VZCZCXRO1543
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1346/01 3480415
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140415Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9867
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1985
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001346 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL TX
SUBJECT: INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS GIVES GREEN LIGHT 
TO COOPERATION WITH USAID 
 
REF: A. ASHGABAT 1120 
 
 ¶B. ASHGABAT 1130 
 ¶C. ASHGABAT 1079 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY: On December 7, the Director of the Institute of 
Democracy and Human Rights under the President of Turkmenistan told 
a delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Democracy, 
Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) Erica Barks-Ruggles that a commission 
established on November 22 will review all laws in Turkmenistan for 
their conformity with international standards, and that in this 
context USAID's recent proposal to work on the NGO law was "timely" 
(reftel A).  The Institute's director also said that she had 
submitted her response to USAID's recent proposal for cooperation 
(reftel B) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the day before the 
meeting, and that she was ready to cooperate with USAID in a variety 
of areas.  When pressed by DAS Barks-Ruggles for specifics, she 
listed such areas as preparing a database of legislation, 
undertaking study tours to learn from other countries' experience, 
distributing legal information throughout the country, organizing an 
international conference on NGO law, and receiving trainings on 
internet usage.  When asked for movement on "prisoners of concern", 
the Institute director stated that she had just met with the 
International Committee for Red Cross/Red Crescent (ICRC)'s regional 
director, and that she expected "good future cooperation" on this 
issue with ICRC.  Internet access remains a challenge, Ahmedova 
admitted, noting that her own Institute has yet to receive access. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
INSTITUTE'S ROLE "RAISED TO A NEW LEVEL" BY BERDIMUHAMEDOV 
 
¶3. (U) A delegation led by DRL DAS Erica Bark-Ruggles met with 
Shirin Ahmedova, the Director of the Turkmen National Institute of 
Democracy and Human Rights on December 7 to discuss opportunities 
for new cooperation in areas of mutual interest.  The Institute 
director began with an overview of the Institute's history, and its 
new responsibilities since President Berdimuhamedov's inauguration. 
 She noted the announcement of a commission - of which she is a 
member - established on November 22 to review all existing 
legislation for conformity with international law.  As a result, the 
recent proposal by USAID partner International Center for 
Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) to jointly organize an international 
seminar on the NGO law was "timely," she said. 
 
¶4.  (U) DAS Barks-Ruggles outlined the USG's willingness to 
cooperate with Turkmenistan on democracy and human rights issues. 
Recounting a meeting from the previous day with local NGO and 
community leaders, she stressed the importance of a good regulatory 
environment for civic organizations, and cooperation by the 
government with them.  Ahmedova said that the new commission will 
review all laws in Turkmenistan, including that for NGOs.  She 
stated that in the regulatory vacuum in post-independence 
Turkmenistan, the country took laws from many places, including 1969 
laws from the Soviet Union.  As a result, she could not say that any 
of the current laws are up to international standards.  In her role 
as both the Institute's director and member of the commission that 
will review the laws, she said that existing laws can always be 
improved.  As part of a long-term, step-by-step effort, cooperation 
with accredited international organizations will help Turkmenistan 
to achieve this goal.  Ahmedova noted that the commission planned to 
work with the UNDP on reforming the electoral law and that there 
were also discussions about improving NGO legislation, the rights of 
children, the Family Code, and the Civil Code.  She remarked on the 
need to improve juvenile justice, to harmonize the age of adulthood 
throughout the legal code, and to reform the role of the prosecutor. 
 Ahmedova repeated a comment made in previous meetings that 
Turkmenistan is "not afraid of criticism" but insisted that any 
criticism should be made with the intent to improve legislation. 
 
