Introduction
Chapter I	Situation with ensuring and observing the human and civil rights and freedoms in Turkmenistan
Chapter II	Civil and political rights
Chapter III	Economic, social and cultural rights
Chapter IV	Review of handling citizens’ appeals
Chapter V	Work of the Ombudsman to assist improving the national legislation of Turkmenistan
Chapter VI	Participation of the Ombudsman in public events. Assistance in raising awareness in the field of human rights
Chapter VII	International cooperation
Chapter VIII	Inquiries and recommendations of the Ombudsman
Chapter IX	Conclusion

Introduction 

Each year of ‘The Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State’ is being marked by events of historic significance. The year 2023, which passed under the motto ‘Happy youth with Arkadag Serdar’, was full of important events that were inscribed in the chronicles of the modern history of the country. That year has been marked by concrete achievements in ensuring human rights and freedoms.

The aim of the Report, as in the previous years, is to provide an overview of the milestones achieved in 2023 to improve the standard of living of people in the country, respect for human rights, as well as the work done by the Authorized Representative for Human Rights - the Ombudsman (hereinafter referred to as the Ombudsman) within her powers in the field of protection of human and civil rights and freedoms.

The introduction of the Report will highlight the main events of the reporting year that took place in the life of the country and the people of Turkmenistan, and achievements in the field of human rights.

In 2023, the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which became one of the important events for the world community, was widely celebrated. During the year, a number of events were held in our country to honourably celebrate this significant date. Contests, fora, and ‘round tables’ dedicated to the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were held during the celebration of the permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan and the International Day of Neutrality. It should also be noted that over the past year, our country supported initiatives to implement the norms of this universal document, which were put forward at a high-level international conference on the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, organized by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. At the same time, to further ensure the implementation of these norms, Turkmenistan declared such obligations as developing international cooperation, strengthening youth policy, developing environmental approaches to ensure human rights, eradicating statelessness in Turkmenistan, as well as strengthening an independent human rights institution.

As it is known, Turkmenistan has done a great job in ensuring human rights and freedoms over the years of independence. Having actively acceded to international documents in the field of human rights and freedoms, our country steadily follows its obligations and takes practical steps to implement the norms of these instruments. Our country was the first in the region to constitutionally guarantee the right to life, which is a fundamental and natural right of a person.

In recent years, Turkmenistan has established itself as a responsible and reliable partner of the United Nations. Another confirmation of this was the participation of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov in the 78^th session of the UN General Assembly in 2023.

From the important rostrum of the United Nations, the head of state articulated the priority stances of Turkmenistan and put forward specific initiatives. In particular, based on the principle of the indivisibility of security and its integrity, it was proposed to begin discussing the possibilities of developing a Global Security Strategy based on the principles of the UN Charter and generally recognized norms of international law, taking into account current realities and trends in world development. Concurrently, the President of Turkmenistan, highlighting that the time was ripe to launch an inclusive, full-fledged and systemic dialogue through the ‘Central Asia - UN’ format, initiated the establishment, under the auspices of the UN, of the Security Conference in Central Asia and its adjacent zones. Along with this, readiness was expressed to hold the first Meeting in Ashgabat in 2024.

Speaking about the key areas of Turkmenistan’s activities with the UN in the years to come, the head of state in his address emphasized the importance of addressing pressing climate and environmental issues. That being said, issues related to Global Pledge on methane were particularly highlighted, and an initiative was put forward to establish a Regional Centre for Climate Change Technologies in Central Asia, and Turkmenistan’s readiness to provide organizational and technical conditions for the functioning of the Centre in Ashgabat was emphasized. In addition, the President of Turkmenistan made a proposal to create the Caspian Environmental Initiative, stating the importance of implementing this initiative in close cooperation with the UN, its agencies, facilities and institutions. At the UN General Assembly, the head of state also articulated proposals to promote international cooperation in such important areas as sustainable transport and ensuring food security.

The goal of the initiatives put forward by the President of Turkmenistan is a close, coordinated partnership to ensure the right to a peaceful, prosperous life not only of the Turkmenistan people, but also of all people on the planet.

Last year, our country presented to the world community the second Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This Review, being a logical continuation of the 2019 Voluntary National Review, presented the progress and outputs achieved by the country in the process of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. Following the basic principles of the SDGs, Turkmenistan, when forming national priorities, adheres to people-centred approaches and welfare of people. Therefore, in addition to the emphasized goals recommended by the UN, the Review covers and additionally carries out a detailed analysis of six Goals, in particular, health and education, food security, gender equality, improving human well-being and environmental protection.

In the year under review (2023), a significant result of the activities carried out by our country in the name of a bright future for humanity. One of the striking examples of the success of cooperation in this area with the UN was the unanimous election at the regular meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of Turkmenistan to the Commission on Population and Development for 2024-2028.

Among the socio-political events of the past year that were of paramount importance for our state were the elections of members of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, members of velayat/region, etrap/district, city halk maslahatys (People’s councils) and Gengeshs (local self-governments), held on the principles of justice, democracy, transparency and openness. The simultaneous elections of members of a number of representative bodies, held on 26 March 2023 on a competitive basis, once again confirmed that democratic principles were consistently developing in our country, the electoral system was being improved, and the unity and cohesion of the Turkmen people was being strengthened.

Over the past year, in accordance with the requirements of the time, the improvement of national legislation, which forms the legal basis for the multi-vector, large-scale activities in the country and the protection of the interests of the state, society and each person have been consistently carried out.

The relevant chapters of the Report will look in detail at the above and other activities carried out in the country in order to ensure political, civil, economic and cultural rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

The past reporting year became one of the most significant for the Office of the Ombudsman. A draft Strategic Work Plan for the Office of the Ombudsman for 2024-2028 was developed and prepared for approval. Work has begun with regard to accreditation of the national institution by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). Last year, on 22 December the video conference meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers chaired by the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, considered a proposal to study issues of improving the structure of the Ombudsman’s Office aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Authorized Representative for Human Rights in Turkmenistan. This meeting was a particularly significant event for the Ombudsman’s Office as it rendered evidence of the great attention paid by the Government of Turkmenistan to the observance of human rights and freedoms in our country at the highest level.

