Re: Universal Periodic Review of Turkmenistan and complaint procedure
Your Excellency,
We are writing in advance of the upcoming review of Turkmenistan under the UN Human Rights Council's confidential complaint procedure and the adoption of the outcome report on Turkmenistan under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. We believe this two-fold scrutiny of the Turkmen government's human rights record represents a crucially important opportunity to foster positive change in what is one of the most repressive governments in the world. Indeed, because the Turkmen government continues to threaten and punish those who question its policies, however modestly, it is only the UN and other external mechanisms that can effectively scrutinize its human rights practices and establish benchmarks for positive change.
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.
Turkmenistan is ruled by a closed regime in which victims of abuse have no domestic recourse. In the two years since the death of Turkmenistan's president-for-life Saparmurad Niazov, the government under President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has dismantled aspects of Niazov's personality cult, adopted a new constitution, and begun to reverse some of his predecessor's most ruinous social policies. But it has not demonstrated the much needed political will to put an end to the repression of the Niazov era. Moreover, the Berdymukhamedov government has already regressed from the limited, positive initiatives it undertook in 2007: while about 20 people who were believed to have been imprisoned for political reasons were released during presidential pardons in 2007, in 2008 only one political prisoner - civil society activist Valery Pal, imprisoned the same year on trumped-up embezzlement charges - benefited from such a pardon after an international outcry that followed his arrest.[1] Whereas in 2007 at least nine civic activists and relatives of exiled political opposition members previously banned from international travel were allowed to leave the country, in 2008 numerous others remained banned from foreign travel.
Turkmenistan underwent the UPR in December 2008. A number of UN member states used the review to voice serious concerns about a range of issues and address specific recommendations to the Turkmen government. The Turkmen government accepted a number of these recommendations - including acting against any form of harassment and intimidation of journalists, ensuring effective freedom of worship for all religious communities, and taking effective measures to allow NGOs to register and work freely. We urge the Turkmen government to also support and implement the recommendations under its examination, including allowing access to the country for UN special procedures, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other independent monitors, protecting human rights defenders from persecution, liberalizing media and ending torture in places of detention. It furthermore regrettably chose to outright reject a number of recommendations that could have led to immediate relief for victims of human rights abuses, such as the release of political prisoners, a transparent review of the political cases of past years, and the lifting of travel bans on human rights defenders.
Political prisoners
Unknown numbers of people languish in Turkmen prisons following unfair trials on what would appear to be politically motivated charges-with at least two such prosecutions having taken place during Berdymukhamedov's rule. The harsh repression that prevents civic activism impedes determining the exact number of political prisoners. Only two individuals believed to be imprisoned for political reasons were released in 2008, one of whom had served his full prison term. Well-known Niazov-era political prisoners, including Mukhmetkuli Aymuradov, Annakurban Amanklychev, and Sapardurdy Khajiev remain behind bars, the latter two in incommunicado detention. Gulgeldy Annaniazov-a former dissident who had refugee status in Norway-returned to Ashgabat in June 2008 and was promptly arrested and charged with illegal border crossing. On October 7, 2008 he was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment; the exact charges are unknown. The fate of about 50 prisoners implicated in the alleged November 2002 attack on Niazov's life remains unknown, as do the whereabouts of a number of former government officials who became the subject of the notorious, Niazov-era government purges. We hope that you will use the complaint procedure and the consideration of the UPR report on Turkmenistan to urge the Turkmen authorities to take the following steps:
- Release political prisoners, including Gulgeldy Annaniazov, Annakurban Amanklychev, Sapardurdy Khajiev and Mukhametkuli Aymuradov, and
- Undertake a nationwide, transparent review of political cases of past years in order to establish the real number of political prisoners, and begin to ensure they are either released (and compensated for any illegal or arbitrary detention), or are only charged with recognizable criminal offenses (and none that violate freedom of speech or assembly) and receive a fair and public trial, fully open to international observers.
Civil society operations and access for independent human rights monitors
Draconian restrictions on freedom of expression, association, movement, and religion remain in place. Independent activists and journalists in Turkmenistan and in exile are under constant threat of government reprisal for their work. Particularly worrying in recent months have been new reports of intensifying pressure on several correspondents for Radio Free Europe, a U.S. government funded media outlet, and their family members. No independent organization has been permitted to carry out research on human rights inside the country, and no independent agency, governmental or nongovernmental-including the ICRC -has had access to detention facilities (Human Rights Watch has been denied entry to Turkmenistan since 1999 and to date remains barred from traveling to the country to do in situ research). In September 2008, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief became the first ever UN special rapporteur to access the country, but at least nine other UN special procedures remain unable to visit Turkmenistan due to the government's failure to extend the necessary invitations. We hope that you will use the complaint procedure and the consideration of the UPR report on Turkmenistan to urge the Turkmen government to undertake the following steps:
- Allow activists and civic groups to operate freely and without fear of persecution, and ensure access to the country for independent human rights monitors, and
- Issue standing invitations to all UN special procedures and respond positively, without any further delay, to the nine special procedures that have requested access.
Restrictions on travel
While some individuals have been permitted to travel abroad, the system of restrictions on foreign travel inherited from the Niazov era de facto remains in place, and people continue to be arbitrarily forbidden from traveling. Human Rights Watch documented dozens of cases in which individuals were barred from travel during last two years. We hope that you will use the complaint procedure and the consideration of the UPR report on Turkmenistan to urge the Turkmen government to:
- Lift informal travel bans imposed on activists and relatives of opposition members and to dismantle the system that allows for government interference with residents' ability to leave and return to Turkmenistan.
Torture
Torture remains a major concern, compounded by the complete lack of access to detention facilities for independent monitors and the overall vacuum of human rights monitoring in the country. In a July 2008 decision (Komarovski v. Turkmenistan), the UN Human Rights Committee found that in the aftermath of the alleged November 2002 attack the authorities flagrantly abused the justice process and failed to investigate and prosecute torture and arbitrary detention of suspects. To the best of our knowledge, the government so far has taken no action to implement the decision. The utter lack of a system to prevent torture and ill-treatment in Turkmenistan prompted the European Court of Human Rights to issue a ruling in October 2008 (Soldatenko v. Ukraine) amounting to a de facto ban on extraditions to the country. We hope that you will use the complaint procedure and the consideration of the UPR report on Turkmenistan to urge the Turkmen government to take the following steps:
- Immediately disclose the whereabouts of all detainees to their relatives and lawyers, including those detained in connection with the alleged November 2002 attack on Niazov's life, and allow access to them for family members and independent monitors;
- Implement in full, and as a matter of urgent priority, the July 2008 decision of the UN Human Rights Committee and recommendations made by other international monitoring bodies pertaining to torture;
- Allow access to places of detention for independent monitors, including the ICRC and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Human Rights Watch has written directly to the Turkmen leadership about its concerns on human rights in Turkmenistan. That letter will soon be available on our Turkmenistan country page.
Thank you for your attention. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any clarifications or further information. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further.
Sincerely,
Holly Cartner
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia Division
Juliette de Rivero
Geneva Director
[1] For more information on Valery Pal's case, please see https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/07/06/human-rights-watch-concerns-and-recommendations-turkmenistan and https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/09/turkmenistan-rights-activist-freed.