REPLY TO USAID PROPOSAL ALREADY SENT TO MFA FOR APPROVAL 
 
¶5.  (U) Ahmedova said that she had sent a response to the MFA to 
USAID proposals for cooperation that morning, and  DAS Barks-Ruggles 
asked Ahmedova to share details of her response.  Ahmedova said her 
first priority is to prepare a database of all Turkmeni legislation, 
since the Institute is the place where specialists and others should 
be able to access this information.  Next, she suggested exchanges 
 
ASHGABAT 00001346  002 OF 003 
 
 
to see other countries' experience in supporting democratic 
development would be useful.  Distributing information on laws in 
Ashgabat and the regions would increase access to legal information. 
 The suggestion by USAID/ICNL to conduct conferences on NGO 
legislation and training on using the internet were other possible 
areas for cooperation.  Ahmedova said that she was "very positive" 
about cooperation with USAID, and "these are not the only areas." 
She noted that she wanted to sit down with USAID/Ashgabat as soon as 
appropriate bureaucratic steps had been taken inside the GOTX to 
plan for 2008. 
 
¶6.  (U) Ahmedova stressed the importance of avoiding duplication 
among donors.  In this regard, she viewed the Institute as playing a 
coordinating role among donors in the future.  DAS Barks-Ruggles 
stressed the USG's interest in working with the Institute to raise 
Turkmenistan's ability to meet international standards on human 
rights, political reform and other treaty obligations as Ahmedova 
had outlined.  Recognizing that the Institute is already working 
with UNDP and OSCE on elections, the USG remains ready for 
cooperation that would help the Government of Turkmenistan work on 
this basis towards the 2008 parliamentary elections. 
 
INSITUTE TO COOPERATE WITH ICRC ON PRISONERS OF CONCERN 
 
¶7.  (U) On "prisoners of concern."  DAS Barks-Ruggles encouraged 
Ahmedova to look at how the international community has dealt with 
prison conditions, criminal prosecution, and protection of human 
rights and to consider how it might reach international standards in 
this area.  The USG is ready to assist in this process.  Ahmedova 
replied that shortly after his inauguration, on February 19, 
President Berdimuhammedov established a commission to review 
citizens' complaints against law enforcement bodies.  As a result, 
eleven people were released from prison in July.  The presidential 
decree in October led to the release of almost 9,000 prisoners. 
(NOTE:  The release in October was an annual release of prisoners 
for Ramadan.  While a handful of prisoners of concern were included 
in this release, many civil society interlocutors stressed 
throughout the visit that the vast majority of those released were 
let go due to substantial bribes paid by their families - not due to 
recommendations from the commission.  END NOTE.)  Going forward, the 
Institute gave German experts a draft of the Criminal Procedure Code 
to review and will also review the existing corrections and labor 
code, which dates to Soviet times.  Turkmenistan's intergovernmental 
commission on complying with international conventions, of which 
Ahmedova is a member, is pushing for the government to file required 
reports on the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and the 
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). 
 
¶8.  (U) DAS Barks-Ruggles noted the importance of working with 
groups like the ICRC on these issues.  Ahmedova replied that she had 
just met with the ICRC's regional director, and that she expected 
"good future cooperation" on this issue. 
 
¶9. (U) When DAS Barks-Ruggles noted the importance of expanding 
access to the Internet and noted U.S. willingness to cooperate on 
this issue, Ahmedova stated that it was a top priority for the 
president and that she hoped IDHR itself could get access to the 
Internet soon. 
 
¶10.  (U) COMMENT: This meeting highlighted Institute Director 
Ahmedova's constructive approach to cooperation with international 
organizations.  She, alone among all the government interlocutors 
with whom the delegation met, was willing to commit to moving 
forward with some specific cooperation efforts.  Her recognition of 
the value of working with multiple bilateral and multilateral 
experts showed a savvy understanding of the need to mitigate the 
risk of being accused of being in the pocket of any one outside 
donor.  She also demonstrated a more comprehensive and cogent vision 
than other government interlocutors for possible ways to make 
incremental progress on difficult human rights and democracy issues. 
 Her views coincided to a certain extent with the much more detailed 
analysis and vision the delegation received from NGOs both on 
problems and challenges, and on possible steps forward.  From her 
comments, it appears that the Institute is willing to accept 
significant portions of USAID's recent proposal for cooperation and 
that additional opportunities remain on the horizon.  Post eagerly 
awaits the Institute's reply through official MFA channels, and will 
continue to seek further concrete opportunities to engage in the 
 
ASHGABAT 00001346  003 OF 003 
 
 
future.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶11. (U) DAS Barks-Ruggles has cleared this cable. 
 
 
CURRAN