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Cablegate: The Grinch Changes His Mind: U.S. Embassy's Human Rights

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 002005

SIPDIS


STATE FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL RS TI
SUBJECT: THE GRINCH CHANGES HIS MIND: U.S. EMBASSY'S HUMAN RIGHTS
DAY BACK ON IN TAJIKSITAN

1. (SBU) After the close of business on December 9, Ismat
Nasredinov, Post's MFA contact and Chief of the North America
Desk, contacted PAS to inform that the previously canceled Human
Rights roundtable discussion at Tajik Technical University,
planned for December 12, was back on track (septel). Although
Tajik Technical University's rector was originally keen on the
Human Rights day discussion, and the MFA itself canceled the
event the morning of December 9, Ismat's exact words sounded
odd: "We finally convinced the rector to allow your lecture."
(COMMENT: Whatever. So long as it works. END COMMENT.)

2. (SBU) Post sent a strongly worded diplomatic note (text in
septel) to the MFA in response to their diplomatic note
postponing (i.e., canceling) Monday's roundtable. PolOff met
with Nasredinov late on December 9 to tell him informally that
she was writing this year's Human Rights report. She suggested
this current development would not reflect at all well in
Tajikistan's evaluation.

3. (SBU) COMMENT. In Tajikistan, we are increasingly convinced
that the grade-school lesson of how to react to playground
bullies is pertinent: give them an inch and they'll continue to
take ten miles. We further note that this decision to cancel
the Embassy's Human Right's Day event was very likely made
before/before the President returned from the OIC Extraordinary
Summit in Mecca. We hand-delivered our diplomatic-note protest
to the President's foreign policy adviser, rather than trust it
to wend its way through normal channels, where it likely would
have been deep-sixed, and believe that likely caused the
reversal. END COMMENT.
HOAGLAND


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