OSCE - THE HUMAN DIMENSION UNDER THE KAZAKHSTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USOSCE 000027 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2020 TAGS: OSCE PREL PHUM SUBJECT: OSCE - THE HUMAN DIMENSION UNDER THE KAZAKHSTAN CHAIRMANSHIP: INITIAL IMPRESSIONS Classified By: CDA Carol Fuller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Kazakhstan Chairmanship-in-Office (CiO) has narrowly defined its priorities within the Human Dimension (HD) of the OSCE for 2010 as Tolerance and Non-Discrimination, Gender Equality, and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, bypassing more contentious and fundamental issues such as Freedom of the Media and Freedom of Assembly and Association. The U.S. and like-minded participating States have begun to join forces in an attempt to channel the OSCE's energy into these fundamental freedoms and other priorities in human rights, democracy and rule of law. Conversely, the Russian Federation (RF) and Belarus, along with Turkmenistan, have fully endorsed the CiO's priorities, and have threatened to insert their themes into the HD agenda should attempts be made to change them. We likewise expect the other Central Asian participating States to be largely supportive of the CiO in the HD, and perhaps as a result, to become more involved in the process. We will push, in concert with like-minded delegations, for more emphasis to be placed on basic human rights and will seek ways to lead other participating States in this endeavor. End Summary. -------------- Human Dimension Priorities -------------- ¶2. (C) During a videotaped address to the Permanent Council January 14, President Nazarbayev outlined the "Motto of Kazakhstan's Chairmanship" as "the Four T's" - Trust, Tradition, Transparency and Tolerance. Within the HD, the "T" having the most potential impact is "Tolerance." It has become clear that the Kazakhstan CiO will center much of its activity in the HD in 2010 on tolerance, namely on "strengthening of intercultural and intercivilizational dialogue." This is also evidenced by their plans to host a high-level OSCE conference on tolerance in June. This is an area in which the Kazakhstan Government believes it has proven successes and with which other participating States will have few criticisms. This, however, displaces effort in other areas in which the government has made little or no progress, such as fundamental freedoms and human rights, including freedom of the media. In his subsequent address to the Permanent Council, Foreign Minister Saudabayev echoed Nazarbayev's priorities, and added that the CiO would also ;address the rule of law, particularly the independence of the judiciary, and election monitoring. ¶3. (C) In a non-paper distributed to delegations on January 15, the Kazakhstan CiO provided its three thematic priorities for the HD - Tolerance and Non-discrimination, Gender Equality, and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. Once again, while the topics deserve attention by participating States, the Chairmanship apparently chose non-confrontational topics and deliberately steered away from fundamental freedoms and human rights. -------------- HD Agenda -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Kazakhstani Ambassador Abdrakhmanov formally presented the CiO's HD agenda at a well-attended inaugural meeting of the Human Dimension (HD) Committee on January 22. The HD agenda proposed by Kazakhstan is a true reflection of their stated priorities. "Promotion of gender balance and participation of women in political and public life" was chosen for the first Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM) (March 11-12),the HD Seminar (April 26-28) is to be on "Intolerance against migrants during the financial crisis: challenges and countermeasures", the second SHDM (July 15-16) is to be on "Combating trafficking in human beings with a particular focus on trafficking in children," and the three special days at the HDIM (September 27-October 8) are to focus on "Self-regulation of the media: ethical principles and norms," "Strengthening the Independence of the Judicial System and Public Access to Justice," and "Freedom of Religion and Conscience." Finally, the proposal for the third SHDM (November 4-5) is to focus on "Integration of national minorities through education." In addition, Kazakhstan will hold a high-level tolerance conference in Astana (June 29-30),a conference on the 20th Anniversary of the Copenhagen Document (June 10-11) and a seminar on electronic voting (Sept 16-17). As ambitious as it may seem, the HD agenda is devoted primarily to tolerance, gender and trafficking issues, clearly lacking attention to issues that might hit Kazakhstan and its thematic supporters too close to home: freedom of the media, freedom of assembly and USOSCE 00000027 002 OF 003 association, democracy and human rights. -------------- Canada, EU and Western Europe -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The delegations of the U.S., EU, Canada, and Norway agreed in advance to urge the CiO to move the Seminar topic of "Intolerance against Migrants" to the high-level tolerance conference and to replace the event with one covering an in-depth discussion on means to strengthen the implementation of OSCE HD commitments - a topic relevant to ongoing Corfu Process discussions. They also agreed to note that a HDIM Special Day covering "Self-regulation of the Media" at the HDIM would be inappropriate and that the subject could be better led by the RFoM in side events or with seminars directed toward members of the media. As such, they agreed to suggest that the topic of the event be expanded to cover "Freedom of the Media" or "Freedom of Expression." The U.S., with general support from the other delegations, most notably