To the Secretary
Page 22
Custody passed to the Thai Department of National Parks until officials repatriated the animals—forty-eight of them at least—to Indonesia at some considerable cost, requiring the use of an Indonesian Air Force C-130 and eight veterinarians. The orangutans were welcomed by Indonesia’s first lady and several ministers. But five of the fifty-seven original orangutans were not repatriated because they were on loan to perform at—where else?—the Chiang Mai Night Safari. Under mounting pressure, the five “performing” orangutans were relocated to a Thai wildlife preserve as they awaited relocation to Indonesia. According to the embassy, which was tenacious in following the story, “The Director [of the Department of National Parks] expressed incredulity, as well as irritation, at the U.S. government’s interest in the matter.” 53
Yet another orangutan odyssey began when a European couple vacationing in Vietnam noticed two young orangutans in their hotel’s private zoo. They called an animal protection hotline run by a local NGO. Vietnamese government officials raided the hotel, confiscated the orangutans, and notified Indonesia, where they believed the orangutans had originated. The animals were flown to Jakarta, where they were to spend a thirty-three-day quarantine in a local zoo. Four months later they were still at the zoo, which advertised “entertaining and educational animal shows highlighting orangutans and other animals.”
In neighboring Cambodia, a local version of Safari World paid $57,000 in fines for illegally importing thirty-six orangutans from Thailand. Despite the fine, the zoo owner was able to keep the animals. Zoo patrons paid to see them perform in kick-boxing, skateboarding, and bicycle-riding skits. Officials suspected the orangutans came from Safari World in Bangkok. “As evidence, they cited the fact that Thai police first raided Bangkok’s Safari World and found 110 orangutans. In a subsequent raid they found only 69. Safari officials claimed 41 apes had died and their bodies had been cremated. Wildlife smugglers seldom go to court and rarely go to jail,” the cable ruefully noted.
THERE’S A FATWA ON YOUR DOG
Perhaps nothing illustrates the cultural division between American diplomats and the world they report from more than the concept of pets. Most foreign service officers grow up in middle-class families and share a common experience of Fido or Fluffy. Implicit in the Western idea of pets is the availability of pet food, veterinary care, and a market for pet care accessories. In this vision, socially conscious people adopt their pets from no-kill shelters, and all responsible pet owners have their animals spayed or neutered. For some diplomats, it comes as a shock to work in countries where pets are an unheard-of luxury, where there may be religious or governmental bans on them, or where they find themselves on someone’s dinner table. In the developing world, strays lead violent and disease-ridden lives. Diplomats argued in reporting cables that tolerance of pets and transparency about regulations is a fair barometer of a country’s economic rise and a test of its civic engagement. Having the family dog confiscated by Beijing police is heartbreaking, as is waking up in Riyadh to find there is a religious fatwa against him.
Pets require care, and one major obstacle to keeping one is that not all countries embrace the concept of private veterinary services. In formerly communist and agriculturally oriented Turkmenistan, a private veterinarian is unheard of. State Veterinary Service is responsible for all animal care in the country, maintaining healthy livestock, preventing the spread of contagious diseases, and certifying the quality of meat. But the underfunded service has difficulty caring for the country’s farm animals, let alone pets. Many vets are more than willing to work independently (off the books), but without private clinics they have no equipment or access to medicines. Simple surgeries are performed in the pet’s home.54
Dogs in Moscow have long been caught in the country’s transition away from communism. On the negative end Moscow is home to some forty thousand stray dogs, described as fixtures outside almost every metro station. Strays suffer from inhumane treatment, and roaming packs of dogs are a common sight. But the embassy cited new hope for strays, thanks to an NGO that set up a stray cat and dog clinic, the opening of which drew eighty guests, including veterinarians, journalists, and government officials. The reporting officer said Muscovites have always been dog lovers, noting wryly, “The smaller the apartment, the larger the dog.” The growing number of pet owners in the city reflects a growing middle class, while the new clinic reflects “the ongoing importance of [the NGOs’] civic education and community outreach efforts.” 55
A pet’s experience in China, another country with a rapidly growing middle class, is proportionate to its size. Unsurprisingly, a country known until recently for its one-child policy also has a one-pet policy. The U.S. embassy in Beijing reported outrage over new rules in 2006 limiting households to one dog and outlawing “big and dangerous breeds.” The crackdown touched off street demonstrations and led to eighteen arrests and heated exchanges in Internet chat rooms. One source told the embassy that the controversial dog policy reflects “the poor state of China’s civil society. The lack of transparency surrounding regulations affecting people’s lives provokes suspicion and frustration.”
The rules caused headaches for police as well, who had to house confiscated dogs in precinct basements. The embassy saw the policy as symptomatic of press freedom limitations, noting that reporters are not allowed to criticize the policy, compare the policy to that of other countries, or write about the harmonious shared existence of people and animals.
