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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ULAANBAATAR 000232 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ECON MG FR GM
SUBJECT:  State Secrets Law:  An Invitation to 
Corruption and a Blight on Mongolia's Human Rights 
Record 
 
REFS:  (A) 2004 Ulaanbaatar 049 and previous, (B) 2004 
Ulaanbaatar 0229, (C) 2004 Ulaanbaatar 037 
 
Sensitive but unclassified -- not for Internet 
distribution. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY AND COMMENT:  The World Bank, civil 
society and donors, including the U.S., have long 
identified the lack of transparency and citizen access 
to government information as a major invitation to 
corruption and have encouraged the Government of 
Mongolia and worked with civil society and legal 
reformers to repeal or significantly amend the State 
Secrets Law, to de-criminalize the offense of libel, 
 
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and to implement a Freedom of Information Act. The 
State Secrets Law is among the most restrictive and 
punitive in any post-communist country.  It extends the 
definition of "state secret" to not only national 
security interests but also to maps finer than a 
1:200,000 scale, to statistics on the number of 
prisoners, to basic economic and census data, to the 
identity of shareholders in private companies, to 
audits of state owned companies, to access by citizens 
to state archives.  On one level, it enables "petty" 
corruption by handing bureaucrats the power to levy 
fines on (i.e., solicit extra-legal fees from) citizens 
and businesses without having to share with the victim 
the text of the law or regulation allegedly violated. 
On another level, however, it has been used to harass 
and convict people whose views or activities were 
considered by the government, or even by individual 
ministers, to be inimical to its authority or 
interests.  Three persons, jailed in 2003 and 2004 for 
"revealing state secrets," were released in recent 
months; their stories are now coming to light and 
provide insights into how the Law has been abused.  One 
was a lawyer who had gone to the media with his 
client's allegations of torture and coercion to testify 
falsely; another was his client, who had been abducted 
by Mongolian intelligence agents from France; and the 
third, a former head of the intelligence agency who 
angered then Justice Minister (and current Speaker) 
Nyamdorj by allegedly leaking material that proved the 
minister was a "spy for China."  Their experiences with 
the legal and prison systems also serve to confirm the 
conclusions of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture's 
visit to Mongolian in June 2005 and of the soon-to-be- 
released report by the Mongolian National Human Rights 
Commission (septel) that lack of due process, torture 
and poor prison conditions continue to be human rights 
concerns.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
State Secrets Law: Nothing Escapes 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) In December 2004, historian and researcher 
Sergey Radchenko wrote, "free access to information is 
impeded in Mongolia by the existing legislation on 
state secrets (the April 1995 Law on State Secrets and 
the January 2004 List of State Secrets)which in sum set 
up such far reaching restrictions on access to 
government records in Mongolia as to make it possible 
for virtually anything to be classified as 'secret' and 
hidden from the public view for an indefinite period. 
Existing restrictions contradict the spirit of the 
Mongolian government's commitment to openness. 
Unnecessary secrecy breeds irresponsibility on the part 
of government officials.   The lack of transparency 
leads to corruption.  Failure to open up past 
government records speaks to the unwillingness of the 
Mongolian government to face up to the former 
policies."  Radchenko compared the law's provisions to 
state secrets legislation in twelve ex-Soviet Union 
countries, and found Mongolia's to be the most 
restrictive.  (Comment and Note:  Both laws were passed 
by parliaments dominated at the time by the former 
communist Mongolian Peoples Revolutionary Party (MPRP). 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000232  002 OF 006 
 
 
Radchenko was at the time of his study a visiting 
faculty member at the National University of Mongolia; 
he is currently a visiting professor of history at 
Pittsburgh State University.) 
 
¶3.  (U) An August 2005 "Assessment of Corruption in 
Mongolia" funded by USAID and endorsed by the 
Ambassador, noted, "(T)he most critical shortcomings in 
the environment for fighting corruption in Mongolia are 
the lack of transparency surrounding nearly all 
government activities and the near absence of the 
public in substantive policy discussions and oversight 
of government.  ... Archaic secrecy laws still inhibit 
and curtail implementation of laws that guarantee 
freedom of speech, press and association.  Authorities 
remain fearful of information and, thus, reticent to 
comply with citizens, media, or civil society 
organizations' requests for information.  ... There is 
no easy access to government documents.  Simple 
records, such as parliamentary debates, are treated as 
'secret,' and obtaining them becomes a complicated 
operation." 
 
