of the
"last remaining element of civil society" - the bar association.

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6. (C) Human rights analyst Shukhrat Ganiev reported that
religious radicalism in prisons was increasing among disaffected
prisoners, and that this radicalism was impacting society. He
noted a rise in hate crimes even in traditionally tolerant places,
like Bukhara, and he asserted that the GOU was not giving this
problem enough attention. He warned that without a free press, the
problem would only get worse. According to Ganiev, radicalism was
growing among young Uzbek migrant workers in Kazakhstan and Russia.
They were isolated from society, experienced racism and
intolerance, and were concentrated in "Uzbektown" or "Tajiktown"
enclaves, where discontent and extremism festers and grows.




7. (C) Senior Director McFaul articulated President Obama's
concern for civil society, where President Obama himself started
out. McFaul expressed the administration's commitment to increased
engagement in Uzbekistan, referencing President Obama's Moscow
speech at the New Economic School. He also expressed the
administration's desire for engagement to lead to a free and active
civil society once again. Under Secretary Burns emphasized his
respect for the work of the civil society representatives.




ICRC

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8. (SBU) On July 13, ICRC Regional Head Yves Giovannoni and
Deputy Regional Head Raffaello Muller briefed the delegation on the
development of their programs in Uzbekistan and on their efforts to
gain greater access to places of detention. They noted that there
had been real progress in Uzbekistan in recent years, in contrast
to some other Central Asian countries, but progress had stalled
after last year's successful six-month trial period. ICRC is now
awaiting the GOU's formal confirmation that ICRC will be granted
access to most detention facilities, with the exception of solitary
confinement facilities belonging to the National Security Service.
The ICRC can live with this - but first it needs a final GOU
response laying this out.



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