Expert: 40% of prisoners in Turkmenistan were convicted of trumped-up cases
On the occasion of neutrality day, the President of Turkmenistan announced another amnesty in the country, having pardoned 528 people. Such events are held in Turkmenistan several times a year, usually on holidays. So, in September of this year, for the Independence Day, 868 people were pardoned. In the month of Ramadan, 764 people were released. In March, 2028 people were pardoned on the occasion of the Nowruz-Bayram holiday.
Experts believe that in this way the authorities are trying to solve a burning issue of crowded prisons. According to unofficial data, by mid-2019, the total number of prisoners in Turkmen prisons was about 37 000 people.
A human rights activist from Ashgabat in an interview with ACCA on condition of anonymity said that about 40% of prisoners in Turkmenistan were convicted of trumped-up cases. “Monitoring showed that often law enforcement officers, without any evidence of a crime, crossed up people,” said the human rights activist. “Usually this is done for career growth or reports. Also, many people are given excessively harsh punishments; many have been convicted of political cases.”
The human rights activist also noted that people disappear in prisons of Turkmenistan. “According to our estimates, more than 120 people have disappeared without a trace from prisons, but the authorities do not recognize the problem of enforced disappearances,” the ACCA interlocutor emphasized. “The pardons in the country are considered primarily as one of the ways to increase the image of the President. Mainly, convicts of minor crimes are released: pilferage, theft, or hooliganism. Of the total number amnestied for the year, about 500 are officials and employees of law enforcement agencies.”
According to the human rights activist, with access to freedom, people’s problems are not decreasing. “Due to the fact that the salary of the police, investigators and prosecutors depends on the number of imprisoned people, the problem of overcrowding in prisons does not change,” said the human rights activist. “About 30% of those released from places of detention return to prison again due to the fact that they cannot find work. The legislation of the country does not regulate the process of adaptation of a person after release, although each time the act of pardon is signed, the President gives an order to assist the released in rehabilitation and employment, but the orders remain unfulfilled.”
Over the past 5 years, over 27 000 people have been pardoned in Turkmenistan. According to the International Center for the study of prisons, Turkmenistan ranks third in the world in terms of the number of prisoners.
