Turkmenistan’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) will be reviewed during the 77th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) from 10 to 28 February 2025 in Geneva. The Committee will examine issues raised in Turkmenistan’s third periodic report and consider alternative reports from civil society groups.
Having ratified the Covenant in 1997, Turkmenistan has submitted three national reports (2011, 2016, and 2023). Following each submission, the Committee issues a list of issues for discussion in a constructive dialogue on the country’s compliance. Readers can access the latest government report and alternative reports submitted by civil society organizations on the following website by following the next steps: Under ‘Reporting status for Turkmenistan’ clicking ‘ICESCR – International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights‘ and then ‘III Reporting Cycle’.
The third periodic report outlines the legislative, judicial, administrative, and practical measures taken from 2019 to 2022 to implement the Covenant’s provisions, as well as progress made in addressing the Committee’s concluding observations from 2018. Key topics raised during the review of the second periodic report included data collection, judicial independence, human rights institutions, civil society, anti-corruption, non-discrimination, gender equality, domestic violence, forced labor, trade unions, poverty, housing, forced evictions, education, linguistic rights of ethnic minorities, and internet access.
Below we summarized key statistics in relation to some of the topics raised in the government’s report.
Data collection
The government has shared preliminary findings from the 2022 population and housing census. The report also mentioned establishment of a State register of persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities. However, there is no publicly available data or access to this registrar. Also, the State Statistics Committee, in cooperation with UNICEF conducted a survey in 2021 on the situation of children and adults with disabilities in Turkmenistan. While UNICEF announced that the survey results were published, neither UNICEF nor the State Statistics Committee made the survey results publicly available.
Independence of the judiciary
Turkmenistan’s Constitution (Article 98) guarantees the independence of the judiciary system. Following the Committee’s recommendations on 30 September 2023, Turkmenistan introduced amendments to the Courts Act to preserve judge’s powers and strengthen the role of the judges’ qualification board. Qualification boards consist of judges who act independently of any influence and participate in the process of appointing and dismissing judges. However, according to the law, judges are still appointed and dismissed by the President of Turkmenistan, limiting their independence.
National human rights institutions
The budget of Turkmenistan’s Ombudsperson’s Office doubled between 2021 and 2022, with capacity-building support from various international organizations such as UNDP, OHCHR, UNICEF, UNFPA, and OSCE. From 2018 to 2022, the office reviewed 1,364 applications related to housing law (947 cases) and fewer on labor law (349), education (18), health (27), and social security (23). However, it remains unclear how many cases were resolved or their outcomes. Additionally, annual reports are only available in Russian and English, excluding Turkmen, limiting accessibility for the local population.
Civil society
The Turkmen government amended the Voluntary Associations Act adopted on 22 August 2020 to simplify registration and cancel certain restrictions in relation to public associations. For instance, voluntary associations no longer have to submit reports to the Ministry of Justice at its request but rather information on its activities. However, it is unclear if the amended law has encouraged registration of new civil society groups. While there is no reliable data on the number of active NGOs and their activities, the majority of them do not address sensitive topics such as human rights. For example, out of 50 registered public associations over half (26) are sports groups.
Anti-corruption
Turkmenistan is implementing the National Anti-Corruption Programme for 2020–2024. In an effort to improve efficiency of public services, the Turkmen government introduced the e-government system. However, the e.gov.tm does not open and it gives the following error message ‘403 Forbidden.’ Meanwhile, the Office of the Procurator General coordinates anti-corruption activities. Citizens can report cases of corruption via electronic application or telephone number. However, there is no data on the number of cases submitted or how they were dealt with. Similarly, it is unclear how the public is informed and educated about their rights and possibility to submit the incidence of corruption.
HIV and AIDS
The 2016 Act on Countering the Spread of Disease Caused by HIV outlines measures for HIV prevention and support in Turkmenistan, including: free and confidential HIV testing with pre- and post-test counseling; ensuring the confidentiality of test results; providing free access to diagnostic, therapeutic, and consultative care for HIV-positive individuals and AIDS patients; and offering social assistance to facilitate their education, employment, and professional development. Kemal’ story shows an alternative reality in which “the mere existence of HIV-infected is being denied. People keep dying, but the truth about it is kept hidden behind the curtains. ”In Turkmenistan, according to the WHO, in 2021 per 100,000 population 41 women and 77.9 men died from HIV/AIDS in Turkmenistan. Meanwhile, data on new HIV infections are not available for Turkmenistan.
Moreover, the 2019 MICS survey reveals significant stigma against individuals living with HIV among adults aged 15-49 in Turkmenistan where 76.6% would not buy fresh vegetables from an HIV-positive vendor and 60.9% believe HIV-positive children should not attend school with HIV-negative children.
Persons with disability
As of 1 January 2023, there were 135,900 people receiving State disability allowances and 2,011 older persons with disabilities were receiving social services for older persons living alone and persons with disabilities, of which 1,580 women (78.7%). While Turkmenistan’s Transport Policy Act (2018) and Urban Planning Act (2015) claim to prioritize accessibility for people with disabilities, in practice, transportation and urban infrastructure remain largely inaccessible to them. Similarly, despite commitments to improve media and educational access for persons with disabilities, including sign language interpretation on television and producing accessible printed materials, these measures have yet to be implemented.
Gender equality
While women make up significant portions of staff in the judiciary (44.6%), Ministry of Justice (57.14%), and internal affairs agencies (1,800 women), there is no data on their share in leadership or decision-making positions. Similarly, women account for 44.4% of employees in large and medium-sized enterprises, but their representation in leadership roles remains unclear.
Meanwhile, women dominate the health and education sectors, comprising 70.4% of staff in healthcare (58.7% are doctors) and 70% of employees in the education system. There was a significant gender pay gap with women’s wages being 12% lower than men’s in 2022. The largest gaps were in public administration, defense (70.4%), and mining and quarrying (75.7%). These disparities highlight ongoing inequality in pay across sectors.
Domestic violence
A 2020 survey conducted with UNFPA revealed that 5.4% of women aged 18–59 experienced physical, sexual, or psychological violence from a partner in the past year and 12% of women experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner at least once in their lifetime. The Ministry of Internal Affairs claims to collect and analyze data on violence against women, disaggregated by various factors, but this information is not publicly accessible on their website, undermining efforts to address and combat domestic violence effectively. In addition to the lack of data, it is also possible that women do not feel safe to report cases of domestic violence due to fear of retribution and societal stigma.
Forced labour
According to the report, the use of new-generation cotton combine harvesters has significantly reduced manual cotton harvesting, from 71% in 2015 to 20% in 2022. The availability of farm machinery increased 25-fold between 2016 and 2022. The Turkmen government has also adopted a 2023 ILO-Government cooperation roadmap aimed at preventing forced labour in cotton harvesting. However, monitoring and reports from the Cotton Campaign indicate that forced labour in cotton harvesting continued during the 2023 season.
Registration system (propiska)
A presidential decision of 13 February 2016 requires Turkmen citizens entering Ashgabat for employment purposes to obtain a work permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. This requirement places unnecessary restrictions on citizens’ freedom to work and move within their own country, disproportionately impacting their ability to pursue better economic opportunities in the capital.
Access to the Internet
Despite having over 3 million internet users, more than half of Turkmenistan’s population (over 4 million people) still lack internet access. Additionally, only 12.75% of the population (900,000 individuals) are registered for online banking, highlighting limited digital inclusion. Efforts to improve electronic services, such as the creation of e.gov.tm a unified public services portal, have fallen short, as the website is non-functional.
