News

Turkmenistan: Systematic Forced Labor in the 2021 Cotton Harvest

European governments and the United States should take urgent measures to block cotton products made with forced labor in Turkmenistan from their markets and hold to account companies that profit from forced labor in Turkmenistan, the Cotton Campaign said. The Cotton Campaign, a global coalition against forced labor in cotton production in Central Asia, today released a new report exposing state-imposed forced labor, including child labor, during the 2021 cotton harvest in Turkmenistan, researched and written by two leading Turkmen human rights groups. The report also reveals trade flows through which forced labor Turkmen cotton enters global markets, including the U.S., despite an existing ban on cotton imports from Turkmenistan.

Statement by Members of The European Parliament, Human Rights Defenders and Independent Journalists

“July 16 marks the first anniversary of the arrest of Dr Hursanay Ismatullaeva from Turkmenistan. She is serving a nine-year prison term for criminal charges that were clearly in retaliation for her labour dispute becoming a topic for discussion at a European Parliament event.

Turkmenistan To Make It More Difficult For People To Get Subsidized Food

Turkmenistan has increasingly limited its citizens' access to state-owned grocery shops that offer essential foodstuffs at subsidized prices, up to 10 times cheaper than in private stores.
The latest move is expected to negatively affect millions of people in the energy-rich yet impoverished country. The number of Turkmen migrant workers abroad is thought to be around 1 million, most of them working in Turkey.

Five-year Sentence for Turkmen Blogger Who Wrote Poem about Coronavirus

YouTube blogger Murat Ovezov was sentenced to five years’ detention in summer 2020 after he wrote a poem about coronavirus quarantine entitled The Bitter Truth. Ovezov, 48, was convicted of “Fraud” under Article 228 of the Turkmenistan Criminal Code, but turkmen.news sources in Dashoguz region say his remarks on YouTube were the real reason for the case.

“Survival of the Fittest.” Turkmen.news Presents Independent Report on Coronavirus in Turkmenistan

For more than a year now Turkmenistan’s government has declared the country free of coronavirus. They feed this story not only to their own people, who are already used to the authorities covering up problems and openly lying, but also to the entire international community – the UN, including the WHO, and foreign governments. The Turkmen government is essentially disregarding its own people and their health, and by lying to the international community and presenting inaccurate epidemiological data, it is putting the health of the whole world at risk.

Doctor Demanding Justice Detained in Turkmenistan

Turkmen.news, an independent outlet based in the Netherlands, reported that about 10 police detained Ismatullaeva from her home and confiscated telephones and computer equipment. Four days later, there is no official information on her whereabouts or the reason for her arrest. Any failure by the authorities to acknowledge Ismatullaeva’s detention or efforts to conceal her whereabouts would qualify her detention as an enforced disappearance, a very serious crime under international law.

“Survival of the Fittest.” Turkmen.news Presents Independent Report on Coronavirus in Turkmenistan

For more than a year now Turkmenistan’s government has declared the country free of coronavirus. They feed this story not only to their own people, who are already used to the authorities covering up problems and openly lying, but also to the entire international community – the UN, including the WHO, and foreign governments. The Turkmen government is essentially disregarding its own people and their health, and by lying to the international community and presenting inaccurate epidemiological data, it is putting the health of the whole world at risk.

Cotton Production in Turkmenistan: Use of Forced Labor in an Inefficient System

Amsterdam/Vienna, 23 March 2021. Two Turkmen non-governmental organizations, turkmen.news and the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, have today published their joint Review of the Use of Forced Labor in Turkmenistan During the 2020 Cotton Harves. The report is based on monitoring by the NGOs’ staff in four of the five regions of Turkmenistan — Ahal, Dashoguz, Lebap, and Mary.

Fashion Brands Urged to Boycott Turkmenistan’s Cotton

Global fashion brands have been yet again pressed to avoid cotton from Turkmenistan after a new investigation emerged last week revealing how last year’s harvest was once more mired in forced labour, corruption and persecution of activists, Ecotextile News reported.

Turkmenistan: Man Gets Four-Year Prison Term for Reposting Photo of WHO Delegation

On September 15, Nurgeldi Halykov was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment by Bagtyyarlyk district court in Ashgabat. The 26-year-old had sent turkmen.news a photograph of members of a visiting World Health Organization delegation, though he had not taken the picture himself. Nurgeldi was actually convicted on a fabricated charge of fraud after a friend wrote a complaint about his alleged failure to repay a loan.