Amnesty moves to stop deportation of Turkmen dissident

Amnesty International (AI) has called on the Kazakh government not to deport a leading Turkmen dissident back to Turkmenistan. Gulgeldi Annanyyazov was one of the so-called "Ashgabat Eight", who were serving long prison terms after being convicted of criminal offences - some involving violence - arising from their participation in an unprecedented anti-government protest in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, on 12 July 1995.

"If he is deported, he will be at grave risk of torture. This is our immediate and main concern," AI's campaigner for Central Asia and South Caucuses, Anna Sunder-Plassman, told IRIN from London on Wednesday. "The Kazakh authorities are obliged under international human rights law not to deport him."

According to the watchdog group, Annanyyazov was first detained by Russian border guards at Moscow's Domodedovo airport on Sunday, after arriving on a flight from the Caspian port of Aktau in western Kazakhstan. The 42-year-old had reportedly crossed the border between Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan illegally and then used false documents to travel to Moscow. Despite assurances to human rights monitors by Russian officials, Annanyyazov was flown back to the northern Kazakh city of Pavlodar on Monday evening.

Vitaly Ponomarev, the director of the Central Asia department at the Moscow-based human rights organisation Memorial, said either the Russian authorities had been afraid of the noise that human rights organisations would make to urge them not to send him back, or they had been contacted by the Turkmen authorities, who asked them to move quickly.

"They will definitely torture him if he is returned. State-sponsored torture in Turkmenistan is often used," the activist told IRIN, adding that many people no more than just associated with the opposition were tortured.

Annanyyazov had originally been sentenced to 15 years for his role in the demonstrations, but was released after four years following US pressure. Subsequently, he was kept under close watch by the authorities, Ponomarev explained.

But as a result of his opposition activities, the former political prisoner was banned from leaving Turkmenistan and, according to Sunder-Plassman, if sent back could be convicted for illegal border crossing and would be at grave risk of torture in detention. "The fact that he left the country illegally makes him even more vulnerable," she claimed.

But according to Sunder-Plassman to deport Annanyyazov would be contrary to Kazakhstan's obligations under international law, in particular article 3 of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The statute prohibits sending back any individual to a country or territory where he/she may be subjected to torture.

Since gaining its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Turkmenistan has been dominated by President Saparmurad Niyazov, who has exercised a monopoly on power as both head of state and of government. According to Amnesty International, Ashgabat is extremely intolerant of dissent, restricting political and civil liberties, and retaining tight control of the media.

Most opposition leaders have been forced into exile, and no human rights organisation can openly function in the reclusive Central Asian state. The rights group has received numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in the country.

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