VZCZCXRO1359
RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0932/01 1720535
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210535Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0507
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 2151
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2164
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2130
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1461
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1981
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 1227
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2280

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 000932 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KWMN TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN'S RASHT VALLEY:  TEN YEARS AFTER PEACE 
 
 
DUSHANBE 00000932  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Ten years after the civil war, citizens of Rasht 
Valley endure gloomy times as corruption and economic decay have 
stifled democratic progress.  PolOff met with government 
officials, religious leaders, nongovernmental organization 
workers, and local civilians during a visit to Rasht Valley. 
The following profiles the lives of Rasht Valley residents ten 
years after the Tajik civil war.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
A DECADE OF PEACE, BUT NOTHING TO CELEBRATE 
 
¶2.  Ten years after the end of the Tajik civil war (1992-1997), 
residents of Rasht Valley, the former hotbed of opposition, are 
not celebrating and are doing little to commemorate the 10-year 
anniversary of the peace accords.  The general consensus during 
PolOff's June 13-15 visit is that the people are thankful for 
peace and stability, but there is little more to celebrate. 
Mustafo Azamov, a human rights lawyer with the nongovernmental 
organization Nihol said that he would rather forget about the 
war and wants his children to forget about it too.  "How can I 
explain to my children the story of brothers fighting each 
other?"  As Azamov notes, "The democracy we anticipated came 
through suffering and pain." 
 
¶3.  The list of grievances Azamov ticks off is familiar and 
includes corruption among government officials and a faulty 
justice system that deprives people of real legal protection. 
In the past year Azamov has seen his organization's caseload 
expand tenfold growing from 112 to over 1,000 applicants, the 
bulk of the cases concerning women's rights.  This reflects the 
success of his organization in educating citizens on their legal 
rights such as property rights and human rights. It is also an 
indication of the growing challenges women face.  Prior to his 
organization's work, nearly all of the cases processed through 
the Rasht District court were handled without lawyers. 
 
¶4.  In June 2006, President Rahmon visited Rasht to mark the 
ninth anniversary of peace and stability.  As the result of his 
visit, the center of Garm, the main city in the valley, received 
a few shiny new buildings.  One year later, however, little else 
has improved.  With jobs scarce, the men have fled to Russia for 
work.  The Chinese roads under construction promise to connect 
the isolated region with the rest of the country, but Azamov 
worries that the roads will bring in competing Chinese goods, 
including produce, Rasht's leading export. 
 
 
POLITICS AND RELIGION CAN'T MIX 
 
¶5.  PolOff met with Odinamahmad Ashurov, an alumnus of the 
U.S.-funded Community Connections exchange program.  Ashurov is 
constructing a madrassah for boys and girls next to Garm's 
largest mosque.  In addition to religious courses, he plans to 
implement a curriculum of math, science, English language and 
computer skills.  After his exchange to the United States, 
Ashurov hopes to transform the region's mosques into centers 
that help the impoverished and needy, like U.S. faith-based 
centers. 
 
¶6.  However, the people of Rasht know well that religion and 
politics don't mix - that is, they are not permitted to mix. 
Qurbon Barotov, Garm's Imam-khatib, a Muslim religious leader 
who leads large Friday prayer sessions, told PolOff that 
government employees monitor his sermons to ensure that his 
message is not political.  Ashurov and Barotov both noted that 
mosque attendance among youth has increased.  The leaders 
welcome the youth presence in the mosques, and feel that it is 
an opportunity to teach the next generation a message of 
tolerance and to actually encourage them not to get involved in 
politics. 
 
¶7.  In a meeting with political party leaders from the Islamic 
Renaissance Party, the Democratic Party and the People's 
Democratic Party, it is clear that the president's People's 
Democratic Party dominates, just like everywhere else in 
Tajikistan.  Representatives of the other parties, perhaps 
intimidated by the presence of the People's Democratic Party, 
rarely spoke.  The Democratic Party representative only raised 
his voice to say, "We support what you have heard from the 
People's Democratic Party."  During the week of June 11, 
Muhiddin Kabiri, Chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party 
visited Rasht and party officials hope that his visit will spur 
increased membership.  But the residents of Rasht are daily 
 
DUSHANBE 00000932  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
reminded of the consequences of the civil war, which have left 
them increasingly isolated and shunned by Dushanbe, and have 
little appetite for politics. 
 
