07.12.2013

Calls for Release

In response to a petition filed by Freedom Now, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Working Group) issued an opinion finding the detention of political activist Gulgeldy Annaniyazov by the Government of Turkmenistan a violation of international law.

The Working Group—an independent panel of five human rights experts from around the world—calls for Mr. Annaniyazov’s release. Mr. Annaniyazov is a Turkmen human rights activist and political dissident. After organizing a nonviolent anti-government demonstration in Turkmenistan in 1995, he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The government released Mr. Annaniyazov five years later as part of an amnesty, and he fled with his family to Norway. On June 24, 2008, Mr. Annaniyazov traveled from Norway, where he had been living in asylum with his family, back to his… >> подробнее

04.12.2013

The OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference-2013

Adopted by the participants of the OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference, Kiev, 2-4 December 2013.

CONSIDERING that the OSCE participating States committed themselves to combatting torture and that this was stated in the 1989 Vienna Document and re-affirmed many times, including in documents agreed in Copenhagen and Paris in 1990, Moscow in 1991, Budapest in 1994, Istanbul in 1999, Ljubljana in 2005, Brussels in 2006, and Helsinki in 2008, stating, in particular, that “participating States strongly condemn all forms of torture as one of the most flagrant violations of human rights and human dignity. They commit themselves to strive for its elimination” (Budapest 1994); CONSIDERING… >> подробнее

04.12.2013

Murat Sadykov

Two of the most despotic leaders in the world sit atop the governments of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, according to rights groups.

But in sharp contrast to the way they regard their respective peoples, Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Uzbekistan’s Islam Karimov seem to treat each other with courtesy and respect when they get together. At their most recent meeting, held in late November in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, Berdymukhamedov and Karimov reportedly signed agreements outlining economic and humanitarian cooperation. They also discussed Central Asia’s water disputes, though, as usual, details about that conversation were scarce. Even so, the overall tenor of the meeting was upbeat. «Today… >> подробнее