United Nations
UN report calls out Ashgabat on rights abuses
07.06.2011. Category:Turkmenistan
A United Nations Committee Against Torture report released June 6 rapped Turkmenistan for maintaining a “climate of impunity,” and called on Ashgabat to address systematic human rights abuses as a “matter of urgency.” The report should complicate efforts by the European Union and United States to tighten energy relations with President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov’s regime.More ...
On Torture and Arbitrary Detention in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan
09.05.2011. Category:Uzbekistan | Turkmenistan
Summary
The following represents a compilation produced by human rights defenders in conjunction with partners, presenting analysis and case studies on torture and arbitrary detention in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
This report is intended as a briefing to UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture, Human Rights Defenders, and other UN Special Mechanisms and bodies on the situation in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
It is also intended as an invitation to continued cooperation, to network building, and to strengthening civil society in both countries by encouraging increased interface on the part of Turkmen and Uzbek human rights defenders with the United Nations. Moving forward, we hope that together we can bring new information to light and take concrete steps toward ending human rights violations.
Partners in civil society find that years after the special rapporteur on torture concluded that systemic torture exists in Uzbekistan, torture in both countries continues to be a routine component of investigations and detention and is a common practice in the penal systems. Forms of torture include.
Bludgeoning with batons
Genital mutilation
Male and female rape and sodomy
Psychological humiliation and degradation
Electrocution
In particular, people linked with the Andijan events of 2005, including innocent family members, are routinely detained, brought up on bogus charges, and subjected to long years of bodily torture and psychological terror. Notably, medical personnel often play a roll in concealing evidence and fabricating fake documents which make filing charges impossible. Other at risk groups include:
Human rights defenders
Religious people
Refugees and asylum seekers who are often deported from other CIS countries back to Uzbekistan
Ex convicts used as scapegoats
Journalists
While information regarding Turkmenistan is scarce, according to our sources, the situation is the prison colonies is dire. This is exacerbated by the general weakness of civil society in Turkmenistan.
Of note have been recent studies carried out by the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, excerpts of which are contained in this report. These studies on Turkmen prisons and penal colonies detail arbitrary detention and torture as both physical and psychological daily realities.
It is our hope that this report by partners in civil society from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan can be used as an ongoing advocacy tool to improve the human rights situation. The contributors of the report offer their contact information and invitations toward further discussion.
The full report can be found here.
The following represents a compilation produced by human rights defenders in conjunction with partners, presenting analysis and case studies on torture and arbitrary detention in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
This report is intended as a briefing to UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture, Human Rights Defenders, and other UN Special Mechanisms and bodies on the situation in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
It is also intended as an invitation to continued cooperation, to network building, and to strengthening civil society in both countries by encouraging increased interface on the part of Turkmen and Uzbek human rights defenders with the United Nations. Moving forward, we hope that together we can bring new information to light and take concrete steps toward ending human rights violations.
Partners in civil society find that years after the special rapporteur on torture concluded that systemic torture exists in Uzbekistan, torture in both countries continues to be a routine component of investigations and detention and is a common practice in the penal systems. Forms of torture include.
Bludgeoning with batons
Genital mutilation
Male and female rape and sodomy
Psychological humiliation and degradation
Electrocution
In particular, people linked with the Andijan events of 2005, including innocent family members, are routinely detained, brought up on bogus charges, and subjected to long years of bodily torture and psychological terror. Notably, medical personnel often play a roll in concealing evidence and fabricating fake documents which make filing charges impossible. Other at risk groups include:
Human rights defenders
Religious people
Refugees and asylum seekers who are often deported from other CIS countries back to Uzbekistan
Ex convicts used as scapegoats
Journalists
While information regarding Turkmenistan is scarce, according to our sources, the situation is the prison colonies is dire. This is exacerbated by the general weakness of civil society in Turkmenistan.
Of note have been recent studies carried out by the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, excerpts of which are contained in this report. These studies on Turkmen prisons and penal colonies detail arbitrary detention and torture as both physical and psychological daily realities.
It is our hope that this report by partners in civil society from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan can be used as an ongoing advocacy tool to improve the human rights situation. The contributors of the report offer their contact information and invitations toward further discussion.
The full report can be found here.
Joint Letter to the UN Security Council Regarding the Ongoing Crisis in Kyrgyzsta
18.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
To: Security Council Ambassadors
Your Excellency,
We urge the United Nations Security Council to take immediate steps to address the ongoing crisis in Kyrgyzstan. With a death toll likely to reach far higher than the official count of 200 and an estimated 400,000 displaced in Kyrgyzstan and across the border in Uzbekistan, the situation poses a significant threat to international peace and security. The Kyrgyz authorities have primary responsibility for halting the violence and resolving this crisis, but reports from the ground provide ample evidence that the government is unable to protect those in need, and Kyrgyz authorities have already acknowledged that they need substantial assistance. More ...
Your Excellency,
We urge the United Nations Security Council to take immediate steps to address the ongoing crisis in Kyrgyzstan. With a death toll likely to reach far higher than the official count of 200 and an estimated 400,000 displaced in Kyrgyzstan and across the border in Uzbekistan, the situation poses a significant threat to international peace and security. The Kyrgyz authorities have primary responsibility for halting the violence and resolving this crisis, but reports from the ground provide ample evidence that the government is unable to protect those in need, and Kyrgyz authorities have already acknowledged that they need substantial assistance. More ...
Kyrgyz violence began with coordinated attacks -UN says
15.06.2010. Category:Kyrgyzstan
Violence in Kyrgyzstan appears to have begun with five coordinated attacks and has taken on an inter-ethnic character that could spiral out of control, the U.N. human rights office warned on Tuesday.More ...
Torture in Uzbekistan : still systematic and unpunished
20.01.2010. Category:Uzbekistan
The report was prepared from materials collected from the monitoring of the rights of persons under investigation and in detention. The monitoring was conducted during eight months in 2009 by the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan and Committee for the Liberation of Prisoners of Conscience, both based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan .
The Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights, based in Berlin, provided assistance with the collation and analysis of the data. Monitoring was conducted through interviews with individuals released from prisons, victims of torture, relatives of the convicted, and persons serving prison sentences and includes observation of court hearings. In addition, official responses from government agencies to claims of torture from alleged victims, press releases, and statements from local human rights organizations were included in the review.
The Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights, based in Berlin, provided assistance with the collation and analysis of the data. Monitoring was conducted through interviews with individuals released from prisons, victims of torture, relatives of the convicted, and persons serving prison sentences and includes observation of court hearings. In addition, official responses from government agencies to claims of torture from alleged victims, press releases, and statements from local human rights organizations were included in the review.
Speech by Turkmen President at UNGA
24.09.2009. Category:Turkmenistan
The speech by Turkmen President Berdymukhamedov at the UNGA.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan as a Ministry of Propaganda
20.01.2009. Category:Uzbekistan
On January 15 2009 Embassy of Uzbekistan to the United States released a press release on the consideration of Uzbekistan’s National Report within the framework of Universal Periodic Report of UN Human Rights Council.
More ...