In accordance with Article 20 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Report, covering in its 9 chapters the state of affairs in the country in the field of human rights and the activities of the Ombudsman in accordance with the annual Work Plan in the past year, will be presented for consideration by the President of Turkmenistan. In addition, the Ombudsman will present this report at the meeting of the Mejlis/Parliament of Turkmenistan. The report will be published in the Turkmenistan’s media and posted on the website of the Ombudsman’s Office.

At the end of the introduction, we express confidence that public authorities and local governments, international organizations, civil society and the general public, having familiarized themselves with the Report on the results of the activities of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan for 2023, will take into due account the work done to protect and promote the civil and human rights and freedoms, along with proposals and recommendations; and will contribute to the further provision and practical implementation of human rights within their powers.

Chapter I. Situation with ensuring and observing the human and civil rights and freedoms in Turkmenistan

This chapter of the Report, which provides an overview of the state of affairs in ensuring and implementing human rights and freedoms, should begin with the entry into the year of ‘Happy Youth with Arkadag Serdar’ of the Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State, opening up enormous opportunities for the further prosperity of Turkmenistan. Great importance is attached to the activities of youth in strengthening the state foundations of the country, increasing its economic power, and consistently improving the social and living conditions of the people. Therefore, in the year under review (2023), appropriate work was carried out to ensure the active participation of young people in the comprehensive development of the country and to provide them with comprehensive support.

The transformations achieved during the reporting period in the political and economic fields, in the areas of social security and culture, had a positive impact on ensuring human rights and freedoms. The dynamic growth of the national economy during that period contributed to an increase in investment for the development of healthcare, culture, science, education, sports and social infrastructure. A huge amount of work has been done to further improve social protection and improve the standard of living of the country’s population. In accordance with the Decree of the President of Turkmenistan of 8 July 2022, wages, pensions, state benefits, scholarships for students and trainees have been indexed by 10 percent from 1 January 2023.

The transformations taking place in the country also contributed to the improvement of the administrative-territorial structure of velayats, etraps, cities and villages.

In 2023, new settlements were formed in the regions, which resulted in changes introduced to the administrative-territorial structure of the velayats and the list of settlements. Namely, in the reporting year, the city of Arkadag, built in accordance with the ‘Smart City’ concept, was commissioned, and a number of settlements, villages and residential areas with modern social infrastructure were formed.

Large-scale celebrations related to the launch of a new city of national importance - the Arkadag city took place on 29 June 2023, which became a historic event. The new city has become the result of the colossal transformations rolling out in the country, which were launched by the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and now consistently continuing under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

To effectively implement the ‘Smart City’ concept during the construction of Arkadag City, special attention was paid to equipping institutions with state of the art equipment from leading global manufacturers, bringing the level of services provided to the population in line with high international standards, ensuring the smooth functioning of all life support systems, introducing digital systems, innovative methods and international practice, compliance with environmental requirements. In accordance with the resolution of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan adopted on 18 March 2023, new etraps/districts were formed within Arkadag City - Kyarizek and Gorjaw. Additionally, by a resolution of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan dated 10 May 2023, the residential area, which forms an integral part of the Kyarizek etrap of Arkadag City, was classified as a village and given the name of the renowned equestrian coach Aba Annaev. As a result of the successful implementation of the tasks defined in the ‘National Programme of the President of Turkmenistan for the transformation of social and living conditions of the population of villages, towns, etrap cities and etrap centres for the period until 2028’, two new modern villages were formed in the Geokdepe etrap, Ahal velayat. New settlements formed by the relevant resolution of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan were classified as villages. The village on the territory of the Kopetdag Gengeshlik was given the name ‘Kopetdagyn Yalkymy’, and the village on the territory of the Ovadandepe Gengeshlik was given the name ‘Nurly Zaman’. In the future, these developments will ensure the dynamic socio-economic development of the regions, will help improve the socio-economic situation of the country’s population, and envisage helping ensure human and civil rights and freedoms, primarily economic, social and cultural rights.

Last year, the year of ‘Happy Youth with Arkadag Serdar’, the 31^st anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of Turkmenistan and the Day of the State Flag - the national treasures of the Turkmen people - were widely celebrated. The fundamental norms on human rights of the Basic Law establish that the highest value of society and the state is the person, and the main tasks of public authorities are to protect, support and serve him.

Science and education are the secure foundation of our bright future. In the period under review, great importance was attached to the modernization of these areas and the education of a physically strong, talented young generation. The Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State is an era of rapid progress of the country along the path of reform, which is due to the high level of development of education and training, the introduction of scientific and technological achievements.

In recent years, a complex of modern educational institutions equipped with cutting edge computer technologies and multimedia systems has been created in Turkmenistan. In connection with the start of the 2023-2024 academic year, opening ceremonies of new buildings were held in all regions of the country.

Thus, during the construction of Arkadag City, special attention was paid to the issues of education, training and harmonious development of the younger generation, starting from an early age. On 1 September last year, educational institutions were opened in the new city, including specialized educational complex No. 1, comprising three schools and nine kindergartens.

The most favourable conditions have been created in the kindergartens, each of them had a capacity of 320 places. According to the age categories of the children, the buildings were equipped with cozy group rooms, equipped with comfortable furniture, visual and educational aids, and toys. They also provided ample opportunities for musical, creative and sports activities, teaching foreign languages, and labour skills.

Specialized schools No. 2, 3, 4 where education is conducted from grades 1 to 12 with advanced study of English have a capacity of 720 places each. In grades 11-12, students study in the chosen direction: exact, natural, social and human sciences. In the schools connected to the Internet, all conditions have been created for research and creative activities, as well as vocational training for students.

