VZCZCXRO0269
RR RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #3213/01 3051343
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311343Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0595
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 003213 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/ECA AND EUR/RUS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PGOV PTER EAID RS
SUBJECT: WORLD VISION INCREASING ITS INGUSHETIYA SECURITY 
 
REF:  (A) MOSCOW 3137, (B) MOSCOW 3089 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In the wake of a series of incidents (reftels) 
indicative of a worsening safety picture in Ingushetiya, World 
Vision Russian Federation is working to improve its staff's 
security.  Unlike some other PRM implementing partners, the agency 
does not intend to move its North Caucasus headquarters from Nazran. 
 End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Refcoord met October 29 in Moscow with World Vision Russian 
Federation (WVRF) Program Director Siobhan Kimmerle and 
Washington-based World Vision International Program Officer Rebecca 
Chandler.  Chandler had just completed a 10-day visit to the North 
Caucasus to assist with WVRF's internal monitoring and evaluation as 
well as the hiring of an adolescent counselor to work with Ingush 
high school students (note: under the organization's FY 2009 
cooperative agreement with PRM; end note). 
 
Tension Flowing, Travel Ebbing 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) Chandler, who last visited Ingushetiya in Spring 2008, said 
she noticed that WVRF's chief security officer had now begun to 
order the Nazran office's drivers to vary their routes.  Also, she 
had been impressed to witness what looked like an FSB or Interior 
Ministry (MVD) special operation in progress around 3:30 p.m. 
October 24 in downtown Nazran.  Five minutes by car from WVRF's 
headquarters, she and Kimmerle had encountered about six armored 
personnel carriers, several unmarked UAZ SUV's, and approximately 
100 masked security officers. 
 
¶4. (U) Kimmerle said it was still unusual to see such a large 
display of force, and she had immediately called back to her office 
and told the security supervisor to send all staff home within the 
next 30 minutes.  Kimmerle related additional recent sources of 
anxiety for her colleagues: 
 
- In June, a liquor store two blocks from WVRF's office was blown 
up, reportedly by radical Islamists who object to the sale of 
alcohol; 
 
- Ingush gynecologists have been threatened for performing 
abortions; and beauty parlors have been threatened for doing women's 
hair (which radical Islamists believe should be covered); 
 
- There are rumors of women who were not wearing headscarves being 
pulled off Ingush buses and beaten for their supposed transgression. 
 Many women, including a member of WVRF's staff, who did not 
previously cover their hair have begun to do so as a matter of 
personal safety; 
 
- Word has it that rebels intent on murdering (then)Ingush President 
Murat Zyazikov no longer are concerned about causing collateral 
damage, i.e. the deaths of civil servants or other "innocent" 
potential bystanders.  Hence the rumor reported ref A - and still 
known only as a rumor - that half of Ingushetiya's police are 
planning to resign; 
 
- Local staff (note:  who live in Ingushetiya, whereas the 
organization's international staff reside in still comparatively 
secure North Ossetia; end note) pass tanks and checkpoints on their 
way to work and hear bombs exploding at night. 
 
¶5. (U) Given the apprehension associated with frequent travel on 
Ingushetiya's roads, WVRF is looking into creating office space at 
its Sleptsovskaya IDP community center.  The idea is to enable staff 
who currently travel the 40 minutes between the Sleptsovskaya center 
and Nazran headquarters daily to do so only weekly.  Employees over 
the past year have furthermore stopped leaving the World Vision 
office to visit the local grocery store or outdoor market, emerging 
only to conduct official business. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Kimmerle and Chandler affirmed that in spite of these 
challenges they will not move the office from Ingushetiya to 
Chechnya as the Danish Refugee Council and the International Rescue 
Committee have both done or to North Ossetia as UNHCR has done. 
World Vision's work is primarily in Ingushetiya, Kimmerle explained, 
and the organization's FY09 plans have been received with enthusiasm 
by the republic's ministries of health and interior.  Furthermore, 
WVRF's Muslim employees, many of whom have loyally served the 
organization for years, might be at additional risk if they were to 
have to commute to predominantly Christian North Ossetia. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Sending employees home early and creating new office space 
have costs that will eventually be reflected in program budgets. 
Employee stress also may lead to higher operating expenses down the 
line.  As long as an implementing partner remains committed to our 
 
MOSCOW 00003213  002 OF 002 
 
 
shared humanitarian mission and beneficiaries and host government 
authorities remain grateful, these costs should not deter our 
involvement in a troubled region.  However, higher overhead costs 
may be reflected in future grant proposals. 
 
BEYRLE