Rights groups are concerned about the plight of family members of a murdered journalist who died in custody earlier this month in Turkmenistan.
"Their lives are under threat because they are witnesses to Ogulsapar Muradova's arrest, investigation and imprisonment. They are under threat in the same way that [we said] Muradova was under threat, but no one listened to us and she was murdered," Tajigul Begmedova, head of the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (THF), an exiled rights group, said from the Bulgarian town on Varna, on Tuesday.
Muradova, a journalist with the Turkmen service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was reported dead in custody on 14 September, just a few weeks after she was sentenced to a six-year term for illegally possessing ammunition.
"Of course the relatives [of Muradova] are threatened. Many relatives of dissidents, human rights defenders and journalists have been evicted, threatened and imprisoned over more than four years," Aaron Rhodes, head of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), added from Vienna.
Their comments followed a statement by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) on Friday, which said that they were “extremely alarmed” by the threats hanging over the relatives of the murdered journalist and the two others journalists and human rights activists imprisoned with her, Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khajiyev.
“This case must not be forgotten, as it would just make matters easier for the Turkmen authorities,” RWB said. “We fear that Muradova’s children could suffer the same fate as she did, or could be deported to a location that is unknown to anyone but the police.”
According to the Paris-based watchdog group, Turkmen President-for-life Saparmurat Nyazov has ordered that the families of all three journalists be transferred to an unknown location by mid-October.
Muradova’s three children are currently cut off from the outside world, as both their fixed-line and mobile telephones and those of their friends have been disconnected, RWB reported. Their home is under active surveillance by the security services and it is virtually impossible for them to move about. They have been fired from their jobs and have no funds.
Commenting on what might drive the Turkmen authorities to clamp down so harshly on journalists and rights activists, Rhodes said that these brutal acts of repression showed that the government could do whatever it wanted to those who encourage compliance with international standards, and to do so with impunity.
"It is a warning to others what fate will await them. It is also a show of power and of defiance toward the members of the international community trying to improve human rights," Rhodes added.
Given the magnitude of the problem, rights activists are calling upon the international community to put strong pressure on Ashgabat.
"The international community should take a firm stance and demand that the Turkmen government follow its obligations with regard to human rights and democratic principles. Only in this case can we move forward," Begmedova said.
IHF said that it had repeatedly insisted that bilateral economic relations must be made conditional on improvements regarding human rights. "Governments and businesses need to ask themselves: "Do we demand any standards of our partners? Do we trade with such regimes? Are we ready to tolerate atrocities in return for markets and goods?", Rhodes asked.
Turkmenistan remains one of the most repressive and closed countries in the world, according to Human Rights Watch, while Niyazov is on RWB's international list of 35 predators of press freedom. Turkmenistan ranked 165 (third from the bottom) on its 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Only Eritrea and North Korea have a worse record.
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"Their lives are under threat because they are witnesses to Ogulsapar Muradova's arrest, investigation and imprisonment. They are under threat in the same way that [we said] Muradova was under threat, but no one listened to us and she was murdered," Tajigul Begmedova, head of the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (THF), an exiled rights group, said from the Bulgarian town on Varna, on Tuesday.
Muradova, a journalist with the Turkmen service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was reported dead in custody on 14 September, just a few weeks after she was sentenced to a six-year term for illegally possessing ammunition.
"Of course the relatives [of Muradova] are threatened. Many relatives of dissidents, human rights defenders and journalists have been evicted, threatened and imprisoned over more than four years," Aaron Rhodes, head of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), added from Vienna.
Their comments followed a statement by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) on Friday, which said that they were “extremely alarmed” by the threats hanging over the relatives of the murdered journalist and the two others journalists and human rights activists imprisoned with her, Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khajiyev.
“This case must not be forgotten, as it would just make matters easier for the Turkmen authorities,” RWB said. “We fear that Muradova’s children could suffer the same fate as she did, or could be deported to a location that is unknown to anyone but the police.”
According to the Paris-based watchdog group, Turkmen President-for-life Saparmurat Nyazov has ordered that the families of all three journalists be transferred to an unknown location by mid-October.
Muradova’s three children are currently cut off from the outside world, as both their fixed-line and mobile telephones and those of their friends have been disconnected, RWB reported. Their home is under active surveillance by the security services and it is virtually impossible for them to move about. They have been fired from their jobs and have no funds.
Commenting on what might drive the Turkmen authorities to clamp down so harshly on journalists and rights activists, Rhodes said that these brutal acts of repression showed that the government could do whatever it wanted to those who encourage compliance with international standards, and to do so with impunity.
"It is a warning to others what fate will await them. It is also a show of power and of defiance toward the members of the international community trying to improve human rights," Rhodes added.
Given the magnitude of the problem, rights activists are calling upon the international community to put strong pressure on Ashgabat.
"The international community should take a firm stance and demand that the Turkmen government follow its obligations with regard to human rights and democratic principles. Only in this case can we move forward," Begmedova said.
IHF said that it had repeatedly insisted that bilateral economic relations must be made conditional on improvements regarding human rights. "Governments and businesses need to ask themselves: "Do we demand any standards of our partners? Do we trade with such regimes? Are we ready to tolerate atrocities in return for markets and goods?", Rhodes asked.
Turkmenistan remains one of the most repressive and closed countries in the world, according to Human Rights Watch, while Niyazov is on RWB's international list of 35 predators of press freedom. Turkmenistan ranked 165 (third from the bottom) on its 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Only Eritrea and North Korea have a worse record.
AT/JL/DS
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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