Last year, the Specialized School of Arts named after Sahy Jepbarov and the Children’s School of Arts named after Shukur Bagshy were put into operation in the city of Arkadag. The opening of these schools will fully satisfy the desire of children to study culture and arts.

On the Day of knowledge and student youth in the city of Arkadag, happy students of educational institutions commissioned in 2023 - the International Academy of Horse Breeding named after Aba Annayev, the Pedagogical Secondary Vocational School named after Berdimuhamed Annayev, and the Medical Secondary Vocational School named after Sachly Dursunova - began studying in the city of Arkadag.

The above shows that, as a result of the far-sighted educational policy of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, large-scale work to revive and fundamentally study the glorious history, unique traditions and rich spiritual heritage of the people is in full swing in Turkmenistan.

In February 2023, a ceremony was held to sign the Agreements on the establishment of UNESCO departments at the Turkmen State University named after Magtymguly on ‘Cultural Heritage: from Past to Future’ and at the Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute named after Seyitnazar Seydi - ‘Environmental Education for Sustainable Development’. The opening of UNESCO departments is of paramount importance from the point of view of the formation and development of creative and research activity of young people, increasing their knowledge about the cultural values, traditions and customs of their country. The clubs ‘World Languages’ and ‘Culture of the World’ were opened at the Turkmen National Institute of World Languages named after Dovletmammet Azadi and at the Institute of International Relations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan as part of the work to open UNESCO departments, with the joint participation of the UNESCO National Commission of Turkmenistan and faculty of universities.

Much work has been done in terms of broadly attracting young people to sports and further enhancing the international sports image of the country. In this context, it is worth noting the election of Turkmenistan as a member of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee on Physical Culture and Sports for 2023-2027. In the reporting year, the Youth Organization of Turkmenistan named after Magtymguly was accepted as an official member of the UNESCO Global Youth Community. With the participation of representatives of a number of friendly states, the Youth Forum was successfully held in our country. In order to support the international cooperation of Turkmen youth, the ‘Strategy for International Cooperation of the Youth of Turkmenistan for 2023-2030’ was approved by the Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan on 10 June 2023, aimed at further implementing the state youth policy, expanding cooperation on youth policy, ensuring the active participation of the country’s youth in international cooperation on culture, economics, science and education, sports and along other lines.

The beginning of 2023 has witnessed important developments in the system of representative bodies of the country. In particular, the Halk Maslakhaty (People’s Council) of Turkmenistan was created. On 26 March elections of members of the Mejlis, members of velayat, etrap, city halk maslahaty and Gengeshis were successfully held. This socio-political campaign became a historical event that demonstrated to the world the strength of the foundations of a fair, democratic, legal and secular state, the patriotic spirit of the people, the sense of responsibility of every citizen for the future of their country, active citizenship, and the confident advancement of society along the path of democracy. At the same time, the elections rendered a clear confirmation of the consistent development of democratic initiatives, improvement of the electoral system, and compliance of the elections held with international norms and national democratic principles.

In the ‘Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State’, wise-scale activities were being carried out to strengthen the properly functioning national legal system. During the year under report, 5 meetings of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan were held, during which 49 Laws of Turkmenistan and 51 resolutions of the Mejlis were adopted. These included 3 Constitutional laws, as well as the Laws of Turkmenistan ‘On the Mejlis of Turkmenistan’, ‘On the city of Arkadag’, ‘On the State Budget of Turkmenistan for 2024’, ‘On the legal protection of integrated circuit topography’, and Laws on the ratification of international conventions, introducing amendments and additions to some Laws of Turkmenistan. Working groups created under the Mejlis of Turkmenistan continued to prepare a number of draft laws, in particular, a new edition of the Civil Code, legal acts on energy saving and rational use of energy, and hydrometeorological activities.

Based on the goals of social development and the requirements of the time, socio-economic, socio-political reforms were implemented. Evidence of this is the multi-vector work done as part of the implementation of dozens of transformation programmes. The multilateral programmes implemented in the Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State, as well as historic transformations, are aimed at ensuring the interests of each person and, in general, society. The implementation of conceptual documents facilitated the achievement of new milestones. The concepts included 'The Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State: ‘National programme for the socio-economic development of Turkmenistan in 2022-2052’, ‘National programme of the President of Turkmenistan for transforming the social and living conditions of the population of villages, towns, etrap cities and etrap centres for the period until 2028’, ‘Programme of the President of Turkmenistan for socio-economic development of the country for 2022-2028’, ‘Concept for the development of the digital economy in Turkmenistan for 2019-2025’, ‘State programme for the development of the digital economy in Turkmenistan for 2021-2025’, ‘General programme for providing populated areas of Turkmenistan with clean drinking water’, ‘State programme for supporting small and medium-sized businesses in Turkmenistan for 2018-2024’, as well as ‘Concept of foreign policy of Turkmenistan for 2022-2028’. These documents determine the priority directions of the economic strategy of an independent state for the short and long term, provide for the implementation of large transformations and projects aimed at ensuring a prosperous life for every person in the country.

It is also important to note that since human health is the main priority in our country, government and national programmes aimed at protecting public health are under way. These include the ‘National strategy for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in Turkmenistan for 2021-2025’, ‘National programme to increase the immunity of the country’s population for 2021-2025’, National strategy ‘Healthy mother - healthy child - healthy future’.

Concurrently, in 2023, in order to promote and widely introduce the principles of a healthy lifestyle among the population, the ‘National Programme for ensuring the healthy well-being of the population in Turkmenistan for 2023-2028’ and an Action Plan for its implementation were endorsed.

The primary goal of the democratic reforms carried out in the country is to guarantee human rights and freedoms and ensure a high standard of living for the population. As noted above, multi-vector work is being carried out to realize the political, economic, social, and cultural rights of citizens. In order to further improve the activities of government institutions and public associations to ensure human rights and freedoms, introduce international humanitarian law into the legislation of Turkmenistan and law enforcement practices, measures are being taken stipulated by dozens of National programmes and plans for various areas of human rights, approved by the relevant Resolutions of the President of Turkmenistan. All these documents provide for the practical implementation of the recommendations of the UN treaty bodies, as well as the achievement of specific results on SDG indicators.