 
BACK TO RASHT- A FORMER REFUGEE'S STORY 
 
¶8.  Many residents of Rasht are actually returnees from 
Afghanistan where they fled to escape the civil war.  Sulaymon 
Huseynov's story is typical of other Rasht Valley residents. 
Huseynov's family, originally from the Rasht Valley, was 
forcibly relocated to the Khatlon region in the 1930s during 
Soviet rule.  He grew up in southern Tajikistan and knew no 
other home.  When civil war broke out in 1992, as a Tajik from 
Rasht living in Khatlon, Huseynov was on the wrong side of the 
fence.  Forced to flee or risk being killed at the hands of his 
neighbors, Huseynov gathered his family and headed for 
Afghanistan.  He crossed the Amu Darya River by dismantling a 
truck and floating on its tires.  He and his family were among 
the lucky ones who survived.  Many died trying to cross the 
river.  Huseynov described how the river ran red with blood as 
soldiers shot hundreds of refugees trying to escape.  Once in 
Afghanistan, life was no better.  Although the Taliban left the 
Tajik refugees alone, the Tajiks lived under constant fear among 
the Afghans who all owned weapons.  Huseynov moved around 
toiling at odd jobs in Kunduz, Kabul and Mazar-i Sharif. 
 
¶9.  In 1997 after the civil war ended, Huseynov returned to 
Tajikistan, but like many other returnees, he was too scared to 
go back to his home in the south.  Instead he relocated to 
Tojikibod in Rasht Valley, his family's ancestral home.  But he 
did not receive the warm homecoming he anticipated.  Upon 
returning, he learned that his family's home had been occupied 
by other Tajiks, possibly militia.  Urged by his family not to 
pursue a legal claim for the property, Huseynov had to start all 
over. 
 
¶10.  Huseynov now works for a microfinance organization in 
Jirgatol, a neighboring district.  He grows his own vegetables 
and raises chickens to help feed his family.  When asked how 
life has changed in Tojikibod he was pensive, "Life is better, 
because there is peace." 
 
¶11.  Tojikibod is the home village of Mahmadruzzi Iskandarov, 
the imprisoned chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, 
who is also seen as an opposition politician.  Despite his 
tarnished status many people in Tojikibod still respect him and 
appreciate the financial assistance he provided to the town 
prior to his imprisonment. 
 
 
USAID ASSISTANCE: EMPOWERING WOMEN, SUSTAINING LIVELIHOODS 
 
¶12.  Of the various residents PolOff met, only one group could 
concretely describe how life has improved since the end of the 
civil war -- and not only because "there is now peace." 
 
¶13.  USAID's support for Mercy Corps Development Assistance 
Program has not only fed, but also educated and empowered women. 
 Mercy Corps staff trained a network of volunteers in various 
skills from building greenhouses to personal hygiene. 
Volunteers then go out and train others in the community.  To 
date, nearly 4,000 people in the region have benefited directly 
from the project. 
 
¶14.  PolOff visited three women-headed households who are 
beneficiaries of Mercy Corps' U.S.-funded projects.  Each of the 
women was grateful to the United States and Mercy Corps for the 
assistance and enthusiastic that the projects have given them a 
way to sustain their livelihoods.  One commented that thanks to 
the United States, "From the earth to the sky, life is better." 
The women told PolOff about how their husbands have left for 
Russia and do not send home money, leaving them destitute.  All 
of them live in mud-brick homes thatched together with straw, 
and sleep right next to the chickens and goats that roam their 
yards. 
 
¶15.  With Mercy Corps' greenhouse project, trained volunteers 
teach the women how to build greenhouses and raise vegetables. 
The women are now able to feed their families, sell the 
vegetables for profit, and can the vegetables for winter.  The 
women told PolOff that thanks to information from the community 
volunteers, their children are vaccinated, women no longer give 
 
DUSHANBE 00000932  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
birth at home, and they seek professional medical assistance. 
All the women in the village see a doctor at least once a year 
and they all pool their money together in case one needs a 
medical procedure -- an effective form of health insurance. 
According to the women all this has resulted in fewer illnesses 
among the community.  In addition, they are optimistic that 
their children will have better lives.  All of their children 
now complete high school, including girls. 
 
¶16.  COMMENT:  Viewed by Dushanbe as the "losers" of the civil 
war, the Rasht Valley feels like it has received only token 
assistance from the central government, and its isolation means 
that few international organizations and non-governmental 
organizations are able to reach out to the area.  The people are 
managing to slowly build civil society on the foundation of ten 
years of peace.  The biggest challenge for Rasht now is building 
industry and creating jobs in order to sustain the peace.  END 
COMMENT. 
JACOBSON