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 had been kidnapped in Edirne, Turkey, after being labelled a ‘risk to public order.’ Regardless of making use of for worldwide safety, they had been unlawfully deported to Turkmenistan. Orusov and Sahatov, outstanding voices within the diaspora by their YouTube channel Erkin Garaýyş, are actually 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 instant 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 individuals in Turkmenistan. They had been among the many few who dared to talk when most had been pressured into silence.
Final April, Turkish police got here to their dwelling below the pretext of checking their paperwork. Appearing on Turkmenistan’s request, they detained each males on false terrorism expenses, claiming they posed a risk to Turkey’s nationwide safety. They had 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 instructed us they’d been secretly flown to Turkmenistan on a cargo airplane, below the supervision of Officer Amangeldiyev Amangeldy, who was later awarded a medal for the operation.
To this present day, we don’t know the place they or in what situation. Their abduction is a critical crime and a blatant violation of worldwide legislation.
Are there different examples of such human rights violations?
Over current years, many Turkmen activists who had 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 present detained in a Turkish deportation centre and we concern she might face the identical destiny.
Turkmen authorities are finishing up a scientific marketing campaign to get rid of impartial civic voices. In right this moment’s Turkmenistan, anybody who refuses to remain silent dangers being branded a terrorist or enemy of the state. These labels have develop into instruments of repression, used to justify abductions, fabricate legal expenses and drive individuals to return to Turkmenistan.
What dangers do Abdulla, Alisher and different activists face after being forcibly returned?
Their lives are at risk. We obtain reviews of torture, hunger, humiliation and psychological abuse. They’re held in isolation, denied authorized defence and a good trial.
In Turkmenistan, there aren’t any impartial courts, legal professionals or free media. Folks disappear into secret prisons for years, minimize 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 family 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 dwell in ache and concern, below fixed surveillance and threats.
Being a Turkmen activist means dealing with harsh dwelling situations. Some, like Diana, dwell with out paperwork or technique of subsistence or social safety, caring for babies below 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’ve declared a starvation strike till Abdullah and Alisher return dwelling safely. We now have additionally launched a marketing campaign ‘If I Disappear – Don’t Keep Silent’ the place we publicly title those that will probably be accountable if we too disappear. That is how we shield ourselves and our family members, as a result of right this moment it’s Abdulla and Alisher however tomorrow it could possibly be any of us.
What do you count on from the worldwide group?
The worldwide group should act urgently to safe the discharge of Abdulla, Alisher and different disappeared activists. They have to additionally demand Turkmenistan put an finish to the legal follow of labelling individuals as terrorists for merely talking the reality.
However statements aren’t sufficient. We want actual motion. We name for an impartial investigation into unlawful deportations and abductions, and for these chargeable 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 weak to exploitation, trafficking and recruitment by legal 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 primary rights to identification, 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 situations for it to emerge’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Farid Tukhbatullin 10.Mar.2022
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