French Human Rights Ambassador Hopes for Progress in Turkmenistan
Ambassador Francois Zimeray, France's human rights ambassador, is upbeat about the potential for improvement in Turkmenistan's human rights practices, now that he has dropped "naming and shaming" as a technique to prod response from the reclusive Central Asian nation.
Asked if France's new policy of engagement with Turkmenistan was working yet to improve human rights, Ambassador Zimeray told EurasiaNet that it was not really a new policy.
"It's not a change in policy, but rather that we are starting from scratch, starting at zero," he said. "Under Niyazov, there were no human rights."
In June, Zimeray visited Turkmenistan to meet with Turkmen authorities and said the situation, while still poor, was better than under past dictator Sapurmurat Niyazov.
Zimeray was in New York yesterday for official meetings and also spoke to a group of foundation officials and experts at the New York University Law School.
After the meeting, he commented on his recent efforts in Ashgabat.
"I tried to drive a nail between the old government and the new," said Zimeray. By making a distinction between past practices under Niyazov and the potential for change under new leadership, Zimeray hopes to provide incentive to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov by disassociating him from his predecessor.
Apparently the more subtle tactic could potentially embarass the Turkmen leader if he is seen as repeating Niyazov's draconian measures.
Yet it has been more than three years since Berdymukhamedov came to power, and expectations for significant moves toward democracy have been dashed. Political prisoners arrested under Niyazov or Berdymukhamedov have not benefited from amnesties, and the fate of some has not been known for years. Students have been barred from studying abroad, dissidents and their relatievs as well as those with dual pasports are not allowed to travel to and from Turkmenistan freely, and no independent media or civil society organizations have been legalized. Modest reforms like restoring years of schooling or opening up Internet cafes have been undermined by blocking students' from travel to other countries and by filtering out dissident websites.
President Berdymukhamedov made a state visit to France in February, and there was some speculation that President Nicolas Sarkozy had quietly raised human rights concerns with the Turkmen leader. Some weeks later, Berdymukhamedov indicated that he was willing to permit a second party to be registered.
Asked whether the Turkmen leader's recent statements indicating possible liberalization could be tied to French diplomacy, Zimeray said it was too early to say.
"My visit itself is progress," he commented, adding that it indicated Ashgabat was now ready to open itself up to the world and accepted that there would be discussions on human rights issues.
The French ambassador also said that Turkmenistan's new law on the bar represented some progress.
In March, the presidentially-controlled Mejlis or parliament passed a law titled "On the Public Defender’s Office and Defense Attorneys in Turkmenistan". In May, the Turkmen Independent Lawyers' Association, a group based in the Netherlands which has called for legal reforms in Turkmenistan, said they were waiting for the law to be published in order to comment on it. The law does not yet appear to have been promulgated.
While in Ashgabat, Zimeray was denied permission to visit two journalists who were arrested in 2006 for assisting a French television documentary and sentenced to six and seven years of prison. He was unable to find out about their status, and authorities blocked their relatives from meeting with him.
"It's very sad. They are keeping these cases top secret," he said.
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