Case Histories of Abuse of the State Secrets Law, 
Lack of Due Process, and Torture 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶4. Three men were convicted in 2003-2004 under Article 
87 of the Criminal Code, which provides up to eight 
years imprisonment for someone who reveals state 
secrets entrusted to them by virtue of their job.  The 
 
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first man was General J. Baatar, a head of the General 
Intelligence Agency (GIA) during the Democratic 
Coalition government period in the late 1990s. 
Sentenced to seven years of "strict imprisonment" in 
January 2004 for revealing state secrets, Baatar was 
given a presidential pardon just before Mongolian New 
Years holiday in late January 2006.  He is now reported 
to be in the Mongolian countryside.  He has said that, 
since his release, he has sent information about his 
treatment to international human rights organizations. 
 
¶5.  (U) Baatar was convicted of providing a 
confidential GIA dossier to L. Gundalai, one of the 
 
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four non-MPRP members of parliament between 2000-2004. 
On May 19, 2003, MP Gundalai held a press conference at 
which he announced that he had "Top Secret" material, 
provided by an unknown man, that alleged that then 
Justice and Home Affairs Minister (and Speaker since 
July 2005) Nyamdorj was a spy for the Chinese. 
Gundalai himself was subsequently investigated by the 
GIA and police for revealing state secrets.  In January 
2004, the parliament voted against a petition by the 
State Prosecutor to waive MP Gundalai's immunity from 
prosecution, but permitted the prosecutor to continue 
the investigation (ref b). Gundalai was re-elected to 
parliament in June 2004 and remains immune from 
prosecution.  (Comment:  To our knowledge, there has 
been no further attempt to pursue the case against him. 
Gundalai became the minister of health in the new MPRP- 
led government in January 2006. End comment.) 
 
¶6.  (U) In a newspaper interview published March 1, 
2006, Baatar recalled that GIA agents -- headed by a 
former subordinate he knew well -- broke into his house 
the day after Gundalai's May 2003 press conference and 
forcibly arrested him.  After five days in prison, a 
judge freed him because there had been no arrest 
warrant.  Baatar told the newspaper he had decided to 
flee his apartment in the middle of the night soon 
thereafter because he feared for his life.  On 
September 5, 2003, GIA agents arrested him while he was 
in the apartment of a son-in-law of former president 
Ochirbat.  Until he was taken to trial in January 2004, 
Baatar states he was kept in Tov Aimag prison in a 
lightless, dank, bedless cement cell with no running 
water.  During that time, he was let outside twice, for 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000232  003 OF 006 
 
 
3-5 minutes.  He was given two cupfuls of water a day. 
The food was inedible bread and soup made from horse 
offal.  Conditions improved briefly during visits to 
him by a member of the National Human Rights 
Commission, then reverted after the commissioner left, 
he states.  Any criticisms about conditions made to the 
commissioner resulted in beatings and additional 
pressure.  The former GIA head said he was allowed 
almost no contact with his lawyer.  Baatar told the 
newspaper he was 165-176 pounds when he entered Tov 
Aimag prison, and 134 pounds four months later.  After 
a closed trial in the Gants Hudag detention facility 
near Ulaanbaatar, Baatar said he was sent to Zaisan 
prison to serve his sentence.  He shared a cell with a 
dozen other prisoners.  Among other problems, those in 
the cell were given bathroom breaks lasting 30 seconds 
to a minute, in a toilet with only two commodes. 
 
Jailed:  A Lawyer and His Client 
-------------------------------- 
¶7. In June 2005, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, 
Manfred Nowak, visited Mongolia at the invitation of 
the National Human Rights Commission.  The excerpt 
below from Nowak's December 2005 report describes the 
cases of two men, L. Sanjaasuren and D. Enkhbat.  Both 
were convicted in November 2004 of revealing state 
secrets.  In August 2005, Sanjaasuren (who was regarded 
 
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by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience) 
was released from prison in accordance with standard 
procedures for paroling prisoners who have served half 
their sentences.  In February 2006, Enkhbat was 
released because of ill health, and is reported to be 
in an Ulaanbaatar hospital. 
 
Begin excerpt from the Special Rapporteur's report: 
 
"On about 15 May 2003, Enkhbat Damiran, who was seeking 
asylum in France at the time, was beaten by officers of 
the General Intelligence Agency (GIA) of Mongolia 
outside a restaurant in Paris, smuggled across the 
French border in a Mongolian embassy vehicle to 
Brussels, and then to the Mongolian embassy in Berlin. 
He was held at the embassy for one night and was 
tortured by Mongolian agents before he was drugged and 
boarded in a wheelchair onto a Mongolian MIAT flight to 
Ulaanbaatar on 18 May. His entry into Ulaanbaatar was 
not registered by the border police and he was taken to 
a secret location outside the capital. He was tortured, 
unsuccessfully, to confess to the murder of the well- 
known politician Zorig Sanjasuuren, a former Minister 
of Infrastructure and a recognized champion of the 
democracy movement (Embassy note: Zorig was murdered in 
1998; the case remains unsolved). On 24 May he was 
registered as a GIA informant and his entry into 
Mongolia was subsequently registered by the police as 
25 May. 
 