Speaking about the important events that took place in the reporting year within the framework of international cooperation in the field of human rights, the International Conference on the ‘Dialogue is a Guarantee of Peace’, dedicated to the International Day of Neutrality and the 28^th anniversary of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, and a ‘Round table’ on the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Day of Neutrality should be named.

Turkmenistan, as an active member of the world community, constantly comes up with important initiatives aimed at broad international cooperation for the benefit of all countries and peoples. In the year under review, within the framework of the 77^th General Assembly of the United Nations, the Resolutions initiated by Turkmenistan on ‘The Role of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia’, ‘World Sustainable Transport Day’ were unanimously adopted. In addition, at the 49^th plenary meeting of 78^th session of the General Assembly the Resolutions on ‘The key role of reliable and stable energy connectivity in achieving sustainable development’ and ‘Strengthening links between multimodal transport to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals’ were adopted. This rendered one more clear evidence of the great support of the world community for the initiatives put forward by our neutral state that were significant for all humankind.

Last year, as a result of the active interaction of our country with the specialized agency of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the manuscripts of the greatest Turkmen poet Magtymguly Fragi were included in the UNESCO ‘Memory of the World Programme’ and in the List of significant dates planned for joint celebration with this organization in 2024-2025 of 300^th jubilee of Magtymguly Fragi.

In 2023, the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was replenished with the nominations on ‘Turkmen art of embroidery’, ‘Sericulture and traditional production of silk for weaving’ and ‘Traditions of retelling the parables of Molla Ephendi’. Moreover, at the 18^th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in Kasane, Republic of Botswana, a unanimous decision was made to include the nomination on ‘Ahal-Teke horse breeding and traditions of horse decoration’ in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This was a clear confirmation that the country was taking the necessary measures to further develop the horse breeding traditions of our people, who have made a great contribution to world culture.

Among the main events of the past year, Turkmenistan’s cooperation with international organizations in the protection of human rights should be highlighted. During the reporting year, 2 meetings of the Interagency Commission on the implementation of Turkmenistan’s international obligations on human rights and international humanitarian law were held, during which issues of international significance in the field of human rights and humanitarian law were discussed.

As for the work carried out within the framework of interaction with international organizations, it is worth noting that the Ombudsman’s Office was expanding its partnership in the humanitarian sphere with reputable international and intergovernmental structures, as well as with national human rights institutions of foreign countries. Activities in this direction are widely covered in the relevant chapters of the Report, namely in the chapter on international cooperation.

At the same time, in accordance with the Work Plan, the Office of the Ombudsman was carrying out specific work aimed to protect the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every citizen and strengthen the capacity of the Office. The activities of the Ombudsman’s Office can be found in detail in the relevant chapters of the Report.

As this chapter stated on the situation in ensuring and implementing the civil and human rights and freedoms in the country, as a result of the ongoing positive domestic and foreign policy, large-scale work was done in the reporting year in the field of protection of human rights. The protection of civil and human rights and freedoms has been invariably one of the priorities of state policy in independent, permanently neutral Turkmenistan.

 

Chapter II. Civil and political rights

 

This chapter of the Report is dedicated to the implementation of civil and political human rights; it will look at the important activities carried out in the country in the field of protecting civil and political human rights and freedoms. Our country has ratified the main international human rights instruments and one of them, ratified on 20 December 1996, is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and its Optional Protocol.

Turkmenistan, being a state party to these international documents, strictly observing the norms defined in them at the national level, demonstrates commitment to their provisions. The main provisions of the Covenant have been introduced into national legislation. In 2023, work in this direction continued. Thus, laws were improved and adopted, including norms on the enforcement of civil and political rights along with other human rights. In particular, the Laws of Turkmenistan ‘On the Mejlis of Turkmenistan’, on the ratification of international conventions were adopted. At the same time, amendments and additions have been introduced in accordance with the requirements of the time and the norms of international law, to the Laws of Turkmenistan ‘On the Court’, ‘On the Notary and Notarial Activities’, ‘On the Justice Bodies of Turkmenistan’, ‘On the Bar and Legal Activities in Turkmenistan’, ‘On acts of civil status’, ‘On the legal status of military personnel’, as well as in the Customs and Election Codes.

Civil and political rights are an integral feature of a developed society. The main value of these rights is the creation of the enabling conditions for strengthening relations between citizens, society and the state. The main provisions of Turkmenistan’s human rights legislation include norms aimed at enforcement, along with other human rights, of civil and political rights.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights establishes the obligations of participating countries to bring national legislation and policies in the field of civil and political human rights into conformity with the norms of this document, and provides for reporting on their implementation. Last year, our country presented the Universal Periodic Review on the practical implementation of these norms. Representatives of more than 80 states who took part in the meeting noted the positive measures undertaken in Turkmenistan to ensure and strengthen human rights.Having said that, a number of proposals were issued for further improvement of the work carried out in this area.

A special place in the foreign policy of Turkmenistan is devoted to the development of humanitarian cooperation, which is a key condition and fundamental issue of sustainable development. In this context, it should be noted that the implemented government policies and initiatives put forward to address issues related to refugees, stateless persons, and migrants are highly supported by the international community. Here it is appropriate to note the importance of the ‘National Action Plan to Eliminate Statelessness in Turkmenistan for 2019-2024’, approved by the Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan in January 2019, that is being successfully implemented. In this regard, based on national legislation and international standards, a lot of work is being done to protect and guarantee the rights, freedoms and interests of all people residing in our country. It is important to emphasize that the Government of Turkmenistan, together with the UN and other international organizations, is taking appropriate steps to ensure at a high level the rights of refugees and stateless persons. For example, over the course of many years, in accordance with the Decrees of the President of Turkmenistan, 30, 998 individuals residing in our country with no citizenship of other states received citizenship of Turkmenistan. To date, 5, 018 foreign citizens and stateless persons obtained residence permits in Turkmenistan. These decisions of a humanitarian nature clearly demonstrated to the world community that Turkmenistan fully and successfully complies with multilateral international instruments, in particular the UN Conventions relating to the Status of Refugees, the Status of Stateless Persons and the Reduction of Statelessness.

