Amnesty International Report 2014/15 - Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan
Head of state and government: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov

Despite improvements to laws on the media and political participation, opposition figures, journalists and human rights defenders continued to suffer harassment by the authorities. Judicial independence was limited; there were no meaningful appeals procedures, and acquittals in criminal trials were rare. Lawyers trying to work independently risked disbarment. Torture and other ill-treatment remained widespread.

Background

In September 2013 Turkmenistan accepted recommendations from the UN Human Rights Council to co-operate with UN special procedures. However, the authorities severely restricted access to the country for international monitors. Turkmenistan did not respond to requests from Amnesty International to visit and there were 10 outstanding requests for visits from UN special procedures.

In the first multi-party elections in Turkmenistan, the opposition Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs won parliamentary seats in December 2013. However, observers reported that this party did not represent a genuine challenge to the political leadership and that it proclaimed its loyalty to President Berdimuhamedov.

Freedom of expression

Since the passing of the Law on Mass Media on 4 January 2013, principles of media independence and the prohibition on state interference in media activities have been enshrined in law. Yet in practice, censorship remained extensive and newspapers were owned by ministries that answered to the President. No genuinely independent newspapers had been registered under the new law by the end of the year. In practice, people were barred from subscribing to foreign media outlets and access to the internet was monitored and restricted. Social networking websites were frequently blocked.

Human rights activists and journalists in Turkmenistan and in exile came under consistent pressure from the Turkmenistani authorities.

Freedom of association

Unreasonable state interference in public associations' activities continued. A Presidential decree in place since January 2013 required foreign grants to be registered with and approved by the government. Funding of activities deemed "political" was prohibited, as was membership of an unregistered association. The Law on Public Associations came into force in May, prohibiting state interference in associations, but also providing for substantial powers of official monitoring and oversight. Registration procedures for associations remained complicated. No organizations in Turkmenistan were openly engaged in independent human rights monitoring or social or political commentary.

Torture and other ill-treatment

Credible reports of torture and other ill-treatment by security forces against people suspected of criminal offences included methods such as pulling of the genitals with pliers, electric shocks, and beatings with chair legs and plastic bottles filled with water. Reports on prisons included a prisoner being forced to swallow pills and having threats made against his family; incidents of forced rape between prisoners; and shackling of prisoners serving life sentences.

In January, Geldy Kyarizov, his wife, sister-in-law and 12-year-old daughter were detained by security officers as they tried to travel to seek medical attention. They were held for questioning, subjected to ill-treatment and made to sign a paper saying that they would not lodge an official compliant.^[1]

Activist Mansur Mingelov went on hunger strike in prison from 19 May until 8 June to demand a retrial.^[2] He had been sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment after an unfair trial shortly after collating and passing to the Prosecutor General and foreign diplomats information about torture and ill-treatment of the Baloch ethnic community in Mary province in 2012.

Enforced disappearances

During the 2013 UN Universal Periodic Review on Turkmenistan, the state rejected recommendations from the UN Human Rights Council to provide information on the whereabouts of prisoners who were subjected to enforced disappearance after an alleged assassination attempt on then President Saparmurat Niyazov in November 2002. Non-governmental sources reported that at least eight of those convicted had died in detention. The families of the disappeared continued to be denied all contact with their loved ones and any official information about their fate or whereabouts for over a decade.

Freedom of movement

Although Turkmenistan ended the use of the exit visa system in 2006, in practice arbitrary restrictions on the right to travel abroad for those who have fallen out of favour with the authorities continued.

On 10 April, Ruslan Tukhbatullin was prevented from leaving Turkmenistan to meet his brother Farid Tukhbatullin and was told he and his nine-year-old son were blacklisted for travelling abroad. This was believed to be in retaliation for Farid Tukhbatullin's human rights work.^[3]

Freedom of religion

Religious activity remained strictly controlled. Religious groups representing Shi'a Muslims, Catholics, Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses faced difficulty in registering organizations. Six Jehovah's Witnesses imprisoned for conscientious objection were released in an amnesty in October. One remained in prison. Provisions in the Code of Administrative Offences, which came into force in January, punished the import, export and distribution of religious materials.

1. Further information: Former prisoner denied urgent medical care – Geldy Kyarizov (EUR 61/001/2014) www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR61/001/2014/en

2. Urgent Action: Man to return to prison where he was beaten – Mansur Mingelov (EUR 61/002/2014) www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR61/002/2014/en

3. Turkmenistan: Activist's family barred from travel abroad, brother of exiled rights defender halted at the airport (NWS 11/094/2014) www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/turkmenistan-activist-s-family-barred-travel-abroad-brother-exiled-rights-d