UZBEKISTAN: ACTIVISTS SEEK TO BRIDGE GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000193 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA AND DRL AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-02-19 TAGS: PHUM EAID ECON KDEM PGOV PREL SOCI UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: ACTIVISTS SEEK TO BRIDGE GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY REF: a) 08 TAHSKENT 1454 CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Fitzmaurice, Poloff; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador recently met with activists from the independent Rapid Reaction human rights group (RRG),who described their plans for the upcoming year, including applying for official registration and setting up a "think-tank" with like-minded activists and defense attorneys to raise the professionalism of analytical reporting on human rights, legal reform, and socio-economic conditions. The RRG is less cynical about this year's parliamentary elections (scheduled for December) than observers have been in the past. The RRG also seeks continued U.S. support, which is warranted. End summary. RAPID REACTION GROUP WILL ATTEMPT TO REGISTER -------------- ¶2. (C) On February 9, the Ambassador met with representatives of the Rapid Reaction human rights group (RRG) - including Bukhara-based activist Shukhrat Ganiev, Ferghana-based activist Abdusalom Ergashev, and Tashkent-based activist Sukhrob Ismoilov - to discuss their plans for this year, including attempting to register their organization and setting up a "think-tank" with the participation of other activists and progressive defense attorneys to provide more professional analytic reporting on human rights, legal reforms, and socio-economic conditions, including labor migration and human trafficking. PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN DECEMBER TO BE MAJOR FOCUS -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) The activists said that the Parliamentary Elections scheduled for December will be a major focus of their attention this year. In contrast to previous years, when activists trashed elections as meaningless and the government trashed activists and claimed (unconvincingly) that elections are conducted according to international standards, the activists said they planned to pursue an "honest and open debate" with officials on reforming the electoral system. The Ambassador suggested that the activists reach out to and explore cooperation with Sayfiddin Juraev, the head of the state-controlled Fund for Regional Studies, who will co-sponsor two conferences with USAID support that will focus on political party development and the December parliamentary elections. ACTIVISTS SEEK TO BRIDGE GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) The RRG activists explained that their long-term goal, which they shared with other independent human rights groups - including Ezgulik, Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture, and defense attorneys associated with the newly created state-controlled Chambers of Lawyers - was to serve as a bridge "between civil society and government authorities." They noted that for too long, independent civil society and government officials have viewed each other as enemies and have had little contact. Biased reporting from "independent" human rights defenders, many with a political agenda, only fueled the government's paranoia about independent groups planning color revolutions in Uzbekistan. In contrast, RRG and its partners seek to adopt a less confrontational tone and explore areas of possible dialogue and cooperation with government reformers. They recognized that progress will be slow and that abuses are likely to continue even as they seek engagement, but they believe this is the only effective long-term approach for encouraging the government to implement reforms and curb abuses. By raising the quality of human rights and analytical reporting, RRG and the other groups hope to be taken more seriously by government officials and demonstrate to them that their only agenda is promoting human rights. The activists stressed that they wished to conduct more conferences and trainings in Uzbekistan itself and believed that the Uzbek bureaucracy was slowly opening up to more cooperation. By way of example, the activists noted some recent success holding events in Tashkent with participation of government officials (reftel). ¶5. (C) One of RRG's current partners, Ezgulik, which remains the only registered independent human rights group in the country, is affiliated with the Birlik opposition party. RRG is aware of the contradiction, and relations between the two groups have often been strained, though they now appear to be cooperating more closely since restarting offshore Freedom House trainings with each other last summer. Ezgulik, mostly in-line with Birlik, has vacillated in its attitude towards the government, at times taking a more hard-line and confrontational approach, at other times stressing the need for dialogue with the Karimov regime. BRITISH EMBASSY TAKING A LOW PROFILE ON HUMAN RIGHTS -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) The RRG activists observed that they have had difficulty arranging a similar meeting with the British Ambassador in Tashkent and asked the Ambassador to intervene on their behalf with the British Embassy, which he did later that day. The activists noted that in general, the British Embassy in Tashkent appears to have disengaged somewhat on human rights. The Ambassador noted that the current British Ambassador, a talented and experienced diplomat who most recently served as the British Ambassador to Belarus, is intensely interested in human rights but has adopted a more cautious profile in Tashkent, following the Craig Murray debacle, in which a previous British Ambassador's confrontational stance on human rights issues all but severed UK relations with Uzbekistan. ACTIVISTS BENEFIT FROM FREEDOM HOUSE TRAININGS -------------- - ¶7. (C) After the meeting with the Ambassador, the activists told poloff that they were continuing to benefit from off-shore training in Turkey with Freedom House (in fact, the activists had just returned from such a training). They noted that fewer, but more committed, activists and defense attorneys were continuing the offshore training, which began last summer. Currently, the trainings are being used to formulate their ideas to form an analytic think-tank and to encourage further cooperation between activists and defense attorneys in specific regions of the country. OBSERVATION ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS -------------- ¶8. (C) Ergashev noted that socio-economic conditions continue to worsen in the Ferghana Valley, which he believed could result in more protests by citizens over utilities (including electricity and heating gas, supplies of which are often limited in Uzbekistan's provinces during the winter),rising prices, and unemployment (Note: Such protests, which tend to occur more frequently during the winter, have been reported this year in the provinces, but less so than during last year's particularly severe winter. End note.). He noted that the situation could potentially worsen as laborers, many of whom previously migrated for work to Russia and Kazakhstan, are increasingly unable to find work abroad due to the worldwide economic crisis. ¶9. (C) The activists also noted that the government appears to be increasingly short of funds to pay pensions, evidenced by an unpublicized change to the pension system that went into effect on January 1. Previously, an individual's pension at time of retirement was determined by their average salary for all years they worked, both during the Soviet era and after independence. However, pensions for those retiring now will only be determined by calculating an individual's average salary since independence, which will lower the government's pensions obligations. COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (C) We believe the RRG has the right long-term goals and a realistic approach towards achieving them over the long term. We will continue to look for ways to support them as one element of our human rights promotion efforts in Uzbekistan. NORLAND To view the entire SMART message, go to URL http://repository.state.sgov.gov/_layouts/OSS SearchResults.aspx?k=messageid:e807fadf-b86d- 49a6-881d-680e8a322018