As in the previous years, such a humane policy was continued in the year under review. In particular, on the occasion of the 32^nd anniversary of the independence of Turkmenistan, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed the relevant documents on granting Turkmenistan citizenship to 1, 301 people and providing 265 people with residence permits in Turkmenistan. This is evidence of our state’s commitment to international human rights obligations, and the successful solution of the tasks provided for in the special National Plan for the Elimination of Statelessness in the country.

In the reporting year, the Office of the Ombudsman did not receive any complaints regarding citizenship issues.

In accordance with the annual Work Plan of the Ombudsman, as in the previous years, along with monitoring the implementation of civil and political human rights, monitoring was exercised over compliance with the rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of Turkmenistan and other legal documents to elect and be elected to government bodies and local self-government bodies, i.e. monitoring of the implementation of these constitutional rights of citizens through the organization and conduct of free democratic elections by state authorities and local self-governments.

On 26 March 2023, the Turkmenistan people witnessed a major socio-political event - the elections of members of the Mejlis, members of velayat, etrap, city halk maslahatys and Gengeshs. These elections, as before, were held on a competitive basis, in an atmosphere of transparency and openness. During the election campaign, all events were organized in a timely manner, in accordance with the requirements of the current national legislation and generally recognized international standards. Voting was carried out at 2,644 polling stations located in the territories of electoral districts. The voting of citizens of Turkmenistan abroad has been also conducted in an organized manner. 42 polling stations were opened at diplomatic missions and consular offices of Turkmenistan abroad, where thousands of our compatriots living outside the country voted. The main feature of this socio-political action, both on the eve and during the elections, was the activity of voters. During the elections across the country, out of 3,496.368 voters, 3,185.935 people voted. This means that 91.12 percent of the total number of citizens with voting rights in Turkmenistan took part in the elections.

People’s choice were representatives of various ethnicities; in terms of education and professional level they were employees of government agencies, specialists in various sectors of the national economy, industrial, scientific and educational spheres, culture and art, and agricultural workers. Thus, out of 258 registered candidates for members of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan of the new convocation, 125 members were elected. Out of 515 candidates, 240 were elected as members of the Halk Maslahaty (People’s Councils) of the velayats and the city of Ashgabat, 960 out of 2001 candidates were elected as members of the etrap and city Halk Maslahaty, and 5,897 out of 12,098 registered members of the Gengeshs.

Of the 125 members of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, 65 people or 52 percent were representatives of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, 18 or 14.5 percent were from the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, 24 or 19 percent were from the Agrarian Party, 18 or 14.5 percent were from citizen groups. This indicated the competitive nature of the past elections. 25.6 percent of the elected members of the Mejlis were women. About 99 percent were citizens with higher education. About 10 percent of the members were under 30 years of age, 40.80 percent were under 40 years of age. Election indicators demonstrated a high level of political and legal literacy of citizens, as well as the active participation of women and youth in the political and public life of the country.

All stages of the election campaign were monitored by 2,855 national observers appointed by political parties, public associations of Turkmenistan, citizen groups and candidates. The election process was also monitored by a representative delegation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which was in our country for a long time, 80 international observers from the Organization of Turkic States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Observer Mission of the Organization for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (ODIHR/OSCE), representative missions of international organizations, embassies of foreign countries in Turkmenistan.

Along with that, it should be noted that representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office took part in monitoring the observance of the rights of citizens to elect and be elected in the country. On 24-25 March 2023, representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office inspected some polling stations in the Berkararlyk, Bagtyyarlyk, Kopetdag and Buzmeyin etraps of the city of Ashgabat, in the Ak Bugday etrap, Baherden, Geoktepe, Kaka and Tedjen etraps of the Ahal velayat and observed the progress of preparations for the elections of members of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, members of velayat, etrap, city halk maslahatys and Gengeshi, inspected the level of organization of the election campaign for compliance with the law. It should also be noted that, based on the results of the inspection, recommendations were issued to the relevant authorities regarding further improvement of the organization and conduct of elections.

In the past 2023, including during the election period, the Office of the Ombudsman did not receive any complaints from citizens about violations of electoral rights.

In accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, one of the main duties of the Ombudsman is to monitor compliance with the rights of persons deprived or restricted of freedom, within their mandate, independently or jointly with authorized bodies, officials, public servants, to visit places of remand, places of detention, correctional and other specialized institutions and inspect the above-mentioned facilities. In order to fulfill these objectives provided for by the Law and the Work Plan, the Ombudsman maintained constant control over compliance with the requirements of the law in the above-mentioned institutions. In 2023, when monitoring the implementation of rights of persons to which the measure of imprisonment was applied, inspections were carried out not only to correctional institutions where they were serving their sentences, but also to places of remand, places of health rehabilitation. In particular, the Ombudsman carried out an inspection in institutions MR-E/14, MR-E/15 of the Police Department of the Mary velayat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan.

During the inspection of the MR-E/14 institution, compliance with the requirements of legislation, including the Penal Enforcement Code of Turkmenistan, of the conditions of detention of prisoners was inspected, namely, compliance with sanitary standards in the places of their residence, rights for health protection, provision of adequate nutrition, as well as the rights to appeal, meet with close relatives and receive parcels from them. During the inspection, it was established that the building intended to house 160 inmates was built in 1964, and the building for 150 inmates was built in 1984 correspondingly. Because the buildings were old, the sanitary and hygienic conditions of the sleeping quarters of the institution did not meet the requirements of Article 71 of the Penal Enforcement Code of Turkmenistan. Based on the findings of the inspection, the Ombudsman sent a recommendation letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan with a proposal to ensure full compliance with legal requirements.