“The controversy reflects the underdevelopment of China’s civil society. No one knows the origin of Beijing’s new directive, leaving ample space for rumors and speculation. Middle class families pay fines (or bribes) to keep their dogs. The directive includes a hotline so the public can call in to report scofflaws. Official encouragement to inform on others is uncomfortably reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution.” 56
The situation in Guangzhou was much the same, according to the consulate, and police cracked down on violators by conducting house-to-house searches, confiscating unregistered pets from parks and veterinary clinics, and ultimately killing some fourteen thousand dogs. Despite the grim figures, the consulate noted that pet ownership is on the rise, with 7 percent of Chinese households caring for a pet, and sales of dog and cat food up 13 percent year on year.
Owners seemed keen to display their dogs. Consulate officers walking through parks at Er Sha Island and Shenzhen saw dog social club meetings with breeds ranging from golden retrievers, English sheepdogs, King Charles spaniels, and Pekinese—with their yuppie owners. “Many of the dogs sported doggie outfits and one of them was even dressed to match its owner. An organizer soon arrived, checked off names from a list, and handed out matching yellow hats. Soon after, dogs and owners departed on buses for an outing. Asked why he was speaking English to his dog, one owner replied that naturally, dogs understood English.”
The consulate noted that dogs have come a long way from a few decades ago, when pets were seen as a bourgeois decadence. Throughout the late 1970s, regular dog extermination programs were carried out; dogs were seen as a threat to public hygiene and possible carriers of SARS (although they were also served in restaurants as a delicacy). In a telling comment on Chinese society, the writer editorialized that as more Chinese raise dogs, they might also come to care more about their fellow citizens. “In the best case scenario, today’s pet owners will come to see their neighbors as worthy of at least the same care and attention as Fido, and thus their concern of their own species may increase as well.” 57
Dogs face a different problem in some Muslim countries, where there is debate over whether they are unclean. Two Saudi governors—one in Riyadh and another in Makkah—both decided to ban sales of cats and dogs and prohibit walking them in public places, following fatwas from religious police, known by their initials as CPVPV.
Embassy diplomats were fascinated by the risky debate that followed these rulings and duly reported conversations with many Saudis who saw the decision as an example of “relig
ious police run amuk.” English-language press had a field day: “Cats, Dogs, the new threat to morality,” and “once again the CPVPV misses its goals.” Arabic-language websites joined in: “We live in a strange racist society, even against pets.” Some noted the likely inequality of enforcement: “What about the dogs and cats of their royal highnesses?” And still others thought the triviality was telling: “Aren’t there more important matters to issue fatwas on than selling dogs and cats? The CPVPV is even interfering in dogs and cats. Goodness!” 58
One embassy diplomat provided a thoughtful analysis of the relationship between pets and Islam, arguing that rules on pets create a paradox within Saudi culture: institutionalized interpretations of the Qur’an and conservatism have collided with exposure to Western ideas and progressive thinking. Past experience with similar bans suggests enforcement is unlikely to be effective. The writer argued that the Qur’an is full of examples showing that kindness to animals is an important aspect of the Islamic creed, and that pets are in fact permitted.
The embassy also noted that some Saudis disapprove of exorbitant spending on pets while poor families suffer from hunger, disease, and homelessness. “They do not see the care given to dogs and cats as a sign of kindness and mercy, but rather as a lack of humanity.”
Despite the two arguments—that dogs are anti-Islamic and that the keeping of one is decadent—embassy analysts point to Internet chat room conversations as evidence that many Saudis aren’t buying either line. (Those chat rooms are increasingly part of diplomatic reporting, as social media gains traction in countries where more public dissent might be dangerous. Just as older diplomats scanned local papers before drafting their reports, a new generation checks the mood of the public on a constantly changing array of social media.) They concluded that frivolous fatwas expose a divide between religious leaders and the general public. “This is a struggle between old and new. Some will say the field of action for the more conservative elements in Saudi society is constricting, therefore, an increased emphasis on the more inane issues, such as banning pets and Pokemon videos.” 59
NGOS: THE GAME CHANGERS
The officers’ underlying contention in many of these cables is that treatment of animals is a bellwether for the health of civil societies. Where animals are seen as an exploitable resource, they get entangled in endemic corruption. Where animals are caught in a country’s impulse to modernize, they create friction over changing social values. In highly regulated societies, rules governing their care and interaction with humans is a test of transparency. And in places where they struggle for humane treatment, they reflect the growing role of NGOs that are local, Western-based, or global.
Increasingly, these NGOs are well-established international players in their own right. A new generation of environmentally savvy diplomats seeks out NGO colleagues who are better funded, better staffed, and readier to take action, often with decades of considerable on-site expertise. Reporting officers see them as valuable contacts, authoritative sources, and potential partners. On the plus side, Western-based NGOs have deepened their in-country roots, and their staffs often include local people. American diplomats can engage with these local staff, accompany them on journeys to rural backwaters, and rely on their professionalism. Given the usual two- or three-year diplomatic tours, that’s a level of depth no peripatetic diplomat can match.
In addition to the wealth of reporting on wildlife, the WikiLeaks cables reveal the increasing capacity of NGOs to find substantial funding, expertise, and long-term commitment by highly trained experts to travel within countries and reside—sometimes for years—in remote locations, all of which has made them relatively new players on the international stage. By offering diplomats their expertise as full partners, they heighten the odds that their views will be heard in Washington, giving them a wider audience and increasing cachet with policymakers and, of course, potential donors.
