VZCZCXRO2616
OO RUEHIK
DE RUEHTA #1776/01 2790337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 060337Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6528
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 2014
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1383
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2082
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1029
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 1570
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 1444
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/CDR USTRANSCOM SCOTT AFB IL
RUEHAST/USOFFICE ALMATY 1919

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 001776 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, ECA, OES/PCI, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SENV SOCI KDEM KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  ENVIRONMENTAL NGO "GREEN SALVATION" TAKES ON 
GOLIATH AND WINS 
 
REF:  ASTANA 01694 
 
ASTANA 00001776  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  The environmental NGO Green Salvation, one of 
the oldest NGOs in Kazakhstan, defends the environmental rights of 
citizens including with lawsuits, if necessary.  It monitors 
implementation of the Aarhus Convention that grants citizens access 
to information concerning the environment and works with national 
parks to help stop illegal hunting and poaching.  Its sponsors 
include the National Endowment for Democracy and the Open Society 
Institute (Soros Foundation).  Thirty percent of the lawsuits it has 
filed have been decided in their favor, including two cases that 
went to the Supreme Court.  Opponents have labeled Green Salvation a 
"radical" organization "supported by international imperialists." 
END SUMMARY. 
 
GREEN SALVATION DEFENDS CITIZENS' ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Green Salvation Director Sergey Kuratov told Regional 
Environmental Officer on September 16 that his organization was 
founded in 1990 and is primarily focused on the city of Almaty, 
although its activities have recently expanded throughout the 
country.  He said Green Salvation, one of the oldest NGOs in 
Kazakhstan, is registered as a commercial organization, but all 
profits must be used to cover operating costs. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Kuratov said Green Salvation has three main objectives. 
Its primary aim is to defend the rights of citizens with respect to 
the environment through public education and lawsuits, if necessary. 
 Information is crucial to helping citizens understand their rights 
and environmental risks.  The NGO's web site 
(www.greensalvation.org) disseminates information in Russian and 
English, and houses a communal environmental database of more than 
70,000 documents.  Green Salvation's information campaign is carried 
out in accordance with the Aarhus Convention, which Kazakhstan has 
signed and ratified in 1998 (reftel). 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Green Salvation also informs citizens, government 
officials, and educators about environmental matters of concern 
through pamphlets, meetings, and workshops, and seminars.  For 
example, the NGO publishes the annual "Journal of Green Salvation" 
in Russian and English, and produced a video to publicize their 
mission and raise awareness about environmental issues in 
Kazakhstan.  Kuratov said that Green Salvation also works with 
national parks to stop illegal hunting and poaching.  They help set 
up and maintain a two-kilometer sanitary defense zone around the 
parks, to protect it from intrusion and exploitation.  This has 
proven to be a contentious issue, however, because some say that the 
zone is too large, while others insist it is too small.  In 
addition, villagers in the proposed sanitary zones are asked to move 
out, but most have been unwilling to do so. 
 
SUPPORT FROM WESTERN DONORS MAY NOT BE ENOUGH 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Kuratov said Green Salvation's sponsors include the 
National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Dutch Humanistisch 
Instituut voor Ontwikkelingssamenwe Fund, the Central and Eastern 
Europe Bankwatch Network, the Global Greengrants Fund, the Open 
Society Institute (Soros Foundation), and the Sigrid Rausing Fund in 
the UK.  Despite this strong lineup of sponsors, Kuratov said the 
organization is still struggling to survive.  Green Salvation has 
four full-time staff, and six support staff, including an accountant 
and a web master.  In addition, 20 volunteers help Green Salvation 
carry out various activities.  He said Green Salvation does not 
implement donor-funded projects to generate revenue, since he 
considers these projects to be short-term, limiting, and not very 
effective.  "Once the project is completed," he said, "the support 
is gone, but there is always more work to do."  Kuratov welcomed 
additional U.S. sponsorship, and said that American experts (legal, 
environmental, civil society, etc.) often work with Green Salvation. 
 He stressed that moral support from the United States as it presses 
its lawsuits in court is extremely important and helps Green 
Salvation and other NGOs "keep the faith" and continue their 
 
ASTANA 00001776  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
struggle. 
 
SUCCESSFUL LEGAL DEFENSE 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Kuratov said that Green Salvation's most celebrated 
activities are the legal defense of citizens who are pressing the 
government to observe its own environmental laws.  It has an 
environmental hotline that citizens can use to call in and express 
their concerns.  Green Salvation tries to advise and counsel those 
who call, but if the caller is not satisfied, the NGO will recommend 
that the parties file a lawsuit.  At that point, Green Salvation 
provides legal assistance throughout the judicial process, drawing 
on the expertise of environmental attorneys who offer their services 
pro bono.  Kuratov said that 30 percent of all lawsuits filed in 
2007-2008 (13 in all) have been decided in favor of the plaintiffs, 
and of these, 50 percent have resulted in monetary awards.  Two of 
the four cases involving the Aarhus Convention have been decided in 
favor of the plaintiffs, and one case is still pending.  Kuratov 
said that Green Salvation is the only environmental organization in 
Kazakhstan that has won cases in court.  He said that other NGOs 
often join forces with Green Salvation in order to benefit from its 
legal experience. 
 
HAS BEEN CALLED "RADICAL" AND "SUPPORTED BY IMPERIALISTS" 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Kuratov laughingly referred to recent negative articles in 
the local press that have labeled Green Salvation a "radical 
organization" seeking to subvert and undermine the integrity of the 
government.  The articles questioned why the NGO has filed suit 
against the government, implying that this was unpatriotic.  Kuratov 
said that Green Salvation was only trying to uphold Kazakhstani laws 
and international agreements, and ensure that Kazakhstan followed 
the Aarhus Convention, to which it is a signatory.  "If defending 
citizens' rights is radical," he said, "if protecting their rights 
under existing Kazakhstani law is radical, then, yes, Green 
Salvation is radical." 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT:  It is inspiring to witness the dedication and 
persistence of an indigenous NGO like Green Salvation.  With the 
OSCE Chairmanship looming in 2010, Kazakhstan would do well to honor 
and acknowledge the work of organizations such as this, which 
demonstrate the diversity and activism of Kazakhstan's civil 
society.  END COMMENT. 
 
HOAGLAND