During the inspection of the MR-E/15 institution, compliance with the established sanitary, hygienic and epidemiological requirements for the protection of the prisoners’ health in this institution was inspected, along with the necessary conditions created in accordance with the law for health rehabilitation, providing adequate nutrition, cultural leisure, sports, religion practices, exercise of the rights to appeal, short-term visits with close relatives and to receive parcels from them. At the same time, an inspection was carried out of the number of prisoners being treated, the types of diseases, and the availability of medicines. As a result, it has been established that in relation to sick prisoners, the requirements of the law, including the Penal Enforcement Code of Turkmenistan, were generally observed. Based on the results of the inspection and analysis, the need was also identified to strengthen control over compliance with the requirements of the legislation of Turkmenistan in terms of health protection and rehabilitation in all institutions where prisoners were kept. In order to properly organize work to restore the health of patients-prisoners, it is necessary to strengthen the medical service personnel by filling the existing vacant positions in this institution. The Ombudsman’s recommendations with relation to addressing the above issues were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan.

In addition, during the inspections, the Ombudsman organized meetings with the people held in these institutions, in groups and individually. During face-to-face interviews, they were asked clarifying questions about their criminal cases. Apart from remorse for what they had done, and requests to consider the possibility of parole, the convicts expressed no complaints.

As stated above, in the reporting year, along with other correctional and specialized institutions, places of remand, places of detention of prisoners, the Ombudsman monitored the MR-E/13 institution of the Mary velayat Police Department for juvenile convicts, as well as the DZ-E/8 institution of the Dashoguz velayat Police Department for convicted women. Over the past year, the Office of the Ombudsman has received no complaints from these institutions.

In the year under review, the Ombudsman studied in detail the issue of compliance with legislation by penitentiary institutions, and by relevant bodies working with convicts and persons under supervision after release from prison. Concurrently, attention was paid to the work of the supervisory commission created in accordance with the Decree of the President of Turkmenistan No. 11019 of 31 March 2010 to strengthen control over compliance with legislation in the activities of correctional facilities and bodies working with convicts and persons under supervision after release from prison. In particular, in the above institutions there was no information about the visits and work of the Supervisory commissions. Taking into account the above, the Office of the Ombudsman sent an official inquiry to the responsible institutions that were part of the commissions approved by the above Resolution to provide information on the work carried out by the Supervisory commissions. Based on the results of the inspection, the need was established to intensify and improve the activities of Supervisory commissions and review their composition. Relevant proposals have been sent to the hyakimliks of the velayats and the city of Ashgabat, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Turkmenistan.

During the reporting year, the Ombudsman’s Office received 85 written and 27 oral appeals on civil and political rights. Appeals were considered in good faith in accordance with legal requirements. Of these, 6 written and 1 oral appeals were satisfied.

Based on the results of the analysis of ensuring the civil and political rights of citizens in the country and the work carried out by the Ombudsman in this area, and in order to provide facilitation in matters of compliance with these rights of citizens, the following is proposed:

• intensify work in this direction taking into account one year left until the completion of the implementation of the ‘National Action Plan to Eliminate Statelessness in Turkmenistan for 2019-2024’, approved by the Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan in January 2019; taking into account the target 16.9 of SDGs and key aspects highlighted the #IBelong Global campaign to reduce and eradicate statelessness;
• in order to prevent an increase in citizen complaints regarding dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers when considering appeals for civil and political rights, strengthen the work on consideration of complaints by law enforcement and military authorities in accordance with the procedure and within the time limits established by law;
• strengthen monitoring of a thorough study of the process during investigative work, compliance by investigative bodies with the constitutional rights of citizens taking into account the increase in the number of citizens’ complaints about dissatisfaction with investigative actions on offenses, criminal acts and criminal cases compared to previous years;
• continue to systematically conduct workshops jointly with national human rights institutions and international organizations in order to increase the awareness of the staff of correctional institutions, pre-trial detention centres, special rehabilitation centres about international human rights standards;
• carry out specific work on the recommendations sent by the Ombudsman based on the results of inspections of correctional institutions, pre-trial detention centres, special rehabilitation centres, and improve the organization of the work of these institutions in accordance with the requirements of the penal enforcement legislation of Turkmenistan;
• in order to implement the humane policy pursued by the President of Turkmenistan in relation to the observance of the civil and human rights and freedoms enshrined in the legislation of the country, and supervision of persons serving sentences and after release, improve the composition and boost activities of the Supervisory commissions created by Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan No. 11019 of 31 March 2010.

 

Chapter III. Economic, social and cultural rights

 

Economic, social and cultural rights are a set of people’s rights to education, health, social security, housing, participation in cultural life and benefit from scientific progress. International and national human rights instruments recognize and protect these rights. As a party to international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Turkmenistan carries out relevant work in accordance with its international obligations to ensure the economic, social and cultural rights of man and citizen.

As in the previous years, in the year of ‘Happy Youth with Arkadag Serdar’ of the ‘Revival in the New Era of a Powerful State’, scaled transformations aimed at ensuring economic, social and cultural human rights continued to take place in the country, and high indicators were achieved in economic, social and cultural spheres. The successes achieved as a result of the comprehensive work carried out to develop the country’s economy, improved the social conditions of the people and culture, have had a positive impact on the implementation of economic, social and cultural human rights.

The fundamental reforms implemented in the past reporting year, aimed at further dynamic development of the country, contributed to maintaining sustainable growth rates in all sectors of the economy and regions. A clear confirmation of this was the macroeconomic indicators of the past year. In particular, as a result of the measures taken in the past year, stable GDP growth was ensured, which amounted to 6.3%. In 2023, production output increased by 7.8% compared to 2022. Positive production indicators have been achieved in economic sectors. The volume of retail trade last year increased by 10.9% compared to 2022.

