OSCE SUPPORT FOR AFGHAN ELECTIONS

UNCLAS USOSCE 000059

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM PTER AF OSCE
SUBJECT: OSCE SUPPORT FOR AFGHAN ELECTIONS


1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 11.


2. (SBU) Summary and Action Request: USOSCE has encouraged
the OSCE's Office of Democratic and Human Rights (ODIHR) to
respond positively to Afghanistan's request for OSCE
assistance to its August 20 presidential and provincial
council elections by sending an election assessment team.
The evaluation by ODIHR, universally respected for its
election expertise, could lend legitimacy to these elections,
help Afghanistan prepare for next year's parliamentary
elections, and solidify OSCE's partnership with Afghanistan,
a bordering OSCE Partner state that has a considerable impact
on security in the OSCE region. ODIHR, the OSCE
Chairmanship, and the majority of OSCE participating States
stand ready to assist Afghanistan, but require firm assurance
that adequate funding and security for an assessment team
would be forthcoming before taking the necessary political
decision on the matter. Previous ODIHR missions to
Afghanistan have cost approximately one million Euros,
including security costs. Action Request: please provide
assurances re level of funding US would be ready to
contribute to this effort, as well as security aspects the
OSCE would be expected to provide for an ODIHR team in
Afghanistan (and conversely security that the international
community will be providing in support of the election
effort). End Summary.


3. (SBU) Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta in a February 22
letter to the Greek Foreign Minister and
Chairperson-in-Office Dora Bakoyannis requested the OSCE's
Office of Democracy and Human Rights (ODIHR) assist in the
preparation and planning of the August 20 Presidential and
Provincial Council Election. Spanta had earlier invited the
ODIHR in his speech to the OSCE-Partners for Cooperation
Conference, held in Kabul last November, expressing
appreciation for ODIHR's key role in assisting the 2004
Presidential and 2005 Parliamentary elections. The Afghan
Mission to the OSCE followed up on March 17 by providing the
OSCE Secretary General with the Afghan Independent Election
Commission's wish-list of training and equipment needs
(distributed to EUR/RPM and SCA/A).


4. (SBU) ODIHR is well placed to assist the Afghan elections
given its expertise in election administration and its
experience in Afghanistan. ODIHR's assistance to
Afghanistan's first-ever Presidential elections in 2004 and
in the parliamentary election of 2005 was applauded by the
Afghan Government and the international community. For the
2004 and 2005 election, ODIHR sent expert election support
teams who analyzed key elements of the election environment,
including the electoral system, campaign and legislation, the
electoral administration, voter registration, counting and
vote tabulation, and the complaints and appeals process. The
resulting recommendations from ODIHR have since been used in
preparing for the 2009 election. ODIHR invited Afghanistan's
Independent Election Commission (IEC) to ODIHR's offices in
Warsaw on March 10-11 to review the recommendations. ODIHR's
assessment report from the 2009 Presidential election would
be extremely valuable in preparing for next year's
parliamentary elections in Afghanistan.


5. (SBU) Given the EU and UN's technical assistance, ODIHR is
not expected to play as prominent a role in this election as
it did in 2004 and 2005. ODIHR Director Lenarcic reported to
the March 19 Permanent Council meeting that ODIHR was ready
and willing to help. At our urging, Lenarcic and his team
have been in contact with the UN, EU, and governmental and
non-governmental actors in Afghanistan to identify ongoing
technical assistance activities and identify where ODIHR
expertise could be most useful to avoid unnecessary
duplication and add value. The Greek OSCE Chairmanship has
joined us in encouraging ODIHR to formulate a robust
technical assistance package.


6. (SBU) An ODIHR mission to Afghanistan will require a
consensus-based, political decision of the OSCE Permanent
Council. The OSCE Chairmanship will distribute a draft
decision the week of March 23 -- based largely on our input
-- authorizing ODIHR to provide assistance in the election.
The decision should be brought to the Permanent Council in
the next month in order for ODIHR to have adequate time to
prepare and deploy its experts.

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Stumbling Blocks: Funding and Security
--------------


7. (SBU) The majority of the OSCE participating States
believe that ODIHR's expertise and professionalism should be
made available to Afghanistan, whose fate greatly matters to
security in the OSCE area. To achieve consensus on a
decision in the Permanent Council, however, we will need to
address the concerns of some of the participating States
regarding security provisions for the ODIHR experts and
adequate funding for the mission.


8. (SBU) ODIHR Director Lenarcic has estimated that a mission
could cost a million Euros or more. The 2004 and 2005
election support teams, which were much more robust, cost
more than one million Euros. Participating States want
assurances from us and other probable donors -- including
Finland and Sweden -- that funding would be forthcoming.
(Note: the OSCE already has 303,500 Euros in available
U.S.-sourced funding left over from the previous Afghan
election projects. This funding can immediately be made
available for the 2009 Afghan elections. End note.)


9. (SBU) While the precise security parameters of the
assessment mission cannot be specified at this point (ODIHR
can only determine what specific role it can play after the
EU concludes its needs assessment mission in April),the
overall mission is expected to include at least 10-15 experts
based in Kabul for up to six weeks leading up to the
election. ODIHR would prefer to be co-located with the EU
mission so that it can tap into the EU observer reports. The
ODIHR experts would conduct meetings in Kabul with election
stakeholders (political parties, election officials, NGO's,
media representatives, etc.) and would require secure
transport to and from the meeting venues.


10. (SBU) Incorporating ODIHR experts under an existing
security umbrella -- such as the possible ISAF security to be
provided for the EU observers -- would be the ideal solution.
NATO/ISAF's ability to provide security for the ODIHR team
would calm fears about sending ODIHR experts into a
potentially dangerous situation.


11. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: USOSCE requests firm assurances
that can be conveyed to OSCE participating States that
funding resources to support an ODIHR team will be available
and what steps, if any, the U.S. might be ready to arrange or
provide for the security of the ODIHR team on the ground
during their entire stay in Afghanistan.
SCOTT