A State Department investigator found that the US Embassy in Tajikistan has suppressed reports about human rights abuses rather than include them in cables to Washington.
The department’s inspector general found that “in at least one case,” the Embassy was ordered by its bosses in Washington to “issue a corrected cable.”
The audit, however, turned up “no pattern of distorting information.”
“Officials in three bureaus questioned whether information critical of the government and military was appropriately included in reports,” the report, which was publicly released on Monday, noted.
In Tajikistan, Ambassador Susan Elliot merely showed a “reluctance to report unsubstantiated or unprovable allegations of human rights abuses,” the IG claimed.
Under the Leahy Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act, foreign governments that systematically commit human rights abuses are barred from receiving security aid from Washington. US embassies are tasked with vetting candidates for assistance, and reporting on what stakeholders are alleging—claims that often include nongovernmental sources with credibility viewed askance by the host government.
After conducting its inquiry, the State Department inspector general told the US mission in Tajikistan to be less selective in transmitting reports back to Washington, and to “include its own assessment of the information’s credibility.”
There are also concerns that the embassy is hindering a probe into US security assistance to Tajikistan possibly violating the Arms Export Control Act—the law forbids assistance to foreign military units deployed for internal security operations.
“Tight front office control of information reported to Washington has undermined confidence that the embassy provides a full and reliable picture of local developments essential for assessment of Arms Export Control Act concerns,” the IG found. The embassy, it also noted, has been perceived “to defend bilateral security programs possibly jeopardized by unverifiable reports rather than to analyze fully possible violations of the act.”
The ambassador agreed with the report’s conclusions and agreed to “take steps to dispel this perception.”
A 2008 State Department report found Tajikistan’s human rights record “poor,” and cited “torture… abuse of detainees by security forces” and “restricted freedom of speech, the press and media,” among several other violations. The report also noted the government’s “violence and discrimination against women.”
Ahead of elections in 2013, the government is also reported to have cracked down on its peaceful political opponents.
Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia.
Despite concerns in Washington about the ambassador’s tight control of information, the audit gave Elliot, lead envoy in Tajikistan since 2012, “well above average” marks.
In its audit, the inspector general said that it currently is “a sensitive time” in US-Tajikistan relations, as American military operations in bordering Afghanistan wind down.
Tajikistan has allowed its territory to be used by international US-led security forces for flyovers and others forms of assistance during the duration of the war in Afghanistan.