Wages at large and medium-sized enterprises in the country increased by 9.9% compared to 2022. During the period under report, salaries, pensions, state benefits and scholarships for students were funded on time and in full. In 2023, the plan for the development of capital investments from all sources of financing was completed in full and, compared to 2022, increased by 7.5%, which in relation to GDP amounted to 18.3%.

Of the total volume of disbursed capital investments, 49.1% were allocated for the construction of industrial facilities, and 50.9% for social facilities. Compared to last year, the volume of loans issued by banks has increased significantly, including for the development of the national economy, the non-state sector, to support small and medium-sized businesses, private agricultural producers, as well as citizens of the country for the purchase of real estate.

Our country, having defined an individual as the highest value of society and the state in its Basic Law, in accordance with the motto of the President of Turkmenistan: ‘The Motherland is the Motherland only with the people! The state is a state only with the people!’ successfully implements state policy aimed at further improving the well-being of citizens. The country is consistently working to improve, in accordance with the requirements of the time, the national legislative framework that protects the interests of the state, society and each individual. During the year, a number of laws regulating the activities of the economic, social, and cultural areas were adopted, and appropriate amendments and additions were made to the existing laws. These included the Laws of Turkmenistan ‘On the Mejlis of Turkmenistan’, ‘On the city of Arkadag’, ‘On the State Budget of Turkmenistan for 2024’, ‘On the legal protection of integrated circuit topography’, and on the ratification of international conventions, as well as the Laws of Turkmenistan on amendments and additions to the Laws of Turkmenistan ‘On shared construction of residential buildings and other real estate’, ‘On urban planning activities’, ‘On licensing of certain types of activities’, ‘On the Court’, ‘On notaries and notarial activities’, ‘On the bodies of justice of Turkmenistan’, ‘On the Bar and advocacy in Turkmenistan’, ‘On acts of civil status’, ‘On the legal status of military personnel’, ‘On the securities market’, ‘On joint stock companies’, ‘On education’, ‘On the procedure for resolving issues of administrative and territorial structure of Turkmenistan’, ‘On currency regulation and currency control in foreign economic relations’. In addition, the Customs, Water and Family Codes were improved through amendments and additions, and the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of Turkmenistan’ was adopted. The passing of new laws and the introduction of amendments and additions to existing laws helped strengthen the legal framework for the transformations being carried out in the country in the economic, social and cultural spheres, and ensuring economic, social and cultural human rights.

Concurrently, during the reporting period, relevant work was carried out to strengthen the regulatory framework of the economic, social and cultural areas. In particular, by Decree of the President of Turkmenistan No. RR-250 of 14 July 2023 ‘On increasing wages, pensions, state benefits, scholarships for students and trainees in Turkmenistan’, from 1 January 2024, the wages of employees, in institutions, self-supporting enterprises and public associations, pensions and government benefits, scholarships for students and trainees financed from the budget were indexed by 10 percent.

Also during the reporting period, various programmes and plans were approved aimed at ensuring fundamental civil and human rights and freedoms through further economic, socio-cultural development of the country. The Investment Programme of Turkmenistan for 2023 and the Programme for the Social and Economic Development of the country for 2023, approved on 10 February 2023 by Resolutions No.426 and 427 of the President of Turkmenistan, should be mentioned as an example.

In the year under review, the Strategy for International Cooperation of Youth of Turkmenistan for 2023-2030, the Plan for Enhancing International Cooperation of the relevant government bodies of Turkmenistan to combat terrorism for 2023-2024, the National Action Plan for the implementation of children’s rights in Turkmenistan for 2023-2028, the Regulations about Scientific and Technological centres were endorsed. In accordance with the Order of the President of Turkmenistan of 28 March 2023, the Innovation and Information Centre of the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan was designated as an institution authorized to carry out the functions of national information centre specified in the Convention on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in Higher Education in the European Region. Along with this, the Procedure for providing loans secured by real estate to citizens for the purchase of houses in new buildings built in Arkadag city was approved.

A number of programmes and plans are being successfully underway, which define the tasks of the country’s socio-economic development. The primary objective of government and national programmes is to ensure the dynamic political, economic, socio-cultural development of the country, consistently improve the standard of living of citizens, and ensure a happy future for young people. As part of the implementation of these documents, the upgrading of economic sectors is in full swing, and work is underway to develop velayats, cities and villages.

Last year, the first stage of development of a city of national significance - Arkadag city - was put into operation and the second stage of construction was launched. In order to further develop the urban economy of Arkadag city, create optimal conditions for organization and management, a resolution of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan ‘On introducing changes to the administrative territory of the city of Arkadag’ was adopted. In accordance with the document, 102 hectares from the lands of the Geodtepe etrap of the Ahal velayat and 17 hectares from the lands of Ashgabat city were transferred to the administrative territory of Arkadag city.

In 2023, numerous industrial and social facilities were commissioned. These included the buildings of the aforementioned ‘smart’ city of Arkadag, the complex of buildings of the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan, the building of the Research Institute of Earthquake Resistant Construction, ten 9-story buildings in the Parahat-7 residential area, eleven 4-story residential buildings in the Buzmeyin etrap, modern villages in the gengeshliks of Owadandepe and Kopetdag, Geokdepe etrap. In total, 22 secondary schools and 16 kindergartens have been commissioned throughout the country.

In Turkmenistan, great importance is attached to public-private partnerships, the widespread introduction of effective forms of management, and the active involvement of entrepreneurs in this work.

In order to ensure high growth rates in sectors of the national economy, maintain an active investment policy, consistently implement measures to strengthen the economic potential of the country and its regions, further improve the living conditions of the population and improve regional investment activity, the Investment Programme of Turkmenistan was adopted in 2023. The Programme is crucial in terms of transforming the country into an industrialized state, successfully implementing market economy reforms that ensure diversification and adaptation of the economy to digitalization, as well as creating jobs.

