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Amnesty International Report 2004 - Turkmenistan

Covering events from January - December 2003

The government failed to implement recommendations for improving its human rights record made by intergovernmental bodies including the UN Commission on Human Rights and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). A resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in December expressed "grave concern" about the country's human rights record. At least 55 people were convicted in further trials in connection with an alleged assassination attempt on President Niyazov in November 2002. Their trials were unfair. The courts failed to investigate credible allegations of torture. A number of prisoners were said to have died in unexplained circumstances following the trials. Religious minorities, civil society activists and others exercising their right to freedom of expression continued to face persecution. Conscientious objectors continued to be imprisoned.

Background

The human rights situation in Turkmenistan remained appalling. Key to the failure to address impunity or counter the widespread abuse of human rights was the domination by President Niyazov of all aspects of life in the country and the personality cult he has developed.

In August the Khalk Maslakhaty (People's Council), which consists of representatives of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, authorized itself to amend the Constitution and to define certain illegal acts as treasonable in law and certain life prisoners as "traitors". The Council appointed President Niyazov as its Chairman, a specially created post.

In continuation of an apparent purge of government critics or alleged critics, senior government officials were demoted, dismissed and imprisoned. In September the four main opposition groups in exile, barred from operating inside the country, formed the Union of Democratic Forces of Turkmenistan.

Freedom of movement inside Turkmenistan was severely curtailed. In April President Niyazov imposed a ban on dual citizenship and strict exit visa requirements for those affected, further limiting civil and political rights.

International response to violations

In January, 10 OSCE member states appointed French international law professor Emmanuel Decaux to examine the Turkmen authorities' investigation into the November 2002 attack. He was denied access to Turkmenistan for a fact-finding mission. In March he published a report condemning Turkmenistan's human rights record and calling for an urgent international response. In April, in its first resolution on Turkmenistan, the UN Commission on Human Rights expressed "grave concern" at the human rights situation in the country. The European Parliament, in a resolution in October, said that Turkmenistan had "acquired one of the worst totalitarian systems in the world." In December the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Turkmenistan with an overwhelming majority.

The recommendations of these bodies, that Turkmenistan failed to implement, included the unconditional release of prisoners of conscience and retrial of those convicted after unfair trials in connection with the November 2002 attack; the investigation of suspicious deaths in custody and allegations of torture and ill-treatment; prisoners' access to independent bodies including the International Committee of the Red Cross; and the restoration of civil and political freedoms to civil society activists, opposition parties, religious communities and others in Turkmenistan.

Coup plot trial conducted unfairly

In January at least 55 men and women were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five years to life for involvement in the attack on President Niyazov's motorcade in the capital, Ashgabat, in November 2002. They were convicted in a series of closed trials before the Ashgabat City Court and the Supreme Court.

The authorities refused to disclose comprehensive information about the defendants, including their whereabouts. Only on 31 January was an official list of names, charges and sentences published in the Adalat (Justice) newspaper. Most had been convicted on charges including "conspiracy to violently overthrow the government and/or change the constitutional order" and "attempting to assassinate the President".

The defendants were not represented by lawyers of their own choice, and some lawyers appointed to defend them reportedly began their pleas in court with the words, "I am ashamed to defend a person like you". The defendants were allegedly forced to sign a statement that they were familiar with the indictment and other documentation in their case, although they had not been given an opportunity to study their dossier. Members of the public, including diplomatic representatives, were refused access to the trials. The courts failed to investigate allegations that many defendants were tortured and ill-treated in pre-trial detention.

Relatives were harassed and ill-treated, including by eviction from their homes and severe limitations on their freedom of movement.

• It was impossible to confirm reports in August that Amanmukhammet Yklymov died in custody in March. In January he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment after a trial in which the court reportedly ignored allegations that he had been tortured in pre-trial detention at police headquarters in Ashgabat. He allegedly had a plastic bag or gas mask put over his head and the air supply cut off, was suspended by his arms, and suffered a broken arm, loss of sight in one eye and hearing in one ear. Already ill at the time of his arrest, he was said to have been denied medical treatment in detention.

In March and April, seven men arrested in connection with the November 2002 attack were handed over to the authorities in their countries of origin – one to the USA, six to Turkey. The six were put on trial in Turkey, charged with attempting to assassinate the President of Turkmenistan.

Freedom of expression curtailed

The relatives of exiled dissidents were targeted in an attempt to stop exiles from criticizing government policies and speaking out about human rights violations in Turkmenistan.

Civil society activists had their actions severely controlled. They were routinely summoned to the security services. Many were threatened with "serious repercussions" by the security services if they met senior UN and OSCE representatives during their visits to Turkmenistan.

After a new law curtailing the rights of civil society organizations came into force in November, pressure on such groups increased and the Dashoguz Ecological Club (DEC) was deregistered in a court ruling.

• DEC Co-Chair Farid Tukhbatullin was sentenced to three years' imprisonment as a prisoner of conscience after an unfair trial in Ashgabat in March. Arrested in December 2002, he was convicted on the basis of fabricated charges; he was accused of concealing a serious criminal act for allegedly not disclosing a coup plot by opposition supporters after attending an international human rights conference. He was also convicted of illegally crossing the border from Uzbekistan into Turkmenistan after border guards had failed to stamp his passport. Before the trial, his lawyer was denied access to him several times, on one occasion on the pretext that repair work was being carried out at the detention facility. Farid Tukhbatullin was released in April, following massive international pressure, but only after he signed a "confession" and promised not to commit further "criminal activities", under oath.

• Saparmurad Ovezberdiyev, a 63-year-old correspondent for the US Radio Liberty based in Ashgabat, was reportedly abducted by secret service officers and held incommunicado for two days in September. He was said to have been threatened with long-term imprisonment unless he gave up his work. In November he was reportedly abducted, beaten and abandoned at a cemetery in Ashgabat by two unidentified assailants.

• In August Sazak Begmedov, a 77-year-old former prosecutor, was reportedly abducted by four police officers in Ashgabat and forcibly resettled in the northern town of Dashoguz. Shortly before the abduction, his daughter Tadzhigul Begmedova had announced the formation of a human rights group in exile in Bulgaria and the group had alleged that two political prisoners had died in prison as a result of torture.

Religious groups harassed

A new law on religion that came into force in November criminalized all activities of unregistered religious organizations. Members of unregistered religious groups continued to face harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The only two registered religious communities – the Russian Orthodox Church and Sunni Islam – remained under strict state control.

• At least five Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to prison terms of up to two years for their conscientious objection to military service. They were held in Seydi prison colony in eastern Turkmenistan.