Turkmenistan: Repression Casts Shadow on Asian Games
(Berlin) –
Turkmenistan will host the 5
th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) starting September 17, 2017, amid an appalling record of human rights abuse, Human Rights Watch and the
Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR) said today.
The leadership of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) have made no visible efforts to urge the Turkmen government to address a single human rights concern. The games, in Ashgabat through September 27, will draw athletes from dozens of nations of Asia and Oceania for 21 sporting events.
“The OCA’s silence about abuse in Turkmenistan is deafening, said
Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch “The OCA has utterly failed the Olympic charter’s ideals that it is supposed to uphold.”
The OCA, the
owner and organizer of the games, is one of the five continental associations recognized by the International Olympic Committee. It is committed to upholding “Olympic Principles as defined in the Olympic Charter,” which in turn enshrines press freedom and human dignity as values the Olympic movement should uphold across all sporting federations.
Turkmenistan is one of the most closed countries in the world. The government has a long record of tightly controlling virtually all aspects of public life and severely punishing even the mildest criticism of government policies. Steps taken by Turkmen authorities during preparations for the games indicate that while hosting the games may bring prestige for the government, they have led only to further human rights violations and restrictions for the country’s citizens.
The Turkmen government goes to great lengths to isolate its citizens from foreigners. In recent weeks, authorities have also reportedly cordoned off areas around the zone where the games will take place, presumably for security reasons, but the move will further separate visiting foreigners.
“The AIMAG is a medium-scale athletic competition, and shouldn’t be a state of emergency,” said Farid Tuhbatullin, director of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights. “The Turkmen government has no business imposing such draconian restrictions on its people, not for these games, not ever.”
“It’s not a surprise that Turkmen authorities are sparing no effort to ensure that foreign journalists covering the Ashgabat games do not see or speak to ordinary people in Turkmenistan,” Tukhbatullin said. “The last thing the government wants is for foreigners to see for themselves just how dire the human rights situation is.”
The Turkmen government systematically denies freedoms of association, expression, and religion. The country is closed to all independent scrutiny, and the few independent activists who try to promote human rights under the radar face a constant threat of government reprisal. Authorities often impose arbitrary travel bans on activists and relatives of exiled dissidents and others, and deny entry to foreign journalists, human rights defenders, and rights monitors. Dozens of people remain
forcibly disappeared, in Turkmen prisons. Homosexual conduct is a criminal offense, and gay men are subjected to harassment and intimidation.
The cost of the Olympic village, where the games will be held, has been estimated at US$5 billion, and the cost of a new international airport built in time for the games is estimated to be approximately US$2.3 billion. One reliable
source from Turkmenistan has put the estimate millions higher. Turkmenistan is in the midst of a severe economic crisis.
“The only thing the Turkmen government is showing the world is its perverse, terrible treatment of its people,” Denber said. “No amount of games and fanfare can cover that up. It is appalling that the OCA is allowing Olympic values to be so thoroughly degraded.”
Associated documents