Norway, urged the CiO to supplant the SHDM on "Trafficking" with one addressing a fundamental freedom, such as "Freedom of Assembly and Association." (Comment: This recommendation has the support of the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking Humans. End Comment.) ¶6. (C) To respond to U.S., EU, Canada, and Norway concerns, the Kazakhstanis called an informal meeting on January 29 to discuss possible compromises on the HD agenda. HD Officers from Spain/EU, U.S., Germany, France, Turkey, and Portugal attended. (Note: The RF refuses to attend informal meetings on principle and was not present.) The CiO representative initially appealed that the agenda be accepted by all delegations as provided, but the delegations remained steadfast in supporting their recommendations provided at the HD Committee meeting. After much discussion and solid arguments, the Kazakh representative offered a possible compromise: replace the SHDM on "Integration of National Minorities" with one on "Freedom of the Media;" move the "National Minorities" topic to a Special Day; replace either the Special Day topic of "Strengthening the Independence of the Judicial System" or "Freedom of Religion and Conscience" with the topic of "Freedom of Movement." Although none of the delegations were able to respond definitively, the Kazakhstanis noted they would work with the RF, Belarus, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan on the proposed compromise prior to the next Committee meeting. -------------- Russian Federation and Belarus -------------- ¶7. (C) During the HD Committee Meeting January 22, the Russian Federation (RF) and Belarus delegations, along with Turkmenistan, noted that they were prepared to accept the CiO proposal for the HD agenda as submitted, since it was "already a compromise." The RF noted that none of their priorities had been included in the Kazakhstani agenda, but if other delegations were intent on "opening the package," the RF would have to insist on the inclusion of their priority themes, such as "Freedom of Movement, "Combating Neo-fascism," "Protection of National minorities," and "Intercultural Dialogue." On the sidelines, the RF delegation noted that their "red lines" for subjects to be included in the agenda were, "human rights defenders, freedom of association, and additional verification mechanisms." ¶8. (C) The RF and Belarus have strongly supported the Kazakhstani Chairmanship and therefore have reason to see them succeed. While it is too early to see how this new atmosphere will affect their participation in the HD, we anticipate that they may be less confrontational with the Chair and other delegations than in previous years. -------------- Central Asian Neighbors -------------- ¶9. (C) In the HD, we do not anticipate major changes from what we have seen in recent years among Kazakhstan's Central Asian neighbors, during which their active participation has been next to nil. However, some of the Central Asian States may see Kazakhstan's CiO as an opportunity not to be missed in terms of scaling back some HD commitments and moving the focus away from basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. They would like greater focus on less controversial issues to include trafficking in persons, Roma and Sinti issues, freedom of movement, minority education, etc. Perhaps the USOSCE 00000027 003 OF 003 most likely area we would see this is in efforts by Turkmenistan to enlist Kazakh support for their goal of preventing two NGOs they call "terrorist" from attending the HDIM. They made this point during the HD Committee meeting, responding with their priority should the "package" of events be opened. We should not be surprised to see them continue to make a strong push for this with support from the RF and likely other participating States - both within and beyond Central Asia. Similarly, with Kazakhstan as CiO, it is possible that one or more Central Asian states, prodded by the RF, might drag their feet on reaching agreement on appointing a new Representative on Freedom of the Media to replace Miklos Harazsti, whose term ends in March. -------------- U.S. Priorities -------------- ¶10. (C) We will continue to push for more attention to be placed on fundamental freedoms, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in the HD under Kazakhstan's Chairmanship. The U.S. delegation will engage actively and continue to look for ways to lead, both by example and in action. In concert with like-minded delegations, we will strive to maintain and enhance the OSCE's work on promoting democratic norms and values, and attempt to respond effectively to Central Asian and RF/Belarus resistance to OSCE work on fundamental freedoms and democratization, particularly related to elections observation. With hoped-for support by the Kazakhstan CiO, we will look for opportunities for the OSCE to become active in the HD area outside of the OSCE region, particularly in Afghanistan. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (C) There has been a noticeable change in atmospherics during the early portion of this year's HD "basket" under the Kazakhstan CiO. Like-minded delegations have thus far become more proactive in including the U.S. in their efforts to influence the Kazakh Chair. The RF and Belarus remain polar opposites to us, but may prove to be less confrontational due to their ardent support of the Chair. The Chair has found itself in the middle and it is endeavoring to please all sides. We believe these early movements could prove advantageous should the U.S. wish to pursue a more ambitious agenda on fundamental freedoms and human rights, democracy and the rule of law leading up to the informal Ministerial on the Corfu Process in June/July and a likely Summit later in the year. FULLER