During his torture, Enkhbat Damiran was, among other 
things, forced to sit on a stool for hours, beaten on 
the liver with a pistol, and was subjected to mock 
executions. In June 2003, Lodoisambuu Sanjaasuren , a 
58-year-old lawyer, was retained by Enkhbat Damiran. In 
the course of his representation, Lodoisambuu 
Sanjaasuren videotaped a 36-minute interview of Enkhbat 
Damiran describing the details of his abduction and 
torture by the GIA. On 27 September, Channel 25, a 
Mongolian television station, broadcast the video. 
 
This led to criminal charges against Lodoisambuu 
Sanjaasuren, a former intelligence agent, and Enkhbat 
Damiran under article 87(1) of the Criminal Code for 
revealing State secrets. In November 2004, Lodoisambuu 
Sanjaasuren was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment 
and served his sentence in Prison No. 421 (Amgalan), an 
ordinary regime facility.  The Special Rapporteur 
visited him in the medical ward on 7 June 2005, where 
he was under doctors' care for a serious heart 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000232  004 OF 006 
 
 
condition. He alleged that he did not receive 
specialist medical care and the necessary medication 
for his condition. 
 
On 8 June 2005, the Special Rapporteur visited Enkhbat 
Damiran, who is currently detained in Prison No. 413 
(Zuunkharaa), a strict regime facility, and is serving 
a three-year sentence for having revealed State 
secrets. The murder charges had been dropped as they 
 
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obviously had been fabricated. At the time of the 
visit, Enkhbat Damiran was examined by an independent 
doctor. It was apparent that he was in very poor 
health, had difficulty breathing and was suffering from 
cirrhosis and bleeding in his urine, among other 
things, and that he was in need of immediate medical 
treatment, including appropriate medication. Although 
he has been sent to the Zaisan Prison Hospital, he 
receives only cursory treatment there and is repeatedly 
sent back to Prison No. 413 despite his deteriorating 
health." 
 
End excerpt from Special Rapporteur's report 
 
¶8.  (SBU) When the case hit the local press decrying 
the violation of human rights and international law, 
Mongolian authorities publicly claimed that the arrest 
had been conducted with the permission of local law 
enforcement and INTERPOL, and that no laws or human 
rights standards were broken.  According to French and 
German authorities, however, the Mongolian agents acted 
without notifying or obtaining permission from local 
authorities.  In fact, the Governments of France and 
Germany lodged formal protests with the Mongolian 
Government, demanding, in both cases, the recall of the 
Mongolian ambassador.  Mongolia eventually recalled its 
third secretary from Paris and its ambassador 
(Terbishdagvaa, now minister of agriculture and food) 
from Berlin (ref c). This incident contributed to the 
European Union's concerted pressure on Mongolia 
following the conviction of Enkhbat's lawyer on State 
Secrets Act charges.  In late 2004, the Ambassador also 
 
