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RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHSK RUEHVK
RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0782/01 1750429
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240429Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0464
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1013
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0020
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEABND/DEA HQ WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 000782 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN (HUSHEK) 
INL/AAE (BUHLER) 
JUSTICE FOR (DUCOT AND NEWCOMBE) 
DEFENSE FOR OSD/P 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM KJUS TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN: MAY 2009 LAW ENFORCEMENT DEVELOPMENTS 
 
REF: DUSHANBE 723 
 
DUSHANBE 00000782  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Ambassador Jacobson and Tajik Minister of 
Foreign Affairs Hamrokhon Zarifi signed Amendment 9 to the INL 
Letter of Agreement which provides almost $9.5 in additional 
counter-narcotics, law enforcement, and justice sector 
assistance to Tajikistan, and a Memorandum of Understanding 
regarding bilateral cooperation in a $7 million USAID project on 
Local Governance and Citizen Participation Program.  Police 
seized sizable quantities of hashish, heroin, and destroyed 
large quantities of marijuana in the initial weeks of the annual 
anti-drug operation "Poppy-2009".   An unfortunate mountain-road 
traffic accident uncovered 330 kilos of opium in a freight 
truck.  The OSCE launched (but did not open) the Border 
Management Staff College.  INL Dushanbe issued eight grants 
totaling $300,000 to Tajik non-governmental organizations for 
programs in court monitoring, legal aid to indigents, legal 
education, legal representation of minors, and third party 
arbitration.  End summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.  On May 8 Ambassador Jacobson and Tajik Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Hamrokhon Zarifi signed Amendment 9 to the Letter of 
Agreement between Tajikistan and the United States to provide 
$9,426,000 in additional assistance for narcotics control, law 
enforcement, and justice sector reform.  With this assistance, 
the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement program has 
provided more than $37 million to support Tajikistan's security, 
rule of law and counter narcotics efforts since 1992. 
 
 
 
¶3.  On May 8 Ambassador Jacobson and Tajik Foreign Minister 
Hamrokhon Zarifi signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding 
bilateral cooperation in a $7 million project on Local 
Governance and Citizen Participation Program. The project has 
five areas of emphasis: promoting government decentralization, 
working with a Presidential Working Group to support reform 
empowering local government at the all levels and including 
local government and community stakeholders in the national 
policy dialogue on local government reform; training to make 
local governance more effective;  increasing citizen awareness 
of local issues and participation in local governance; improving 
accountability of local governing institutions;  sharing 
information with the public about government budgets, progress 
in decentralization, and how citizens can participate in 
government.  The program is funded by USAID, and implemented by 
the Urban Institute. 
 
 
 
DRUGS. DRUGS, AND MORE DRUGS 
 
 
 
¶4.  Police seized 48 kilograms of hashish in the border village 
of Qizil Sou of Farkhor oblast in southern Tajikistan, and 
arrested an Afghan national Abdurazzoq valadi Abdugaffor. 
Police reported seizures on May 8 and 9 of more than 20 kilos of 
heroin in two separate operations.  Police officers seized two 
kilograms of heroin in Dushanbe, more than 18 kilograms of 
heroin at the Sino Hotel in Chkalovsk, and also 1.5 kilograms of 
hashish in northern Tajikistan's Sugd's Spitamen district. 
Police officers detained a local resident and an Afghan national 
near the border village of Samonchi in Farkhor on May 17 on 
suspicion of  drug trafficking.  Police seized 36 kilograms of 
raw opium from them.  One of them tried to flee and police 
wounded him in the leg. The Drug Control Agency destroyed 
500,512 marijuana bushes in Sugd's Bobojon Gafurov district. 
 
 
 
¶5.  On May 10 the Police and the Drug Control Agency launched an 
anti-drug operation, dubbed Poppy-2009 which will continue until 
November 30.  The operation involves all law enforcement 
agencies as well as Ministry of Agriculture, Agency for 
Environmental Protection, the Committee for TV and 
Radio-Broadcasting and local authorities.  The Drug Control 
Agency is responsible for coordinating the operation.  In all, 
law enforcement officers seized some 100 kilograms of narcotics 
in Tajikistan over the first ten days of the operation. 
 
DUSHANBE 00000782  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
 
¶6.  Officers from the Sugd Counter-Narcotics Directorate began a 
large-scale effort to uncover heroin distribution rings in the 
province.  According to Mirzoravshan Qutbiddinov, an official 
with the Sugd Counter-Narcotics Directorate, a number of 
operations carried out in the province since the beginning of 
the year led to the arrest of 11 heroin pushers.  Narcotics 
confiscated from them would have been enough for 16,000 doses. 
The investigation discovered that about 80% of heroin pushers 
are drug addicts themselves. 
 
