Residents of properties being demolished across Turkmenistan to make way for new developments say officials are using bureaucratic excuses to deny them proper compensation for the loss of their homes.
Just a few have been prepared to stand up to the authorities or to seek support from human rights campaigners abroad, but most stay silent for fear of being victimised.
Turkmen human rights activists are hoping a new United Nations report will draw international attention to prisoners held incommunicado in the country.
It seems fitting that opaque is the best word to describe Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's just-concluded visit to the City of Light.
New legislation giving more powers to immigration officials in Turkmenistan is likely to place further curbs on freedom of movement, NBCentral Asia observers say.
Sonia Zilberman
After almost 20 years of relative isolation from the west, Turkmenistan – a country with one of the world's worst human rights records – is eyeing European markets for business. And Europe is eager to buy, and quick to overlook democratic principles in exchange for gas.
URGENT ACTION
Andrei Zatoka, a 53-year-old male environmentalist, was arrested by police in his home town of Dashoguz, northern Turkmenistan, on 20 October. He is believed to be held in a pre-trial detention centre in the town, where he is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. He may have been arrested to punish him for his peaceful work as an environmental activist.
The arrest of well-known environmentalist Andrei Zatoka suggests that the policy of silencing independent voices continues unabated in Turkmenistan.
Leading officials in Turkmenistan began a series of meetings this fall with leaders of democratic countries and international organizations, starting with the UN General Assembly in New York. After the death of the dictator and "president-for-life" Saparmurat Niyazov, the new leaders declared a commitment to fundamental change. But all they took was a few first steps before everyone declared Niyazov's successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a reformer.
Ogulsapar Muradova, the Turkmenistan correspondent of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, died three years ago, on 12 September 2006, after being severely beaten by guards in Ovodan Depe high security prison, to the north of the capital Ashgabat. Today, the Turkmen government is waging an all-out charm offensive while still holding two other journalists, Sapardurdy Khadjiyev and Annakurban Amanklychev, who were arrested and convicted at the same time as Muradova.
An IWPR report on independent Turkmen non-governmental organisations struggling to get official registration presents valuable information for international organisations and Turkmen dissident groups based abroad in their research work and advocacy campaigns, rights activists say.
