Human right organizations TIHR (the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, publisher of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”) and IPHR (International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) have prepared a joint report pertaining to the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly in Turkmenistan from September 2021 to January 2022.
The document was prepared as part of their cooperation with CIVICUS.
During the reporting period, the Turkmenistani authorities continued to deny that the global COVID-19 pandemic had spread to the country.The World Health Organization (WHO) for the first time publicly cast doubt on the government’s assertions of zero COVID-19 cases, with a high-level official from the organization saying that this was unlikely from a scientific point of view.
Independent sources also reported on hospitals being overcrowded by patients with COVID-19 like symptoms.
Ashgabat-based doctor Khursanai Ismatullaeva was convicted and sentenced to a lengthy imprisonment term after she had stood up for her rights and attracting international attention to her unfair dismissal.
At the behest of the Turkmen authorities, several Turkmenistani activists in Turkey were detained and faced the threat of deportation.
In January 2022, following the mass protests in Kazakhstan, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered the Ministry of National Security (MNS) to “renew efforts to control the internet in Turkmenistan and limit access to internet resources that disseminate information that is harmful to the constitutional order” as well as to intensify efforts to prevent mass riots and public security threats.
There were also new cases of mass mobilization of residents for various state-organized events and clean-up campaigns at the threat of dismissal, loss of benefits and other repercussions.
Moreover, the authorities have typically failed to ensure that participants in mass events comply with pandemic-related preventive measures, although such measures are enforced in other contexts.
The full report in English detailing specific developments is available here.The post TIHR and IPHR present a joint report on violations of freedom of expression and assembly in Turkmenistan first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.