 
 
¶7.  On May 26 Police discovered about 330 kilos of opium when 
heavy truck fell off a precipice near Nurek.  A heavy Kamaz 
truck loaded with 15 tons of rice fell into precipice 39 
kilometers northwest of the city of Nurek.  The truck was moving 
from GBAO's Shugnan district to Dushanbe when the driver lost 
control and drove off a 150-meter precipice.  The driver died on 
the scene.  When examining the vehicle, police officers 
discovered a number of hiding places containing the raw opium. 
 
 
 
¶8.  Officers from the Drug Control Agency broke up a 
drug-smuggling gang dealing with transporting narcotics to 
Russia.  Drug Control Agency officers arrested a Tajik national 
in Rudaki district on May 26 on suspicion of drug trafficking. 
When searching his car, drug control officers found 12 packages 
containing over 11 kilos of heroin. 
 
 
 
¶9.  The Border Guards reported that Border Guards and officers 
from the Drug Control Agency carried out a special joint 
operation in GBAO's Darvoz district on May 23.  The officers 
spotted and tried to detain a group of drug traffickers who were 
crossing the Pyanj river near the area of Zighar-Valvalak in 
Darvoz.  A firefight ensued and the drug traffickers retreated 
to Afghanistan.  Officers seized about 25 kilos of narcotics, 
including 12.5 kilograms of hashish, 12.3 kilograms of heroin, 
and one Kalashnikov sub-machine gun. 
 
 
 
¶10.  Border Guards and Drug Control Officers carried out an 
operation in the area of Patkmou-Sari Ob in Darvoz on May 25 and 
arrested 10 members of an organized drug-trafficking ring. 
Officers seized 65 kilograms of narcotics, including five 
kilograms of hashish and 58 kilograms of raw opium, as well as a 
large number of weapons.  The ring consisted of both Afghans and 
Tajiks. 
 
 
 
YEAR-TO-DATE SEIZURE 
 
 
 
¶11.  Over the first five months of this year, Tajik law 
enforcement agencies seized more than 2 tons of narcotics.  The 
total includes 444 kilograms of heroin, 362 kilograms of raw 
opium and some 1000 kilograms of cannabis. 
 
 
 
BORDER MANAGEMENT COLLEGE 
 
 
 
¶12.  On May 27 the OSCE launched the Border Management Staff 
College which will train border security managers and promote 
co-operation between OSCE States and Partner countries, 
including neighboring Afghanistan.  Foreign Minister Hamrokhon 
Zarifi, senior representatives from the Border Guards, the Head 
of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, Ambassador Vladimir Pryahin as 
well as ambassadors and other representatives of OSCE 
participating States attended the launch ceremony.  The College 
is scheduled to open in the fall in temporary quarters on the 
 
DUSHANBE 00000782  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
OSCE premises.  A research and development centre will also be 
housed at the college. Training and research will focus on the 
free and secure movement of persons, border crossing procedures, 
facilitating trade and transport security. The College aims to 
provide a single point of knowledge delivery and promote 
international standards and best practices in all aspects of 
border management. 
 
 
 
JUSTICE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 
 
¶13.  President Rahmon appointed Mahmad Zabirovich Rahimov, a 
Member of Parliament, as the Director of the National 
Legislative Center under the President of the Republic of 
Tajikistan.  President Rahmon called for the establishment of a 
National Legislative Center in his annual speech to the 
Parliament in 2008 and in March of 2009 he decreed its 
establishment.  The goal of the Center is to eliminate 
contradictions in laws, improve the quality of new laws, and 
bring Tajik legislation into compliance with international 
treaties signed by Tajikistan.  In the Soviet-era Mr. Rahimov 
headed the department of commercial law at the National 
University.  INL Dushanbe developed a project with the Justice 
Sector portfolio to train lawyers who will work in the Center. 
 
 
 
¶14.  Via a recently launched Justice Sector Reform program, INL 
Dushanbe issued eight grants totaling $300,000 to Tajik 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to carry out programs in 
court monitoring, legal aid to indigents, legal education, legal 
representation of minors, and third party arbitration. 
(reftel). 
 
 
 
¶15.  INL and IOM are setting new priorities in counter 
trafficking.  Emboffs met with Zeynal Hajiev, Head of IOM, to 
discuss ways to improve the INL anti-trafficking project 
implemented by IOM.  IOM revised the project plan to focus on 
training to law enforcement bodies to increase detections, 
investigations, prosecutions and convictions in trafficking 
cases to help Tajikistan improve its counter trafficking efforts 
and avoid degrading. 
 
 
 
¶16.  Comment:  The signing of two important documents on 
cooperation is an endorsement of the three-pillar approach the 
mission strategic plan: security cooperation, economic 
development, and democratic reform.  The agreements signify 
continued Tajik Government interest in expanding cooperation in 
fighting the spread of narcotics, terrorism and trafficking in 
persons. 
 
 
 
¶17.  Comment continued:  While Tajikistan's counter-drug 
operation is an annual event, we see increased interest in 
interagency coordination in Tajikistan and cross-border 
cooperation between the Tajik and Kyrgyz DCA. 
JACOBSON