Turkmenistan: Human Rights

Although the constitution declares Turkmenistan to be a secular democracy and a presidential republic, the country has an authoritarian government controlled by the president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and the Democratic Party. Berdimuhamedov remained president following a February 2012 election that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights determined involved limited choice between competing political alternatives. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Security forces committed human rights abuses. The three most important human rights problems were arbitrary arrest; torture; and disregard for civil liberties, including restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and movement. Other continuing human rights problems included citizens' inability to change their government; interference in the practice of religion; denial of due process and fair trial; arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence; discrimination and violence against women; trafficking in persons; and restrictions on the free association of workers. Officials in the security services and elsewhere in the government acted with impunity. There were no reported prosecutions of government officials for human rights abuses.