Turkmenistan

Despite a change in Turkmenistan’s leadership in 2022, the country remained ruled by one of the most oppressive and authoritarian governments in the world, with no progress in its atrocious human rights record. The government severely impedes all fundamental rights and freedoms, including freedoms of association, information, and movement. Authorities continue to conceal the fate and whereabouts of dozens of people forcibly disappeared in the country’s prison system. The government routinely subjects activists and independent correspondents, including in exile, to intimidation, harassment, physical attacks and imprisonment on bogus, politically motivated, charges. The government fails to acknowledge and adequately address a food security crisis. The country remains closed to independent scrutiny.