Date: 28 November 2024
Report: Turkmenistan Internet shutdowns impact development, PDF
Country: Turkmenistan
Issues: Access to the Internet, right to education, healthy life, scientific progress
Mechanism: the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Report Type: Joint Shadow/Parallel Report by Access Now and Progres Foundation
This report supplements the third periodic report submitted by Turkmenistan (state party) under articles 16 and 17 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Covenant) in connection with the upcoming review of the state party’s compliance with the Covenant. The undersigned organizations welcome the opportunity to contribute to the work of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Committee) by providing additional information regarding access to the Internet under article 15 of the Covenant. The report describes Turkmenistan’s practices that raise particular concerns about: (1) internet shutdowns and their impact on right to education (article 13), right to healthy life (article 12), right to culture and to benefit from scientific progress (article 15), right to pursue economic development (article 1 and article 2); and (2) Internet connectivity and aggressive online censorship imposed by the Government, including government’s plan to build the National Digital Network that is splintered and isolated from the rest of the Internet.
