VZCZCXRO1744
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1350/01 3480853
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140853Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9877
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3103
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0918
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0792
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1368
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1351
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1994

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001350 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL 
AID/W FOR EE/AA (BOB WALLIN) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KIRF EAID TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN MOJ OFFICIALS INTRIGUED BUT 
NONCOMMITTAL ON COOPERATION AND EXCHANGES 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  On December 7, Deputy Assistant Secretary 
(DAS) Erica Barks-Ruggles and other delegation members met 
with Ministry of Justice (MOJ) officials to discuss 
registration of religious groups and NGOS as well as various 
opportunities for possible cooperation.  MOJ officials 
discussed requirements and procedures for registering 
religious groups.  MOJ officials also indicated that they may 
be interested in exchanges between Turkmen and U.S. lawyers, 
particularly IVP programs and international conferences. 
They did not, however, have a response to any suggested 
programs and activities for cooperation either at this 
meeting or those given to the MOJ by USAID in October.  MOJ 
also stated that it wants to reflect international and 
European standards on both the prosecutorial and defense 
sides of Turkmenistan's legal system, and said that "there 
should be an adversarial procedure in place."   END SUMMARY. 
 
REGISTRATION OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On December 7, Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) 
Erica Barks-Ruggles met with Ministry of Justice (MOJ) 
officials, including Chief of the Department of Information 
and Legal Assistance Kumush Gurbanyazova, Chief of Department 
on Foreign Relations and Registration of Public Organizations 
Serdar Valliyev, and Chief of Department on Registration of 
Regulations and Laws Amangeldi Orazov.  The officials stated 
that registration of religious groups is regulated by the Law 
on Religion.  Under this law, Turkmenistan's government will 
register a religious group comprised of up to 50 people, or a 
religious organization comprised of over 50 people.  The 
Council on Religious Affairs reviews the application 
documents first, followed by the Ministry of Justice.  The 
officials stated that an interagency commission issues final 
decisions on the registration of religious groups and 
organizations and noted the commission has registered two 
groups since September 2007.  The delegation urged the MOJ to 
accelerate registration procedures and make requirements 
clear, as a number of applications have been pending for 
years. 
 
AMENDED CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE 
 
¶4.  (SBU) DAS Barks-Ruggles suggested that the United States 
could offer training on the amended criminal procedure code 
to prosecutors and judges, and on Rule of Law through USAID 
and other agencies.  She noted that a series of proposals on 
these issues had been given to the Ministry by USAID in 
October and gave the MOJ participants another copy.  Orazov 
mentioned that the Human Rights Commission and MOJ have 
discussed cooperation with the American Bar Association on 
legal education for lawyers and prosecutors.  He added that 
he and his colleagues would pass the offers of assistance to 
their superiors. 
 
TRAINING ON NGO REGISTRATION 
 
¶5.  (SBU) DAS Barks-Ruggles also suggested that the United 
States could offer assistance in streamlining the process of 
registering NGOs, including by holding seminars and supplying 
legal databases on how other countries treat NGOs.  Susan 
Fertig-Dykes, Acting Director of Democracy/Governance and 
Social Transition at USAID, added that USAID offers workshops 
on taxation and registration of NGOs, monthly law seminars 
for the public, publication of local government legislation 
-- and all could be done in either the Russian and Turkmen 
languages.  Gurbanyazova said that she thought that this 
assistance might be useful, and said that she supported 
lawyers exchanging ideas with one another, but was 
non-committal on specifics.  DAS Barks-Ruggles said that the 
Embassy would follow up.  (NOTE:  Gurbanyazova participated 
 
ASHGABAT 00001350  002 OF 002 
 
 
in the Anti-Corruption Conference in June 2007 in Ashgabat, 
organized by DOS International Narcotics and Law Enforcement 
(INL) through DOJ's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial 
Development Assistance and Training Programs (OPDAT).  She 
also traveled to Miami and Washington, D.C. on an OPDAT 
rule-of-law study tour in November 2006.  END NOTE.) 
 
TURKMENISTAN CLAIMS MEMBERSHIP IN REGISTERED RELIGIOUS GROUPS 
NOT NECESSARY 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Orazov noted that, according to Article 11 of 
Turkmenistan's Constitution, it is not necessary to belong to 
a registered group in order to freely practice religion.  DAS 
Barks-Ruggles acknowledged that some religious organizations 
did not want to register, but added that the American 
government wants all those who wish to do so to be registered 
in a timely manner.  Orazov said that his government is 
always willing to register organizations, "if their ideas do 
not contradict the interests of the government." 
Gurbanyazova claimed that the MOJ is willing to work with 
groups wanting to register and even offers assistance on 
questions about the registration process.  Barks-Ruggles 
urged them to accelerate registration processes. 
 
TURKMENISTAN AIMS TO MEET INTERNATIONAL LEGAL STANDARDS 
 
¶7.  (SBU) DAS Barks-Ruggles said that the U.S. government 
wants to help Turkmenistan meet international standards for 
treaty obligations, both in the legal sense and the human 
rights sense.  Orazov said that his government discussed this 
at "the conference in 2005."  (NOTE:  Orazov was referring to 
an OPDAT-organized conference on criminal justice sector 
reform.  Participants included American judges and attorneys, 
five Turkmen government agencies, and officials from Russia's 
State Duma, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a law 
institute.  END NOTE.)  Orazov stated that the MOJ wants to 
reflect international and European standards on both the 
prosecutorial and defense sides, with both sides being equal. 
 She added that "there should be an adversarial procedure in 
place."  DAS Barks-Ruggles said that the American side would 
be willing to follow up on the 2005 seminar as Turkmenistan 
revises its criminal procedure code.  Orazov also noted that 
he is a member of a government working group to amend 
Turkmenistan's criminal procedure code. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT:  In Turkmenistan, acknowledgment of the 
utility of exchange of ideas with American lawyers represents 
progress.  The meeting, however, did not result in any 
specific commitments as the MOJ officials were clearly not 
empowered to agree to any assistance programs.  We will have 
to continue to press them to see if we can move forward on 
any of the outstanding USG proposals.  We should, however, 
focus on working with civil society, activists in the 
judiciary, and lawyers to improve rule of law, their skills, 
and their access to information as a first step. END COMMENT. 
CURRAN