Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan remains one of the world’s most repressive countries, with a disastrous human rights record. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov – re-elected in 2012 - his relatives, and their associates maintain unlimited control over all aspects of public life. The government thoroughly denies freedoms of association, expression, and religion, and the country is closed to independent scrutiny. Relatives of dozens of people imprisoned during the massive waves of arrests in the late 1990s and early 2000s have had no official information about their fate. Proposed “reform” of the constitution promises no actual expansion of fundamental rights and freedoms. The total absence of media freedom in Turkmenistan remains unchanged.