VZCZCXYZ0342
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAH #0312/01 0661232
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061232Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0394
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RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1728
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UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000312 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KDEM TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN:  ACTIVIST'S LETTER TO 
BERDIMUHAMEDOV ON BEHALF OF VULNERABLE CITIZENS SO FAR 
ATTRACTS NO NEGATIVE RESPONSE FROM THE GOVERNMENT 
 
¶1.  (U)  Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Civil society activist Natalya Shabunts 
published via Internet a long letter she sent to 
Turkmenistan's President Berdimuhamedov, criticizing the 
government for its failure to protect and care for 
Turkmenistan's most vulnerable citizens, including the 
disabled and senior citizens.  The letter represents the 
collective complaints of numerous citizens.  She said she 
believes that if the president were made aware of these 
problems, he might consider corrective action, given his 
desire for Turkmenistan to fulfill its international human 
rights obligations.  At the same time, she indicated full 
awareness of the risk she is taking in doing so.  Even though 
her letter of complaint has appeared internationally and she 
informed people beforehand of her intention to publicize her 
complaints, there so far has been no negative government 
response, including from the security organs.  This level of 
freedom of expression would have been unheard of 1 1/2 years 
ago, and represents another small step forward.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Post called on March 4 on Natalya 
Anurova-Shabunts, the author of an open letter to President 
Berdimuhamedov that was made public on March 3.  Shabunts is 
a well-educated, long-time civil society activist in Ashgabat 
whose work in recent times has primarily centered on services 
and educational programs for the country's most disadvantaged 
citizens.  She has a long history of work in the civil 
society network here, having authored several legal compendia 
for OSCE, and overseen or participated in numerous USAID and 
other internationally funded projects. (NOTE:  She forwarded 
a copy of her letter to post and other international 
organization offices here in mid-February in the hope that 
doing so would afford her some protection from a negative 
government response.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶4.  (U)  The letter, which can now be read in its entirety on 
the chrono-tm.org website, is a respectful yet detailed 
criticism of the progress of reforms underway in 
Turkmenistan, that specifically focuses on the plight of 
disabled citizens, as well as pensioners and the 
Russian-speaking minority.  Here, the combination of archaic 
cultural biases, the government's refusal to acknowledge the 
needs of disabled citizens, and lack of equipment and 
technology to assist the disabled has conspired to keep them 
at home or in hospital-style care centers, where they are out 
of view.  Her letter describes the dramatically declining 
living conditions for pensioners, and also mourns the poor 
treatment and continuing emigration of the Russian-speaking 
intelligentsia, who were rejected by the previous government 
and continue to be ignored by the current one. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Shabunts expressed her frustration with both local 
and national government officials, who have repeatedly 
impeded her and her colleagues' efforts to improve the lives 
of the disabled citizens that her programs assist.  She noted 
that they have limited capacity to help themselves, and only 
receive welfare benefits of about 11-20 dollars a month.  She 
said that government representatives refused to permit 
projects that provided any kind of educational training, even 
though there are no national educational programs for 
students with special needs beyond elementary school. 
Further, she accused city officials of constantly throwing up 
obstacles to her group's efforts to establish a new location 
for their program and generally to do their work. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  She said she sent the letter to the presidential 
apparatus with the stated promise that if she received no 
indication that President Berdimuhamedov had received it 
within a certain time, she would make the letter public. 
Shabunts described herself as an optimist, and suggested that 
 
 
if the president were personally aware of the transgressions 
of various government officials, this behavior toward her 
work would stop, especially given the president's declared 
goal of fulfilling the country's international human rights 
standards.  (COMMENT:  We would doubt he was ever shown the 
letter.  END COMMENT.) 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Shabunts displayed her realist side as well, and 
spoke critically of the general reform efforts to this point. 
 She described Turkmen government officials as "masters of 
good documentation" in that they can be very efficient at 
developing new legislation, at assembling reports for 
international consumption, and producing good news articles 
praising the progress of these efforts.  She said that she is 
still waiting to feel or observe the actual, tangible effects 
of reforms that are underway.  Interestingly, she holds a 
Russian passport, and could leave Turkmenistan if she wished, 
but she said that her work here is important and meaningful, 
and this country is her home.  (NOTE:  According to Internet 
information, Shabunts was denied permission to travel abroad 
in 2005.  She worked closely with the Soros Foundation in the 
past, likely a factor in the denial.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  She admitted that she is concerned about the 
government's reaction to her letter appearing on the 
Internet.  Although the letter has been posted on the 
Internet since March 3, she said she has not received any 
calls or visits from the authorities about it. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  Shabunts is a product of long-term U.S. 
and international organization efforts to develop civil 
society and public interest activism here.  The fact that 
there has been no negative reaction from the government, 
despite her having sent the letter to embassies and 
international organizations, to the president, and its 
posting on the Internet is interesting.  Under former 
President Niyazov, anyone who dared to do such a thing would 
probably have been placed under house arrest or imprisoned. 
It is possible that the government differentiates Shabunts' 
largely apolitical focus on socio-economic problems for 
Turkmenistan's most vulnerable citizens from someone with a 
more political agenda.  We doubt the president has seen the 
letter, and it could be the security organs have not yet 
gotten around to her.  If she remains free from harassment, 
that will be another small step forward for Turkmenistan. 
END COMMENT. 
HOAGLAND