Human Rights in Turkmenistan: Bleak and Getting Bleaker

Conditions in Turkmenistan for civil society and human rights deteriorated dramatically last year.  The Turkmen government continues to implement repressive measures to control education, freedom of movement, public health, and access to information.  Even given President Berdymukhamedov's greater openness to diplomacy and foreign energy-driven investment, the country cannot claim substantive progress compared to the previous regime of President Niyazov.

This event features the authors of three recent reports on repressions and abuses in Turkmenistan:

• Crude Accountability’s Reform in Turkmenistan: A Convenient Façade reviews the current human rights situation in Turkmenistan and the reaction of Western governments and institutions to President Berdymukhamedov’s regime. 
• The Dashoguz Women's Prison Colony, a report by Turkmen activists supported by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, provides a rare look into everyday life in a prison camp with over 2000 female inmates in the north of Turkmenistan. The prison is overcrowded, provides insufficient medical services, and is rife with corruption and conditions that amount to ill-treatment and torture.  
• Forum 18’s Violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Turkmenistan documents Turkmenistan’s strict government control over all religious activity and details how Turkmenistan’s systematic violation of freedom of religion interlocks with violations of other fundamental human rights.

Speakers

• Kate Watters, Executive Director, Crude Accountability
• Ivar Dale, Advisor, Norwegian Helsinki Committee
• Felix Corley, Editor, Forum 18 News Service
• Robert Templer, Director of the Asia Program, International Crisis Group (moderator)

Please note that the audio from this event has been edited.