VZCZCXRO5837
OO RUEHIK
DE RUEHTA #2004/01 3160950
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 120950Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6808
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 2140
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1510
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2211
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1145
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2584
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2887
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 1700
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 1558
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 002004 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR H, SCA/CEN, EUR/RPM, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM OSCE KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  STAFFDEL WOOLFORK HEARS VIEWS ON KAZAKHSTAN'S 
UPCOMING OSCE CHAIRMANSHIP 
 
REF:  A.  ASTANA 1516 
      ¶B.  ASTANA 2002 
 
ASTANA 00002004  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY:  On November 11, Staffdel Woolfork met with DCMs 
from several European embassies, who said that Kazakhstan has made 
some progress on liberalization, but it needs to do more.  The 
Spanish DCM said Spain will not support the idea of an OSCE Summit 
in 2010 unless there is "concrete substance to discuss."  All agreed 
Kazakhstan could serve as "an honest broker" and will be a 
successful chair if it focuses on "simple and achievable" goals. 
The Foreign Ministry told Staffdel Woolfork that Kazakhstan is 
committed to fulfilling equally all the OSCE dimensions and again 
sought U.S. support for an OSCE Summit.  Staff member Lisa Williams 
said the proposal to drop Kazakhstan's annual human-rights 
certification stalled in the Senate because of the Zhovtis case. 
The Foreign Ministry reiterated that Zhovtis was treated like 
"everybody else" and noted that international intervention in his 
case could be seen as interference in Kazakhstan's judicial system. 
At the same time, Deputy Foreign Minister Umarov seemed to suggest 
to the Ambassador that a solution to the Zhovtis situation might 
exist within Kazakhstan's legal system.  END SUMMARY. 
 
"MOVE ON FROM MADRID" 
 
¶3. (SBU) As part of their November 9-12 visit to Kazakhstan, House 
Foreign Relations Committee professional staff members Brent 
Woolfork and Lisa Williams met on November 11 with DCMs of European 
missions in Kazakhstan to gather views on Kazakhstan's upcoming OSCE 
chairmanship.  Dutch DCM Maurits ter Kuile, British DCM Mike Welch, 
Italian DCM Ugo Boni, and Spanish DCM Beltran de Agueda Corneloup 
attended the meeting.  Agueda Corneloup said that Kazakhstan has 
"certainly made some progress (on political liberalization), but 
much more needs to be done."  Kazakhstan is willing to implement 
reform in "safe fields," such as the rights of children or the 
handicapped, noted ter Kuile, but is "extremely reluctant" to 
liberalize the media or political environment. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Welch added, "They are very good at paying lip service to 
reform, like with the Madrid Commitments, but we should move on from 
Madrid.  Kazakhstan should implement these (liberalizing) changes 
not because of their upcoming OSCE Chairmanship, but because they 
committed to uphold these principles in general."  He commended the 
government's Human Rights Action Plan 2009-2012 (ref A) as a "very 
good document," but added that "the devil is in the implementation." 
 The Kazakshtanis will regret publicizing this document widely, he 
joked, because NGOs and the international community are already 
asking about the implementation schedule.  Boni responded that "not 
all government officials care about international opinion.  The 
Foreign Ministry certainly cares, but it cannot control the security 
services." 
 
"HONEST BROKER" 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Asked what to expect of Kazakhstan as chairman of the 
OSCE, Agueda Corneloup noted that Kazakhstan "likes to organize 
high-profile events, but often falls short on substance."  Spain 
will not support the idea of OSCE Summit in 2010 unless there will 
be "concrete substance to discuss."  (NOTE:  This position 
contradicts Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov who told the 
Ambassador in ref B that Spain supports.  END NOTE.)  Boni ventured 
that Kazakhstan will be a "technical chairman and will not bring any 
major shifts."  Welch advised the Kazakhstanis to stick to "simple 
and achievable" goals and avoid "trying to solve all of the OSCE's 
major questions in one year."  Welch does not believe Kazakhstan 
will "serve as Russia's puppet" in the OSCE.  "They do not want to 
go down in history as the ones who destroyed the organization," he 
asserted.  All agreed that Kazakhstan is a "credible bridge" between 
East and West and has the potential to play the role of an "honest 
broker."  Ter Kuile said the challenge will be "to keep everything 
quiet at home."  Welch concurred and stressed that OSCE 
participating states "should not stay silent" on Kazakhstan's 
domestic record during its chairmanship. 
 
