EUR 61/016/2006
UA 335/06
Fear of torture and ill-treatment/possible prisoner of conscience
TURKMENISTAN : Andrey Zatoka (m), 50, environmental activist
19 December 2006
Environmental and civil society activist Andrey Zatoka was detained on 17 December, as he prepared to travel to Moscow, Russia where his family live. An independent activist in Turkmenistan, he is at great risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
Andrey Zatoka has dual citizenship : Russian and Turkmenistani. He moved with his family to Turkmenistan from the Russian Federation in 1982, and worked at Kaplankyr National Park until 1992. He is a member of the Council of the International Social and Ecological Union, an umbrella organization of over 340 environmental groups, mainly from the countries of the former Soviet Union. In Turkmenistan he co-chaired an environmental group, the Dashoguz Ecological Club, which opened in December 1992 but was closed down in 2003 following a court decision.
Andrey Zatoka had been due to fly from Ashgabat to Moscow on 18 December to attend a meeting of the International Social and Ecological Union. He was reportedly detained by local police at the airport in his home town of Dashoguz before he boarded a plane to Ashgabat. He was reportedly detained for five days for an alleged breach of public order. His family reportedly do not know where he is being held.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The human rights situation in Turkmenistan has been appalling for years. It deteriorated even further following an alleged assassination attempt on President Niyazov on 25 November 2002, which triggered a new wave of repression across the country.
The authorities are deeply suspicious of any civil society group not officially sanctioned by the government. During 2006, a number of activists and journalists operating without authorization from the authorities have been punished for their work. Several activists and journalists were arbitrarily detained, and only released after they had been warned not to continue their work. Three activists, Sapardurdy Khadzhiev, Annakurban Amanklychev and Ogulsapar Muradova, were accused of criminal offences and sentenced to between six and seven years’ imprisonment after an unfair trial on 25 August. While the three were in custody awaiting trial, they appear to have been ill-treated in order to extract a « confession » and to incriminate each other. One of them, Ogulsapar Muradova, died in custody in September. The authorities claim that she had committed suicide but other sources claim that the circumstances of her death were suspicious.
The regime is extremely intolerant of dissent, and has severely limited civil and political liberties. No independent political parties or human rights groups can operate openly in the country, and opponents of the government and civil society activists have been forced into exile, or else persecuted or imprisoned.
In violation of the government international obligations, the authorities have repeatedly subjected opponents to systematic repression since the country became independent in 1991. Many have been forced into exile ; many have faced house arrest, arbitrary detention, imprisonment following unfair trials, and torture and ill-treatment by police and officers of the Ministry of National Security. Thousands of dissidents and their relatives are included in a « black list » of people banned from leaving the country.
The authorities have failed to implement recommendations aimed at improving Turkmenistan’s human rights record made by intergovernmental bodies, including the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the UN General Assembly.
RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Turkmen, Russian, English or your own language :
expressing concern that Andrey Zatoka has been detained, seemingly to punish him for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association, as an independent environmental activist, and that if this is the case he is a prisoner of conscience, and the authorities must release him immediately and unconditionally ;
pointing out Turkmenistan is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Articles 19 and 22 guarantee rights to freedom of expression and association ;
urging the authorities to ensure that Andrey Zatoka is protected from any form of torture or ill-treatment while in custody ;
urging them to give Andrey Zatoka immediate access to his family and lawyers of his choice ;
expressing concern about the continuing clampdown on dissent in Turkmenistan, which has led to many civil society activists, political dissidents, members of religious minority groups and their families being arbitrarily detained, tortured or ill-treated and imprisoned after unfair trials.
APPEALS TO :
President
Prezident Turkmenistana Saparmurat A. NIYAZOV
Apparat Prezidenta
744000 ASHGABAT
TURKMENISTAN
Fax : +993 12 35 51 12
Salutation : Dear President Niyazov
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministr Rashid MEREDOV
Ministerstvo inostrannykh del Turkmenistana
83 pr. Magtymguly
744000 ASHGABAT
TURKMENISTAN
Fax : +993 12 35 42 41
E-mail : mfatm online.tm
Salutation : Dear Minister
Ambassade du Turkménistan
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 106
1050 Bruxelles
Fax : 02.648.19.06
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 30 January 2007.
Avant tout : Joyeux Noël !
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