A prison in Turkmenistan. ANT archive photo
528 convicts have been granted pardons in Turkmenistan in connection with the upcoming International Day of Neutrality. The relevant decree was signed into effect by president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, reports the country’s official news agency TDH.
According to the decree, the individuals concerned will be freed “from serving the remainder of their original prison sentence, as well as from any additional punishment in the form of an obligation to reside in a specific location”.
Information on which prisoners have received pardons and what they were originally sentenced for was not provided.
Mass pardons are a regular occurrence in Turkmenistan. The authorities carry them out in conjunction with various national holidays (the current instance is the fourth of 2019 – the previous one, in which over 800 pardons were granted, took place on the occasion of the country’s independence day). It is likely that they are also used as a means of boosting the image of the president.
As Radio Liberty’s Turkmen website points out (in Russian), political prisoners are usually not among those granted pardons.
As noted in a report by local human rights advocates, Turkmenistan has the fourth highest incarceration rate in the world. More than 30,000 individuals are currently behind bars in the country. Poor sanitary conditions and ill-treatment of prisoners are common problems in Turkmen jails.
Another major issue is that of the disappearances that occur in Turkmen prisons. According to data from the international campaign Prove They Are Alive!, the whereabouts and wellbeing of over 120 individuals previously incarcerated in the country’s jails, including opposition figures and former senior officials, are currently unknown.
