[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 486 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 486

 Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Turkmenistan 
should take immediate steps to improve its respect for human rights and 
democratic practices, in keeping with its international commitments and 
                              obligations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2006

  Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Pitts, and Mr. McIntyre) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
   the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Turkmenistan 
should take immediate steps to improve its respect for human rights and 
democratic practices, in keeping with its international commitments and 
                              obligations.

Whereas Turkmenistan became independent after the fall of the Soviet Union in 
        1991, and became a participating State of the Organization for Security 
        and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) when President Saparmurat Niyazov 
        personally signed the Helsinki Final Act in 1992;
Whereas Turkmenistan is also a signatory to the United Nations International 
        Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which obliges 
        Turkmenistan ``to promote universal respect for, and observance of, 
        human rights and freedoms'', as well as with the United Nations 
        Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading 
        Treatment, which declares ``that no one may be subjected to torture or 
        to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment'';
Whereas the Constitution of Turkmenistan declares the Turkmen people to be the 
        ``only source of the governmental power'', and lists the basic rights 
        and freedoms to include, inter alia, freedom of movement, protection 
        from arbitrary interference into personal life, freedom of expression 
        and political conviction, freedom to gather and hold protest, and the 
        freedom to practice any religion, alone or in association with others, 
        and to express and disseminate religious beliefs;
Whereas the Government of Turkmenistan violates or severely restricts a broad 
        range of civil and political rights, in breach of its Constitution and 
        international human rights obligations;
Whereas, in April 2006, Global Witness reported that revenues generated by 
        natural gas sales are kept out of the Turkmenistan state budget and 
        retained by President Niyazov, held mostly in accounts at Germany's 
        Deutsche Bank, allowing him to personally control an estimated 
        $3,000,000,000;
Whereas the Government of Turkmenistan has implemented numerous severe budget 
        cutbacks due to a lack of state funds, thereby causing great damage to 
        the education system, leaving the health care system severely 
        underfunded and nearing collapse, and causing the closings of cultural 
        facilities and libraries;
Whereas Turkmenistan is a one-party state with all three branches of government 
        as well as all state revenues under the sole control of President 
        Niyazov;
Whereas after a rubber-stamp decision in 2003 by the People's Council, Niyazov 
        is effectively the country's ``president-for-life'' and is anticipated 
        to dominate the political scene indefinitely;
Whereas opposition parties are outlawed and only the state-backed Democratic 
        Party of Turkmenistan can nominate candidates in local, regional, and 
        federal elections;
Whereas the state promotes a cult of personality around President Niyazov, the 
        self-proclaimed ``Turkmenbashi'', the father of all Turkmen, by placing 
        his likeness on every public building and currency and requiring the 
        teaching of his self-styled spiritual guide, the Rukhnama, in all 
        schools, mosques, and places of work and where refusal to do so has 
        resulted in criminal penalties;
Whereas the Government of Turkmenistan continues to raze entire neighborhoods to 
        construct lavish buildings and monuments at great public expense;
Whereas security officials have physically abused, tortured, and forced 
        confessions from individuals involved in the political opposition or 
        human rights advocacy, and continues the barbaric Soviet practice of 
        using psychiatric hospitals to jail dissidents;
Whereas Turkmen state authorities restrict access to all sources of news and 
        information other than the state-controlled and heavily censored media, 
        thereby depriving citizens of a basic civil right, and denying domestic 
        and foreign reporters the freedom to carry out their work, such that 
        Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkmenistan as the third worst 
        offender in its 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index;
Whereas, on August 25, 2006, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent 
        Ogulsapar Muradova and Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation members, 
        Sapardurdy Khajiev and Annakurban Amanklychev, were sentenced to six and 
        seven years of imprisonment, respectively, for their involvement in a 
        documentary about Turkmenistan;
Whereas relatives learned on September 14, 2006, that Ogulsapar Muradova died 
        while in prison under highly suspicious circumstances;
Whereas the Government of Turkmenistan continues to jail Mukhametkuli Aimuradov, 
        imprisoned since 1995, for his political views;
Whereas a 70-year-old pensioner, Kakabai Tedjenov, was arrested and detained on 
        January 4, 2006, and placed in a psychiatric hospital for criticizing 
        government policies;
Whereas political activist Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev was imprisoned in a 
        psychiatric hospital for over two years until 54 Members of Congress 
        wrote President Niyazov in April 2006 insisting he be released;
Whereas the Government of Turkmenistan routinely restricts, through blacklists 
        and document seizures, the right to freedom of movement for thousands of 
        its citizens, preventing these individuals from traveling or emigrating, 
        notwithstanding provisions of the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade 
        Act of 1974;
Whereas numerous government officials may not leave the country without special 
        permission and are categorically barred from leaving with close 
        relatives;
Whereas the education system is in shambles due to required schooling being 
        reduced to nine years, the use of child labor in agriculture, the denial 
        of employment for foreign accredited teachers, and the study and 
        knowledge of the Rukhnama becoming mandatory for access to higher 
        education;
