US embassy cable - 05DUSHANBE1696

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 001696 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, TI 
SUBJECT: A SHOT ACROSS THE NGO BOW?  POST SEEKS GUIDANCE IN RESPONSE 
TO MFA REQUEST 
 
The Embassy received the following diplomatic note from the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking for extensive information on 
non-governmental organizations connected to the U.S government 
operating in Tajikistan.  This dip note could further dampen NGO 
activity in Tajikistan and further threaten the U.S. democracy 
agenda. 
 
Post seeks soonest guidance from the Department how to respond. 
 
Begin Text: 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan 
presents its compliments to the Embassy of the United States of 
America in Dushanbe and in response to note # 832/05 of October 
11, 2005 has the honor to inform the following. 
As is known, on September 13, 1993 , the Government of the 
Republic of Tajikistan and the Government of the United States 
of America signed an Agreement Regarding Cooperation to 
Facilitate the Provision of Assistance. On the basis of this 
Agreement, for ten years, the United States of America has been 
providing all possible assistance to the Republic of Tajikistan. 
 Also, within the framework of this Agreement, a number of 
American governmental and nongovernmental organizations 
implementing the U.S. Government aid programs have been 
operating in the Republic of Tajikistan. 
In the above mentioned note, the Embassy sent a list of 
organizations that according to that Agreement, shall be exempt 
from any taxes, duties or other similar payments imposed by the 
Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and local authorities. 
In this connection, the Ministry requests that the Embassy gives 
instructions to the organizations indicated in the note to 
submit the required information about their legal status and 
full account of their activity in the Republic of Tajikistan to 
the Ministry.  The accounts should include the following: 
 
1.      Copies of constituent documents; 
2.      The structure (including that of the head and field 
offices), personnel structure and the number of their staff; 
3.      The biodata of the personnel of these organizations, 
including foreign and local; 
4.      Exact legal addresses of these organizations in the 
Republic of Tajikistan, including copies of lease agreements of 
their office premises; 
5.      A detailed description of their projects indicating the 
budget and estimate of costs; 
6.      Information about their partners (NGOs, private citizens, 
higher educational institutions, educational establishments, 
local communities, etc.) in the Republic of Tajikistan. 
7.      Major trends of their activity and indication of the final 
result; 
8.      The amount of the given credit and information about the 
interest profit (for the organizations engaged in 
micro-financing). 
 
The Ministry informs the Embassy that the decision on the 
exemption from taxes, duties and other similar payments shall be 
adopted after receiving the abovementioned documents and their 
detailed study. 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan 
avails itself of this opportunity to express to the Embassy of 
the United States of America the assurances of its highest 
consideration. 
 
End text 
 
COMMENT:  We are worried that this is the slippery slope that 
would allow Tajikistan to weed out the NGOs it does not like. 
END COMMENT. 
 
HOAGLAND 
 
 
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