Here's a shocker: a former Turkmen cultural official is criticizing the lack of democracy in Turkmenistan in Ashgabat, i.e. not from exile or abroad, but speaking inside the country -- and publicly, and using his own name. That's extremely rare in Turkmenistan because of the great risks involved.
Open letter to German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle
On the eve of German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle’s visit to Turkmenistan tomorrow, Reporters Without Borders and the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation For Human Rights have sent him a joint letter about the state of freedom of expression in this Central Asian dictatorship.
Dear Foreign Minister Westerwelle,
In view of your visit to Turkmenistan, Reporters Without Borders and the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights would like to draw your attention to the situation of freedom of information and human rights defenders in this country.
The conviction of Turkmen journalist Dovletmyrat Yazguliev has outraged human rights defenders, who say that only if the government is pressured by the international community is there any chance the sentence will be overturned.
Yazguliev, who reported for RFE/RL’s Turkmen service, was given five years in jail on October 5 after a short trial. He was accused of inciting a relative to commit suicide, an allegation that colleagues and activists say was fabricated to punish Yazguliev for his reporting, and more generally as a warning to others.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is taking arbitrary behavior to new heights in Turkmenistan, according to a report released October 12 by a US-based watchdog organization. The report paints a disturbing picture of Turkmenistan’s energy sector, alleging that Berdymukhamedov, even more so than his predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov, treats the country’s abundant energy reserves as his personal ATM.
The findings contained in the report, titled The Private Pocket of the President (Berdymukhamedov): Oil, Gas and the Law, have alarming implications for the United States and European Union, both of which have courted Berdymukhamedov in the hopes of getting Ashgabat to do more deals with Western energy firms. Ashgabat is also an important cog in the Northern Distribution Network, a major re-supply corridor for US and NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan. Berdymukhamedov’s arbitrary management style heightens the risk of instability in Turkmenistan down the road, according to the report, published by Crude Accountability, an environmental organization that promotes transparency in the global energy sector.
Reporters Without Borders is extremely worried to learn that Dovletmyrat Yazkuliyev (Довлетмурад Язгулиев), a reporter for Radio Azatlyk, the Turkmen-language service of Prague-based Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), went on trial yesterday in Ashgabat on a clearly trumped-up charge of encouraging a relative’s suicide attempt.
(WASHINGTON, DC -- October 3, 2011) A stringer for Radio Azatlyk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Turkmen language service, stands trial on Tuesday in a case that RFE/RL believes has been orchestrated by the Turkmen authorities in retaliation for his reporting.
Working Session 8: Democratic elections and electoral observation, Friday, 30 September, 2011
APPEAL
On Turkmen presidential election in February 2012
CIVICUS and the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights welcomes the intention of Mr. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to democratize the process of presidential elections in Turkmenistan. We welcome his July 2011 invitation to opposition parties living abroad to participate in future elections.
In turn, oppositional political formations and civil society abroad supported the intention of G. Berdimuhamedov and stated their readiness to enter the country and to participate in the elections.
Thus, for the first time since the independence of Turkmenistan, there is a real opportunity to host a normal democratic election.
Under these conditions, CIVICUS and the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights call on the OSCE and other international organizations and democratic states:
• To support these efforts of Berdimuhamedov and the Turkmen political opposition
• Due to the limited time, to reach out to render practical assistance
• To support the arrival of the political opposition in the country and other civil society representatives living in exile
• To support elections monitoring by civil society
Sincerely,
Will Lasky
CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Tadzhigul Begmedova
Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
Five years have passed since the death in prison of journalist and human rights activist Ogulsapar Muradova, the Kazakh Service of Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe reminds us. Yet the Turkmen authorities continue to refuse to permit an independent investigation into the circumstances of her death.
As the Turkmen unveil plans for the next presidential ballot, it is already clear that the election monitoring exercise will be designed and controlled by the state.
by Yovshan Annagurban
During March's Norouz celebrations in Tehran, when Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's received a two-seater airplane from his Iranian counterpart, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, Jumageldi Mulkiyev made some odd scenes.
Upon the editor in chief of "Turkmen World's" return from Iran, Mulkiyev was dismissed from his position and put into a psychiatric hospital in Ashgabat. He was then released after eight days.
At the time, 80-year-old pensioner and civic activist Amangelen Shapudakov was already sitting in another psychiatric hospital. Fortunately, thanks to international pressure, he was released after 43 days. According to his account, doctors did not force him to take any medication. But, when he returned home, several elders and the local village leader's father came to his house to tell him to stop criticizing the authorities.
Both cases are demonstrative of a tried and true tactic of the Turkmen regime: sending critics to mental institutions.