ASTANA 00002004  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
MFA PUSHES FOR SUMMIT, AGAIN 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Staffdel Woolfork met with the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs' Director of the America's Directorate, Askar Tazhiyev and 
the Deputy Director of the OSCE Directorate, Talgat Unaibayev. 
Unaibayev said Kazakshtan will pay equal attention to all three OSCE 
dimensions, but will devote "extra effort" to the human dimension. 
Kazakhstan will focus on tolerance in the human dimension, the Aral 
Sea in the economic dimension, and the battle against drug- and 
human-trafficking in the political-military dimension.  Unaibayev 
called an OSCE Summit in 2010 -- "our main idea for the 
Chairmanship" -- "timely and contemporary."  He noted that French 
President Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Berlusconni, and the 
Russian Federation expressed support for the Summit idea.  Tazhiyev 
added that Kazakhstan will prioritize Afghanistan.  He noted that 
Foreign Minister-State Secretary Saudabayev raised the idea of 
Afghanistan as the topic for an OSCE Summit with Special 
Representative Holbrooke when they met at the UN General Assembly. 
 
 
HUMAN-RIGHTS CERTIFICATION 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Tazhiyev asked about the status of the annual human-rights 
certification for Kazakhstan.  (NOTE:  Earlier in the day, Deputy 
Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov posed the same question to the 
Ambassador during the meeting reported in ref B.  END NOTE.) 
Williams said the proposal to drop the annual certification passed 
the House, but the process stopped in the Senate because of the 
Zhovtis case.  (NOTE:  Prominent human rights activist Yevgeniy 
Zhovtis is serving four years in a resettlement colony for vehicular 
manslaughter after a trial and appeal marred by procedural 
irregularities.  END NOTE.)  She noted that the Zhovtis case 
"reverberated in Washington, but nobody wants to let one case derail 
the whole bilateral relationship."  She explained that the Senate's 
most recent proposal maintains the certification but amends some of 
the "inflammatory" language that goes along with it.  She promised 
to keep Tazhiyev and Kazakhstan's Embassy in Washington apprised of 
any developments. 
 
ZHOVTIS CASE "BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION" 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Woolfork noted that the Zhovtis case raises concerns about 
Kazakhstan's legal system.  Tazhiyev retorted that Zhovtis was 
treated like "anybody else in the same situation."  He repeated one 
Supreme Court judge's comments that international intervention in 
the Zhovtis case is "endangering the independence of (Kazakhstan's) 
judicial system."  In a separate meeting, Roman Vassilenko, the 
Chair of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' International Information 
Committee, argued that the Zhovtis case "is getting blown out of 
proportion."  He equated the minimum-security penal colony, in which 
Zhovtis is serving his sentence, to a half-way house for parolees in 
the United States, "not a prison with barbed wire and angry guard 
dogs."  He also noted the possibility for Zhovtis to rent an 
apartment close to the colony and work at his NGO's branch in 
Ust-Kamenogorsk.  (NOTE:  The prison's warden would have to approve 
such a request, which we have heard will probably occur.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT:  As Zhovtis begins to serve his sentence, the 
Foreign Ministry is attempting to shift the focus to the "comfort" 
of his conditions.  During a meeting earlier that same day (ref B), 
Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov told the Ambassador that 
Zhovtis' "situation is not so bad."  When the Ambassador highlighted 
the problematic image of having a prominent human rights activist in 
prison on the eve of Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship, Umarov 
responded that Kazakhstan "cannot completely correct it, because it 
is a legal process."  At the same time, Umarov pledged to continue 
to seek a solution.  The Ambassador strongly urged Kazakhstan to use 
the judicial process, while fully respecting Kazakhstani law, to 
seek a "creative solution to this damaging situation."  Umarov 
replied, "Let the system play itself out."  END COMMENT. 
 
¶10.  (U) Staffdel Woolfork did not clear this cable. 
 
ASTANA 00002004  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
HOAGLAND