Turkmenistan’s president dead

Turkmenistan’s president Saparmurat Niyazov died this morning. He has been responsible for one of the most repressive regimes in the world. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) expresses in their press release today that they hope that the tyrant’s death will at last create a window of opportunity for the Turkmen people to freely elect a new leader and create a society where the respect for fundamental human rights is reinstated. (21-DEC-06)

Text by NHC, edited for republication here by HRH Oslo, Nina Luhr
Photo by TASS / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty In Focus Number 2, Volume 1

Turkmenistan’s president Saparmurat Niyazov died from a cardiac arrest this morning, at the age of 66. International media, focusing on the bizarre personality cult Niyazov created around himself, paid less attention to the fact that he also created one of the most repressive regimes in the world. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) hopes that the tyrant’s death will at last create a window of opportunity for the Turkmen people to freely elect a new leader and create a society where the respect for fundamental human rights is reinstated.

The NHC resident representative to Bishkek, Ivar Dale, says Niyazov’s death can take Turkmenistan in a number of directions – continued governmental oppression being one of them:

– The opposition to Niyazov’s rule has over the last years been forced to leave the country. Numerous people have been imprisoned. It is not instantly clear who might be able to take the lead in positive direction now, but it is unlikely that anybody will be able to take a position similar to the deceased dictator’s. We allow ourselves to believe in a positive development from this point, Dale says.

Niyazov – more commonly known as “Turkmenbashi” – ruled independent Turkmenistan since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 until his death this morning. Under his leadership, he tolerated no political opposition and free media did not exist. Persecution of individuals voicing concerns was rampant, forcing those not sentenced to the overcrowded and torturous prisons into exile. Economically, Saparmurat Niyazov’s 15-year rule leaves the country steeped in poverty, with ill-functioning health care, educational and social systems.

Today an emergency meeting headed by Deputy Prime Minister Berdymukhamedov produced a government statement saying that “the Turkmen people (…) will steadily continue the course set by their leader”, and that the country’s “internal and external policies are unwavering”.

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) sends and appeal to the Norwegian government, as well as the rest of the international community, askinng them to insist that the dictatorial rule of Turkmenistan must take an end in order to open for democracy, rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights.

More information:
Ivar Dale: Central, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee´s Asia Regional Representative.
E-mail: dale@nhc.no, Phone: +996 312 663 657 (office) +996 502 510 140 (mobile)

Bjørn Engesland, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee´s Secretary General. Mobile: +47 957 53 350