Whereas numerous arrests and show trials have occurred in connection to the 
        November 2002 attack on President Niyazov's motorcade, including those 
        of Boris Shikhmuradov and Batyr Berdyev, and has denied unfettered 
        access to the accused by the International Committee of the Red Cross or 
        the international community; and
Whereas the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations allows 
        freedom of religion, government authorities in Turkmenistan continue to 
        harass registered and unregistered religious groups, unregistered 
        religious activity is ``illegal'', religious speech is severely limited, 
        conscientious objection to military service is criminalized, and Hare 
        Krishna devotee Cheper Annaniyazova and the former Chief Mufti Nasrullah 
        ibn Ibadullah remain jailed: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Government of Turkmenistan should--
                    (A) immediately and unconditionally release from 
                prison and psychiatric institutions, all prisoners of 
                conscience and political prisoners, including 
                Mukhametkuli Aimuradov, Sapardurdy Khajiev, Annakurba 
                Amanklychev, Kakabai Tedjenov, Cheper Annaniyazova, and 
                Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah;
                    (B) provide unfettered access for the International 
                Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to all detained 
                persons, including Batyr Berdyev and Boris 
                Shikhmuradov, in compliance with its mandate;
                    (C) conduct a thorough and transparent 
                investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 
                death in custody of Ogulsapar Muradova;
                    (D) provide fair retrials of all those imprisoned 
                for the alleged 2002 assassination attempt of President 
                Niyazov according to international fair trial 
                standards;
                    (E) provide thorough and independent investigations 
                into allegations of torture, ill-treatment and, in some 
                cases, deaths in custody;
                    (F) register and permit the normal functioning of 
                opposition political parties and movements, as well as 
                independent nongovernmental groups and religious 
                communities, and allow peaceful groups to participate 
                freely in the lead up to the December regional 
                elections;
                    (G) cease the practice of collective punishment of 
                relatives and associates of perceived dissidents, 
                including the demolition of family dwellings without 
                commensurate compensation;
                    (H) allow those critical of the regime, as well as 
                the family members and relatives of those implicated in 
                the 2002 attack on President Niyazov's motorcade, to 
                travel abroad or to emigrate should they desire;
                    (I) allow the unrestricted import and sale of 
                foreign press and free access to the Internet, permit 
                international journalists to work freely and without 
                surveillance in the country, end censorship of state-
                owned media, and facilitate the establishment of 
                nonstate, independent media outlets;
                    (J) end the punitive use of psychiatric hospitals 
                and the use of house arrest and forced displacement of 
                dissidents and their relatives, including politically 
                motivated internal exile and deportation;
                    (K) end the diversion of state funds into President 
                Niyazov's personal offshore accounts, and adopt 
                international best practices as laid forth by the 
                International Monetary Fund regarding the disclosure 
                and management of oil and gas revenues;
                    (L) improve the transparency of the Foreign 
                Exchange Reserve Fund (FERF), the Oil & Gas Development 
                Fund (OGDF), and any other presidentially controlled 
                state revenue funds, making them fully transparent, 
                independently audited entities;
                    (M) reintroduce full-term (4-year) secondary 
                education and allow foreign-language schools to operate 
                freely;
                    (N) invite United Nations thematic mechanisms and 
                special rapporteurs who have requested access to 
                Turkmenistan; and
                    (O) support increased OSCE activities in 
                Turkmenistan and continue to utilize the OSCE as a 
                forum to discuss human rights and democratization in 
                Turkmenistan; and
            (2) the United States should consider--
                    (A) appropriate bilateral responses if the 
                Government of Turkmenistan continues to ban the free 
                participation of peaceful independent political parties 
                in the upcoming December elections;
                    (B) designating Turkmenistan a ``Country of 
                Particular Concern'' for particularly severe violations 
                of religious freedom under the International Religious 
                Freedom Act of 1998 unless unregistered religious 
                activity is legalized, police raids on peaceful 
                religious activities end, and the United Nations 
                Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom is allowed to 
                undertake a country visit;
                    (C) withholding Turkmenistan's waiver under the 
                Jackson-Vanik amendment until the right to freedom of 
                movement is demonstrably ensured;
                    (D) encouraging companies which transport Turkmen 
                gas to transparently account for revenues and make 
                public the identities of all their shareholders and 
                beneficiaries;
                    (E) raising with the European Union, as well as 
                transit and purchasing countries, the importance of not 
                entering into agreements with Turkmenistan concerning 
                trade until the government demonstrates a commitment to 
                implementing basic norms of fiscal transparency;
                    (F) issuing a report on the personal assets and 
                wealth of President Niyazov; and
                    (G) working with other United Nations Member States 
                to introduce and consider a resolution denouncing human 
                rights violations in Turkmenistan.
                                 <all>