Turkmen Prosecutors Retain Strong Powers
Turkmen Prosecutors Retain Strong Powers
The prosecution service in Turkmenistan continues to exercise wide-ranging powers despite reforms designed to modernise the system
In January, legislative changes came into force bringing the law into line with the Turkmen constitution adopted in 2008. The amendments go some way toward regulating, though not significantly reducing, the right of prosecutors to order pre-trial detention arrest and to appeal against trial verdicts.
In remarks quoted by the government website Turkmenistan.gov.tm, Parakhat Durdyev of the Institute of State and Law, which operates under the presidency, said another important change was that the prosecution service would now cooperate with its counterparts abroad.
Lawyers in Turkmenistan say the amended law is a positive step in that it shows a desire to set a clearer remit for the prosecution service, a powerful institution. But they warn it will be difficult to make the changes work in practice without significant reforms to the service’s structure and modus operandi.
The late president Saparmurat Niazov, who died in 2006, allowed prosecutors to exercise extensive powers to impose penalties, going well beyond their formal task of formulating cases against defendants on behalf of the state.
The prosecutor general’s office, headed by Gurbanbibi Atajanova from 1996 to 2003, made wide use of extrajudicial practices targeting anyone perceived to be a dissident, seizing their assets and put them in prison.
“Prosecution investigators gave suspects short shrift, and made no attempt to define the extent of their guilt,” said a judge in Ashgabat. “All suspects [relating to a given case] were seen as accomplices and were categorised as members of a criminal group.”
During Atajanova’s tenure, the authorities tried and convicted groups of people alleged to have been involved in an attempted coup against Niazov in late 2002.
However, Atajanova herself fell from favour in April 2003. Charged with extortion and other abuses, she was sent to prison in the northern Dashoguz province, where she remains to this day.
“The Turkmen prosecutor’s office still has extensive powers,” said a lawyer in Ashgabat. “Its methods have not changed. Even an omnipotent organisation like the National Security Ministry works under its supervision and in close cooperation with it.”
Recent cases indicate that the prosecutor’s office continues to ignore the requirements of the law. For example, it has ignored appeals filed by the family of Osman Khallyev, a stringer for the Turkmen service of RFE/RL, who allege that police acted unlawfully, and also statements filed by the lawyer of Andrei Zatoka, an environmentalist who was arrested, released, and stripped of his citizenship last year. Zatoka is now living outside Turkmenistan.
“Prosecution agencies exercise their oversight with one eye on the government and on the National Security Ministry, and they are hence unable to uphold the rule of law,” said a resident of Dashoguz region.
NBCentralAsia commentators say authorities should allow the prosecutor’s office to work within the bounds of the constitution, so that it ensures the law is obeyed properly and uniformly. That, however, would require the political will to make fundamental changes.
“Until the prosecutor’s office loses its punitive functions, adopting regulations is meaningless,” said Tajigul Begmedova, who heads the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation based in Bulgaria.
(NBCA is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
In January, legislative changes came into force bringing the law into line with the Turkmen constitution adopted in 2008. The amendments go some way toward regulating, though not significantly reducing, the right of prosecutors to order pre-trial detention arrest and to appeal against trial verdicts.
In remarks quoted by the government website Turkmenistan.gov.tm, Parakhat Durdyev of the Institute of State and Law, which operates under the presidency, said another important change was that the prosecution service would now cooperate with its counterparts abroad.
Lawyers in Turkmenistan say the amended law is a positive step in that it shows a desire to set a clearer remit for the prosecution service, a powerful institution. But they warn it will be difficult to make the changes work in practice without significant reforms to the service’s structure and modus operandi.
The late president Saparmurat Niazov, who died in 2006, allowed prosecutors to exercise extensive powers to impose penalties, going well beyond their formal task of formulating cases against defendants on behalf of the state.
The prosecutor general’s office, headed by Gurbanbibi Atajanova from 1996 to 2003, made wide use of extrajudicial practices targeting anyone perceived to be a dissident, seizing their assets and put them in prison.
“Prosecution investigators gave suspects short shrift, and made no attempt to define the extent of their guilt,” said a judge in Ashgabat. “All suspects [relating to a given case] were seen as accomplices and were categorised as members of a criminal group.”
During Atajanova’s tenure, the authorities tried and convicted groups of people alleged to have been involved in an attempted coup against Niazov in late 2002.
However, Atajanova herself fell from favour in April 2003. Charged with extortion and other abuses, she was sent to prison in the northern Dashoguz province, where she remains to this day.
“The Turkmen prosecutor’s office still has extensive powers,” said a lawyer in Ashgabat. “Its methods have not changed. Even an omnipotent organisation like the National Security Ministry works under its supervision and in close cooperation with it.”
Recent cases indicate that the prosecutor’s office continues to ignore the requirements of the law. For example, it has ignored appeals filed by the family of Osman Khallyev, a stringer for the Turkmen service of RFE/RL, who allege that police acted unlawfully, and also statements filed by the lawyer of Andrei Zatoka, an environmentalist who was arrested, released, and stripped of his citizenship last year. Zatoka is now living outside Turkmenistan.
“Prosecution agencies exercise their oversight with one eye on the government and on the National Security Ministry, and they are hence unable to uphold the rule of law,” said a resident of Dashoguz region.
NBCentralAsia commentators say authorities should allow the prosecutor’s office to work within the bounds of the constitution, so that it ensures the law is obeyed properly and uniformly. That, however, would require the political will to make fundamental changes.
“Until the prosecutor’s office loses its punitive functions, adopting regulations is meaningless,” said Tajigul Begmedova, who heads the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation based in Bulgaria.
(NBCA is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