But the cables unwittingly reveal how some Western-based wildlife NGOs have effectively done a workaround to manage national governments that are corrupt, inefficient, uncommitted, or simply too distracted by more pressing issues. Aiding this disconnect is the fact that wildlife habitats tend to be in remote regions, far from national capitals. The fact that good conservation work happens without the involvement of national governments should give us pause. Conservation efforts without the active engagement of key players sets up rifts and robs permanent stakeholders of the opportunity to take charge of their own fate. NGOs would argue that many animal populations face such imminent danger of extinction there is no time to wait for national authorities and that repeated prior efforts to engage governments resulted in failure. Saving the animals now means leaving a species intact for a better day when better governments can take on the stewardship themselves. It’s one subtext of the message diplomats are sending Washington.
Chapter 7
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CORRUPTION:
Immunity, Impunity, and Impudence
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Corrupt, compromised, and even recently incarcerated candidates appear poised to enter parliament in this summer’s national elections.
—U.S. Embassy Sofia
June 18, 2009
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BULGARIA IS A CULTURE SO THOROUGHLY PERMEATED by corruption it is difficult for outsiders to conceptualize it—even with vivid examples provided by the embassy. Technically part of Europe but spiritually entrenched in the Balkan region, it is surrounded by Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, and the Black Sea. A cable entitled “Sofia’s Mean Streets” linked the crumbling (and stinking) urban landscape to the mutri culture of criminal thugs.
Once a traveler hits the airport access road . . . drab, decrepit Soviet-style blocks rise up, in stark juxtaposition to the Porsche dealership . . . Crumbling streets with unevenly patched pavement, potholes that can pass for tank traps, and sidewalks crammed with parked cars are routine. A years-long garbage mess has gotten worse over a contract dispute with the collection companies, and refuse is both scattered and piled high. Packs of wild dogs roam widely.
Bad as that is, the organized crime situation is ugly as well . . . Organized criminals and their no-neck, black-leather-clad bodyguards flaunt and disobey the law; big black SUVs are the rage, barreling down streets ignoring traffic and parking regulations. Seeing no force to control them, many ordinary Bulgarians have followed suit, running lights, passing against oncoming city traffic . . . young people find “mutri”—cool guys above the law with money and status—an attractive role model.1
Local journalism is no help. “Reporters and editors accept bribes to cover stories, to print propaganda articles as though they were news, and to not print information that sponsors do not approve. The media’s cooption obviously limits its ability to serve as a voice for civil society.” 2
Not even soccer is exempt. Most teams in the country are owned or controlled by organized crime figures, who use them as fronts for money laundering and tax evasion. The last three presidents of the team Lokomotiv Plovdiv were all assassinated. Years of blatant match fixing has disgusted fans, who now stay away, no small thing in a country whose defeat of Germany in the 1994 World Cup advanced it to the semifinals: “many Bulgarians only half-jokingly refer to this as the country’s greatest accomplishment since the fall of communism.” 3
The justice system offers little help. The embassy’s portrayal of organized crime bosses is reminiscent of cartoon characters. The brothers Krasimir “Big Margin” Marinov and Nikolay “Small Margin” Marinov made a mockery of Bulgaria’s courts when they were arrested and then released on bail, despite their spiderweb syndicate involving drugs, fraud, car thefts, smuggling, extortion, racketeering, and prostitution. The embassy wrote that the Marinov case, postponed four times, “has become symbolic of the inability of the Bulgarian courts to bring about swift justice.” Other infamous gangsters have included drug kingpin Zlatomir “the Beret” Ivanov, Nikola “the Beav
er” Ivanov, and Vasil Krumov Bozhkov, aka “the Skull.” The embassy illustrated the government’s complicity in this network in a cable that described Todor “Borat” Batkov, who officers said served as a frontman for local businesses and interests of the infamous Russian-Israeli businessman Michael Cherney, aka Mikhail Chorny. While the Bulgarian government labeled Chorny a national security risk and banned him from entering Bulgaria, the embassy reported that Batkov received Bulgaria’s highest honor for his donations to ill children, orphanages, emergency rooms, and local universities. He also gave eleven cars to the Ministry of Interior.4
Things looked up, briefly, when the police arrested Aleksi “the Tractor” Petrov, considered one of the most untouchable organized crime figures. He was nabbed in Operation Octopus in February 2010 in a sting that raided twenty strip clubs and other illicit businesses. Petrov was charged with extortion, forceful debt collection, prostitution, trafficking, fraud, and money laundering.5 But months later he was released from jail to house arrest, and then released from house arrest to reappear on the streets. He promptly announced he’d be running for president.6
Lest this 1920s Chicago-of-the-Balkans seem like an outlier, the leaked cables offer overwhelming evidence that U.S. embassies in dozens of countries were seized with the problem of corruption and wrote about it voluminously. The heading “corruption” turns up in 24,182 leaked cables, “organized crime” is mentioned in 6,905, and “bribery” in another 1,870. Corruption was the theme of 1,054 cables from Iraq, 953 from Afghanistan, and 903 from Nigeria.