CIVICUS speaks in regards to the disappearance of Turkmen activists Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov with human rights defender Diana Dadasheva from the civil motion DAYANÇ/Turkmenistan and with Gülala Hasanova, spouse of Alisher Sahatov.
On 24 July, Turkmen activists Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov have been kidnapped in Edirne, Turkey, after being labelled a ‘risk to public order.’ Regardless of making use of for worldwide safety, they have been unlawfully deported to Turkmenistan. Orusov and Sahatov, distinguished voices within the diaspora by their YouTube channel Erkin Garaýyş, at the moment are being detained, starved and denied a good trial, whereas authorities are intentionally delaying proceedings to exclude them from an upcoming amnesty. Their circumstances spotlight the rising dangers confronted overseas by Turkmen activists, who’re being focused past their nation’s borders. The worldwide group should push to safe their fast launch and finish such abuses.
What occurred to Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov?
Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sahatov are Turkmen civil activists and bloggers who reported on human rights violations, corruption, migrant points and social hardships confronted by folks in Turkmenistan. They have been among the many few who dared to talk when most have been pressured into silence.
Final April, Turkish police got here to their residence beneath the pretext of checking their paperwork. Appearing on Turkmenistan’s request, they detained each males on false terrorism prices, claiming they posed a risk to Turkey’s nationwide safety. They have been taken to a deportation centre in Sinop and later transferred to Edirne.
The Turkish Supreme Courtroom dominated that returning them to Turkmenistan would put their lives at risk and ordered an finish to the deportation course of. However on 24 July, instantly after their launch, they disappeared. Dependable sources advised us they’d been secretly flown to Turkmenistan on a cargo aircraft, beneath the supervision of Officer Amangeldiyev Amangeldy, who was later awarded a medal for the operation.
To at the present time, we don’t know the place they or in what situation. Their abduction is a severe crime and a blatant violation of worldwide legislation.
Are there different examples of such human rights violations?
Over latest years, many Turkmen activists who have been courageous sufficient to talk up have disappeared in Turkey and Russia, together with Malikberdy Allamyradov, Azat Isakov, Rovshen Klychev, Farhad Meymankuliev and Merdan Mukhammedov. Activist Umida Bekjanova is at the moment detained in a Turkish deportation centre and we concern she could face the identical destiny.
Turkmen authorities are finishing up a scientific marketing campaign to get rid of impartial civic voices. In immediately’s Turkmenistan, anybody who refuses to remain silent dangers being branded a terrorist or enemy of the state. These labels have turn into instruments of repression, used to justify abductions, fabricate prison prices and drive folks to return to Turkmenistan.
What dangers do Abdulla, Alisher and different activists face after being forcibly returned?
Their lives are at risk. We obtain experiences of torture, hunger, humiliation and psychological abuse. They’re held in isolation, denied authorized defence and a good trial.
In Turkmenistan, there are not any impartial courts, legal professionals or free media. Individuals disappear into secret prisons for years, reduce off from their households and the world. We don’t know the place they’re or if they’re nonetheless alive. For his or her kinfolk and family members, this implies countless ready and despair, a sluggish, silent type of torture.
How has this affected your households?
Having my husband kidnapped has destroyed our lives. I’m elevating 4 youngsters who ask each day when their father will return. We reside in ache and concern, beneath fixed surveillance and threats.
Being a Turkmen activist means going through harsh residing circumstances. Some, like Diana, reside with out paperwork or technique of subsistence or social safety, caring for babies beneath the fixed concern of being kidnapped.
Nonetheless, we refuse to remain silent; if we did, others would disappear too. Along with the DAYANÇ/Turkmenistan Human Rights Platform, we now have declared a starvation strike till Abdullah and Alisher return residence safely. Now we have additionally launched a marketing campaign ‘If I Disappear – Don’t Keep Silent’ the place we publicly identify those that might be accountable if we too disappear. That is how we shield ourselves and our family members, as a result of immediately it’s Abdulla and Alisher however tomorrow it could possibly be any of us.
What do you anticipate from the worldwide group?
The worldwide group should act urgently to safe the discharge of Abdulla, Alisher and different disappeared activists. They need to additionally demand Turkmenistan put an finish to the prison follow of labelling folks as terrorists for merely talking the reality.
However statements aren’t sufficient. We’d like actual motion. We name for an impartial investigation into unlawful deportations and abductions, and for these answerable for abductions, torture and repression, in Turkmenistan and Turkey, to be held accountable for his or her actions. We additionally demand the creation of a ‘Inexperienced Hall’ for at-risk activists and households and the issuance of emergency documentation and monetary assist for migrants left with out authorized standing and susceptible to exploitation, trafficking and recruitment by prison networks or extremist teams.
The world has no proper to stay silent or look away. The worldwide group should stand with Turkmen activists disadvantaged of their fundamental rights to id, motion and freedom of expression. Their silence solely empowers the perpetrators and fuels impunity. Each second of inaction breaks one other life. The worldwide group should act now.
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Twitter/Diana Dadasheva
Twitter/Gülala Hasanova
SEE ALSO
Pressured loyalty, concern, and censorship: Turkmenistan’s relentless assault on civic freedoms CIVICUS Monitor 26.Jun.2025
Turkmenistan: tyranny mutates into dynasty CIVICUS Lens 18.Mar.2022
Turkmenistan: ‘There’s nothing resembling actual civil society – and no circumstances for it to emerge’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Farid Tukhbatullin 10.Mar.2022
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