Human Rights Watch and Bulgarian Helsinki Committee are writing to you as a matter of urgency to ask that Bulgaria decline a request made by the government of Turkmenistan for the extradition of Kakajan Ataev, a citizen of the Russian Federation.

We are writing on the eve of your meeting with the Turkmen delegation to the 8th of May energy summit in Prague, to urge you to convey the European Union’s determination to see concrete and tangible human rights improvements in Turkmenistan as part of the process of upgrading relations.

We urge your government to make the most of the opportunities provided by these Human Rights Council mechanisms to seek relief for victims of human rights abuse in Turkmenistan in four key areas of concern: political prisoners, restrictions on civil society, freedom of movement, and accountability for torture. This letter provides a brief overview of the main concerns in each of these areas, and highlights the steps the government of Turkmenistan should take to effectively address them. We urge you to ensure that Turkmenistan remains subject of scrutiny under the complaint procedure until it has taken these steps.

For more than two years since you came to office, the international community has watched for signs that the government of Turkmenistan would break with the repressive practices that characterized the rule of Saparmurad Niazov. During this time, your government has received due credit for releasing a number of political prisoners, allowing several other individuals to travel abroad, and reversing the most ruinous social policies of the Niazov era. It is difficult to underestimate the importance of these steps. But it is also difficult to underestimate how important it is to end repressive policies that have carried over from the Niazov era and continue to mar Turkmenistan’s human rights record. I am writing to urge you to lead your government to make these changes.

Turkmenistan has significant gas reserves, making it an important strategic partner to the European Union. But Turkmenistan also has one of the most repressive governments in the world. The hydrocarbon wealth controlled by this government should not – and need not – eclipse the importance of good governance, government accountability and human rights in the EU’s relationship with it.

Turkmenistan is ruled by a closed regime in which victims of abuse have no domestic recourse. The government systematically punishes those who question its policies, however modestly.

President Bush’s meeting with President Berdymukhamedov on the sidelines of the April 2008 NATO summit could be viewed by some as a step towards a possible state visit. We urge you to establish human rights benchmarks and ensure that progress is achieved toward meeting them before any such visit can take place.

In recent months there have been a few positive human rights developments in the region, including notably in Uzbekistan the release from prison of a half-dozen wrongfully detained human rights defenders and an agreement granting ICRC access to prisons. While these developments are to be welcomed, they should not eclipse the overall abysmal state of human rights in the country, and indeed in the region as a whole.