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DE RUEHNT #0231/01 0610621
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 020626Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0549
INFO ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
CIS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
RUEHLJ/AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA 0001
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0003
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 000231 
 
SIPDIS 
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PASS TO AMCONSUL HYDERABAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2018-12-22 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EFIN ICRC KCOR ECON KCRM UZ
SUBJECT: Tashkent Tidbits - March 2, 2009 
 
TASHKENT 00000231  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Timothy P Buckley, Second Secretary; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
Forensic Internship Proposal Denied 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) A successful ongoing INL-sponsored forensic laboratory 
improvement program implemented by DOJ-ICITAP suffered a mild 
setback when the Government of Uzbekistan delivered a diplomatic 
note on February 17 denying a proposal to send an Uzbek forensic 
scientist to the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office for a 
month-long internship in the toxicology department.  This proposal 
followed numerous productive visits by U.S. experts to the Main 
Forensic Laboratory in Tashkent, who installed sophisticated 
equipment, conducted training sessions, and expanded professional 
networks.  As usual, no explanation was given for the denial, 
although it suggests authorities remain suspicious of any 
unescorted program for government employees on U.S. territory, no 
matter how technical and benign it may seem to us.  We expect other 
elements of the project involving equipment and training sessions 
in Uzbekistan to continue with the support of the government, 
although efforts to expose Uzbek scientists to the mainstream 
international academic community will be subjected to case-by-case 
scrutiny.  Currently, an Uzbek delegation is participating in a 
USG-funded forensics event in the U.S., although the government 
inexplicably cancelled the participation of the First Deputy 
Minister of Health on short notice. 
 
 
 
Convertibility Woes Deepening? 
 
------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) On February 23 we met with Aziz Khodjimatov, New Business 
Development Manager at International Health Care Consulting AG, the 
pharmaceutical branch of Janssen-Cilag, which in turn is a 
subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson in the U.S.  He told us that his 
organization is now experiencing convertibility delays of as much 
as 12-13 months, which greatly exceeds previous reports from 
Proctor & Gamble of delays on the order of 270 days.  Khodjimatov 
continued that Russian pharmaceutical companies have gotten 
convertibility relief after intervention by the Russian Embassy, 
and he asked if we could do the same.  AmCham met recently with 
Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Ganiev but did not get any 
traction; the GOU appears set in its policy of import substitution. 
 
 
 
 
Italian Counternarcotics Interests 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (C) On February 22 poloff asked Raffaelle Ungaro, the Police 
Attache from the Embassy of Italy, why his country chose to send a 
police attache to its small mission in Tashkent.  Ungaro noted that 
Italy was a strong supporter of the project to launch the 
counternarcotics-focused Central Asian Regional Information and 
Coordination Center (CARICC) under the earlier stewardship of an 
Italian UNODC regional director, and Italy still feels a sense of 
responsibility for seeing the project succeed.  Italy also wanted 
to show leadership when it chaired the mini-Dublin group.  He 
conceded that most Afghan-origin narcotics actually reach Italy via 
a westward route through Iran and Turkey rather than north through 
Uzbekistan, which means Italy has less of a strategic interest in 
the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.  Ungaro also reported 
the same access problems almost all foreigners experience, and 
currently he is trying to overcome a lackluster response from the 
 
TASHKENT 00000231  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
National Security Service (NSS) to an offer for a training progra 
 
m 
in Italy. 
 
 
 
Slovenes to Enter NGO Scene? 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (C) Mjusa Sever, the former Country Director of the U.S.-funded 
NGO Institute for New Democracies (IND), returned to Uzbekistan on 
February 20 and immediately met with Uzbek officials about the 
possibility of "continuing our dialogue" under the auspices of a 
new NGO she just registered in Slovenia.  Sever told poloff on 
February 22 that the Slovene Government may provide some limited 
support for anti-corruption work and a conference, and she added 
that the GOU has asked her to do media relations and civil society 
development work.  Sever built up impressive access to sensitive 
government ministries after several years working in Uzbekistan, 
and she may try to market that to seek funding support from 
international donors for other projects.  A key indicator of her 
clout will be whether and how quickly the GOU registers her NGO. 
 
 
 
ICRC Negotiations with Ministry of Internal Affairs 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) ICRC's Deputy Regional Director in Central Asia, Raffaello 
Muller, told poloff on February 22 that the prisons directorate of 
the Ministry of Internal Affairs (known as GUIN) remains open and 
cooperative to working with ICRC in response to ICRC's recently 
submitted report.  However, Muller said working with the Ministry's 
investigations division - which controls preliminary detention 
facilities at police stations throughout the country - remains a 
challenge partly due to fear.  In a meeting last week with the head 
of the investigations division, Muller noted the official was 
"visibly trembling," which is probably a byproduct of the warnings 
and preparation such officials in sensitive positions receive from 
the security services before sitting down with international 
organizations. 
 
 
 
License and Registration, Please 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Poloff has recently been commuting via a local driver and 
his personal car, which inevitably provides a first-hand look at 
traffic stops.  On February 27 the driver was pulled over and 
ultimately ticketed for a seatbelt violation.  The officer accepted 
a spot fine of about USD 2 worth of local currency and dutifully 
wrote out a shabby-looking receipt; however, Uzbeks laugh this off 
as just a flimsy way to make it look official and doubt that the 
proceeds from fines emerges from the officers' pockets.  Poloff 
doubts that the officer could have determined the driver was not 
wearing a seatbelt from his curbside position well in front of the 
car but, to be fair, the driver was guilty - and stubborn - about 
wearing his seatbelt.  The law entered into force last year and, 
perhaps much like the U.S. when the concept was new in the '80s, 
there are many defiant skeptics.  In a place where car safety 
standards are low, drivers are reckless, and trauma care 
nonexistent, compulsory use of seat belts is a good idea.  With 
enforcement in the hands of a vast, eager, and omnipresent traffic 
police force, Tashkenters will be buckling up in no time. 
 
TASHKENT 00000231  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
. 
BUTCHER 
 
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