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working with refugees found their work in 

Turkey was increasingly impeded as the 

authorities placed restrictions on, and in 

some cases withdrew, permission for them to 

work in the country.

Collective forced expulsions of Syrian and 

Iraqi refugees and asylum-seekers to their 

respective countries of origin from the 

Removal Centre in Van, eastern Turkey, were 

reported to have taken place during the final 

days of May and early June. According to 

reports, around 200 Iraqis and around 300 

Syrians were forcibly returned after officials 

forced individuals to sign forms agreeing to 

“voluntary return”.

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan

Head of state and government: Gurbanguly 

Berdymukhamedov

The right to freedom of expression remained 

severely restricted. Torture and other ill-

treatment was committed in pre-trial 

detention and prisons, sometimes resulting 

in death. There was no attempt to address 

enforced disappearances and 

incommunicado detention. The right to 

housing was widely violated. Consensual 

same-sex relations between men remained a 

criminal offence.

BACKGROUND

In February, President Berdymukhamedov 

was re-elected for a further seven-year term 

with 98% of the vote; the OSCE Election 

Assessment Mission found “serious 

irregularities”. The economic crisis in the 

country deepened, and in June the President 

asked the Parliament to prepare an austerity 

proposal to cut benefits, including free gas 

and electricity supplies. There were reports 

that employees in state-run enterprises were 

not receiving their salaries; and there were 

shortages of cash.

LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR 

INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In March, the Parliament elected the first 

Human Rights Commissioner 

(Ombudsperson) from a list provided by the 

President, calling into question the 

independence of the institution and its 

compliance with the UN Principles relating to 

the Status of National Institutions.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

There was no independent media and the 

few independent journalists – typically 

working in secret for outlets based abroad – 

faced harassment and arrest.

On 15 February, independent journalist 

Khudayberdy Allashov and his mother 

Kurbantach Arazmedova were released, after 

being given three-year conditional sentences 

for possessing chewing tobacco. They had 

been in detention since 3 December 2016; 

there were allegations that they had been 

subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.

In March, the EU and the OSCE called for 

the immediate release of freelance journalist 

Saparmamed Nepeskuliev who was 

sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in 

2015 on drug charges. He was believed to be 

suffering from life-threatening health 

conditions.

In April, the UN Human Rights Committee 

expressed concern over, among other things, 

the absence of an independent media, 

undue restrictions on access to the internet, 

and the use of politically motivated charges 

against journalists and others expressing 

criticism of the government.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

In January, the UN Committee against 

Torture noted its concern at “consistent 

allegations of widespread torture and ill-

treatment, including severe beatings, of 

persons deprived of their liberty, especially at 

the moment of apprehension and during pre-

trial detention, mainly in order to extract 

confessions”.

In February, 18 men were convicted under 

various articles of the Criminal Code and 

sentenced to between five and 12 years’ 

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imprisonment for their suspected links to 

Turkmen-Turkish schools understood to have 

been previously affiliated to Fethullah Gülen. 

The men were allegedly tortured and held in 

inhumane conditions in pre-trial detention. A 

19th man detained at the same time was 

thought to have died as a result of torture. 

The trial held at the pre-trial detention centre 

in the town of Yashlyk, Ahal Province, 

reportedly fell far short of international 

standards of fairness.

DEATHS IN CUSTODY

Alternative Turkmenistan News reported that 

on 24 June the body of Aziz Gafurov was 

delivered to his family in the village of 

Urgendzhi, near Turkmenabat. An eyewitness 

described the body as emaciated and 

covered in bruises. Aziz Gafurov was one of 

dozens of practising Muslims who were 

sentenced in recent years for conspiracy to 

overthrow the state, violent calls to overthrow 

the constitutional order, and incitement of 

social, national and religious enmity.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

The fate and whereabouts of at least 80 

prisoners subjected to enforced 

disappearance after an alleged assassination 

attempt on then President Saparmurat 

Niyazov in November 2002 remained 

unclarified.

The bodies of three former senior state 

officials, who were forcibly disappeared 

following their arrest and criminal prosecution 

in connection with the assassination attempt, 

were delivered to their relatives in the course 

of the year. Tirkish Tyrmyev reportedly died 

on 13 January; Bairam Khasanov died in 

May; and on 18 August, the Russian NGO 

Human Rights Centre Memorial reported that 

Akmurad Redzhepov had died on 10 August.

On 26 January, the EU Delegation to the 

International Organizations in Vienna 

published a statement expressing concern 

about Tirkish Tyrmyev’s death and called on 

Turkmenistan to immediately and effectively 

address and eradicate enforced 

disappearances.

RIGHT TO HOUSING AND FORCED 

EVICTIONS

Reports continued of mass house demolitions 

and forced evictions in connection with 

construction and development projects, 

including those implemented in preparation 

for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 

that were held in September. On 21 February, 

a group of women gathered in Ashgabat to 

demand the alternative housing that they had 

been denied due to the lack of 

documentation confirming ownership of their 

demolished homes. The authorities had not 

issued them with such documents because 

many of the women were not registered in 

Ashgabat.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, 

TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

Consensual same-sex relations between men 

remained a criminal offence punishable by 

up to two years’ imprisonment. LGBTI people 

were subjected to discrimination including 

violence, arbitrary arrests and detention.

UGANDA

Republic of Uganda

Head of state and government: Yoweri Kaguta 

Museveni

The rights to freedom of expression, 

association and assembly were restricted. 

Journalists and others who criticized the 

President or his family were arrested, 

detained and harassed. There was a sharp 

rise in the number of women killed, some of 

whom were subjected to sexual violence. 

The government said it would investigate 

and prosecute those responsible. Draft 

constitutional amendments to the land laws 

gave the government authority to 

expropriate private land. Uganda hosted the 

largest number of refugees in the region, 

including over 1 million from South Sudan.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

On 19 March, immigration officials at 

Entebbe International Airport prevented 

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