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twice expressed concern to former Prime Minister 
Elbegdorj about Sanjaasuren's conviction, and received 
a promise to look into the case without further 
response.  The head of Mongolia's National Human Rights 
Commission told Poloff in February 2006 that it had 
twice formally raised Sanjaasuren's case with the 
government, but had never received any response. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Poloff met with Sanjaasuren on March 28.  The 
60-year old lawyer noted that he had joined Mongolia's 
intelligence service in 1966; the oath of secrecy he 
had signed then had twice been used against him in 
court on State Secrets Act cases, in 1994 and 2004.  By 
1989, Sanjaasuren had risen to Vice Minister of 
Justice, then was forced to resign as public pressure 
mounted on the Communist government (Sanjaasuren said 
that his reformist inclinations were well known, and 
that "Communist" elements used the public pressure to 
maneuver him out).  In 1993, Sanjaasuren again began to 
work for GIA.  He told Poloff that superiors ignored 
his information about corruption by senior officials in 
the MPRP government.  In December 1993, he held the 
first of several press conferences publicly airing the 
charges and naming names.  He was convicted under the 
State Secrets Act in May 1994 and sentenced to three 
years imprisonment, which was reduced on appeal to 70 
days.  During the Democratic Coalition government from 
1996-2000, he became head of the prison administration 
and worked to bring about improvements in the dire 
conditions.  (Comment: Despite the sub-standard 
conditions in prisons, Sanjaasuren is credited by 
observers with implementing significant improvements 
over the even worse situation that prevailed when he 
took charge.)  After the MPRP regained power in 2000, 
Sanjaasuren said he was dismissed by "the communists." 
He then became a criminal defense attorney. 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000232  005 OF 006 
 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Sanjaasuren told Poloff he was permitted to 
meet with Enkhbat only three times, but made a 36- 
minute tape of Enkhbat's allegations of torture and 
coercion to testify falsely during one of the visits. 
In July 2003, the lawyer first told Mongolian news 
media about Enkhbat's claims, but did not reveal the 
existence of the tape.  He said he made multiple copies 
of the videotape and sent them to then Prime Minister 
Enkhbayar, then Justice and Home Affairs Minister 
Nyamdorj, the Prosecutor General, the Supreme Court, 
and Civil Will MP S. Oyun (Zorig's sister).  One month 
later, after receiving no reaction from any of these, 
he paid TV 25 $450 to air the tape; Sanjaasuren wryly 
noted that this used up almost all of the $500 retainer 
Enkhbat had paid him.  After airing the allegations, 
Sanjaasuren said, he was surveilled by GIA agents and 
his travel was restricted.  In September 2004 (note: as 
the Coalition government was being formed), the case 
was transferred to the prosecutor's office.  In 
November 2004, a two-day closed trial of Sanjaasuren 
and Enkhbat was held in Gants Hudag detention center. 
Sanjaasuren, who acted as his own defense attorney, 
said the charges were confusing and contradictory -- 
and were premised on Enkhbat's alleged enrollment as a 
GIA agent in May 2003, which made disclosure of the 
allegations an offense under Article 87 of the Criminal 
Code.  Sanjaasuren told Poloff the trial seemed pre- 
scripted, and said he had heard from sources just 
before the trial that he would be sentenced to three 
years imprisonment, which turned out to be the verdict. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Echoing statements he made in a March 2006 
press interview, Sanjaasuren linked Enkhbat's abduction 
from France to an MPRP effort to link then Democratic 
Party head M. Enkhsaikhan to Zorig's murder in advance 
of the 2004 elections.  Enkhbat's claim is that the GIA 
tried to get him to testify falsely that he had been 
ordered to murder Zorig by a DP-linked businessman who 
is a childhood friend of Enkhsaikhan.  (Comment:  As it 
turned out, the fallout from Enkhbat's abduction, along 
with the outcry over criminal libel cases brought by 
then Justice Minister Nyamdorj against Gundalai and 
another prominent DP politician (ref b), helped to 
energize opposition voters, and was one reason the MPRP 
suffered sharp losses in the June 2004 parliamentary 
elections.) 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Asked about his imprisonment, Sanjaasuren 
said he had benefited from the esteem with which both 
guards and prisoners held him in, due to the reforms he 
had implemented during his time as head of the prison 
administration.  Sanjaasuren said he had not had to 
share a cell, and he had been permitted to cook his own 
meals using food sent by his family.  He was not beaten 
or otherwise abused, although medical care was 
inadequate.  Since his release in August 2005, 
Sanjaasuren said he had been unable to find work; he is 
no longer legally able to work as a lawyer.  Companies 
he has approached have shied away from him due to his 
past.  However, he said, he had been retained two days 
previously as a consultant by a Mongolian filmmaker who 
plans a film on Chinggis Khan.  Sanjaasuren said he 
believes at least three of his children have suffered 
because of his case, including a son who is a prison 
guard and was transferred to a remote prison, and 
another son who is a bank official who was accused of 
failure to cooperate with police in a bank fraud case, 
and was arrested for two days in early March and 
beaten. 
 
What the Embassy Has Done and Will Do 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) The Embassy has long called publicly and 
privately for reform of the State Secrets Act, a key 
step in ensuring transparency in Mongolian governance. 
 
ULAANBAATA 00000232  006 OF 006 
 
 
Along with other donors, the Embassy prioritized the 
issue during the GOM-External Partners "technical 
meeting" in early March (ref c).  Amendment of the 
State Secrets Act figures prominently in our lobbying 
package prepared for the forthcoming session of the 
State Great Hural, a package which lists measures and 
actions that the government and parliament should take 
in order to demonstrate their commitment to fighting 
corruption.  We have also urged new legislation to 
create a Freedom of Information Act regime and the 
repeal of the criminal libel offense, which is used to 
intimidate , and sometimes imprison, journalists and 
other government critics (2004 and 2005 State 
Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices in 
Mongolia).  All these reforms also figured prominently 
in the anti-corruption action plan initiated by former 
PM Elbegdorj.  It remains to be seen if the new 
government will follow through.  Post intends to 
continue to encourage democratic reform, by advocating 
with the government and working with civil society.  In 
this regard, we are soliciting proposals (for funding 
from our Democracy Small Grants fund) from civil 
society for projects to call public attention to the 
need, and to outline an approach, to revise the State 
Secrets Law. 
 
SIPDIS 
Slutz