The Programme on the ‘Revival in a new era of a powerful state: National programme for the socio-economic development of Turkmenistan in 2022-2052’ and the ‘State Programme for supporting small and medium-sized businesses in Turkmenistan for 2018-2024’, prioritized the comprehensive development of the business sector in Turkmenistan and enhanced the role of the private sector.

It is worth noting that in implementing the country’s development strategy, a special role is assigned to members of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan. As a result of the policy implemented by the President of Turkmenistan in the ‘Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State’ to comprehensively support and develop entrepreneurship, the share of the private sector in the country’s economy is growing year by year. Due to the increase in the ranks of business people and entrepreneurs, the expansion of types of entrepreneurial activities, the number of members of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs reached 29,150, of which 5,596 were women entrepreneurs.

The share of women entrepreneurs in the total number of entrepreneurs was about 20%, which was evidence of the active representation of women entrepreneurs in the private sector. During 2023, 987 individual entrepreneurs were accepted as members of the Union, of which 171 were women. Last year, the volume of products produced, work performed and services provided by members of the Union amounted to 38,39,919,000 manats, an increase of 107.8% compared to 2022.

In the reporting year, members of the Union took part as contractors in the construction of 40 of 44 buildings and structures included in accordance with the Order of the President of Turkmenistan of 13 March 2023 No. PB-291 in the List of large industrial and social facilities planned for opening and commissioning in operation in 2023. In 2023, members of the Union acted as customers and contractors in the construction of facilities and structures for various purposes, commissioning 1,206 facilities. These included 1,065 residential buildings, 8 medical institutions, 17 secondary schools, 6 kindergartens, 3 equestrian centres, 1 border outpost, the building of the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan, the administrative building of the Justice Department in Balkanabat city, an enterprise for the production of dry construction mixtures in Lebap velayat and other objects. In the city of national significance - Arkadag city, with the participation of members of the Union, who acted as contractors, 337 buildings and structures were erected, and as a customer, the Union built and commissioned 134 objects.

Last 2023, despite the commissioning of numerous residential buildings, social and cultural facilities by state construction organizations and representatives of the private sector, the majority of appeals accepted for processing by the Ombudsman’s Office were related to the housing issue. In particular, in the period under review, 108 such appeals were received, of which 72 or 18.46% were written, and 36 or 22.09% were oral. The work on these appeals resulted in answers to applicants in accordance with the provisions of the housing legislation of Turkmenistan.

In 2023, held under the motto ‘Happy youth with Arkadag Serdar’, comprehensive support for youth was provided at a high level. The youth of our country have been given high confidence, as evidenced by the motto of the year under review. The inclusion of a clause on the promotion of youth policy in a number of commitments taken by Turkmenistan at a high-level event, within the framework of the ‘Human Rights 75’ campaign, held on 11-12 December 2023 by the UN OHCHR on the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, re-confirmed it. The International Scientific and Practical Conference and Exhibition organized at a high level in Ashgabat to commemorate the year ‘Happy Youth with Arkadag Serdar’ has rendered an unforgettable event for young people. The events included award ceremonies for the winners of international sports tournaments, school and student Olympiads held in our country and beyond. The work of young Turkmenistan people who contributed to the development of various spheres of the economy and the country as a whole was appreciated.

Various events, competitions and fora were systematically held to educate the younger generation in the spirit of patriotism and support to youth initiatives. The presentation of state awards during the above youth conference to young people who, through their conscientious work, have made a worthy contribution to the development of various economic spheres, demonstrated the significant role the youth plays in the political and social life of the country.

Last year, 2023, certain work was carried out regarding the realization of the rights of young people to education. Measures were taken to strengthen the material and technical base of this area and provide with modern educational institutions. In particular, on the Day of Knowledge and Students, a new complex of buildings of the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan was opened in the capital Ashgabat. The construction of new complexes of buildings of the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Ashgabat and the Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute named after Seyitnazar Seydi in Turkmenabat city, an additional educational building and a dormitory of the State Energy Institute of Turkmenistan in the city of Mary has started.

On the Day of Knowledge and Students of the reporting year, 5 secondary schools and 3 kindergartens were solemnly commissioned in Ahal velayat, 1 secondary school in Balkan velayat, 8 secondary schools and 1 kindergarten in Lebap velayat, 2 secondary schools and 1 kindergarten in Mary velayat.

The issue of human rights education within the education system is one of the central tasks. As the previous report noted, in order to fulfill this task, a special Working Commission was established in Turkmenistan in 2022 to develop human rights education plans. A representative of the Ombudsman’s Office is a member of this Working Commission.

Last year the Commission continued its work. In particular, a seminar was held as part of a special training course on ‘Comprehensive consideration of gender issues’ developed for civil servants with the participation of international experts together with the Working Commission for the development and implementation of human rights educational programmes in Turkmenistan. The purpose of this event was to discuss a draft training course on human rights in Turkmenistan, developed for civil servants together with the Working Commission members.

Over the past year, the Ombudsman’s Office received 8 appeals related to human rights to education, of which 6 were written, 2 were oral. The Office of the Ombudsman responded to these requests in accordance with the requirements of the Law, of which 1 request was satisfied.

The most important thing for a person is his health. In our country, in accordance with the State Programme ‘Saglyk/Health’, a set of legislative acts, national and state programmes have been adopted. These have been improved in accordance with the requirements of the time and the recommendations of the World Health Organization, and were being successfully implemented. In order to achieve the spiritual and physical health of the population, significantly improve health status, increase the well-being of citizens and increase human life expectancy, the ‘National Programme for Ensuring the Healthy Well-Being of the Population in Turkmenistan for 2023-2028’ was adopted in 2023.

In the reporting year, financial resources in the amount of 2 billion 900 million manats were allocated from the State Budget for the development of this area, investments in the amount of 1 billion 900 million manats were earmarked for the construction of medical facilities.

In addition, the construction of the International Scientific and Clinical Centre for Physiology and the International Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre was carried out in Ashgabat, and work continued on the reconstruction of the International Centre for Internal Medicine, the International Centre ‘Ene mähri’/Mother and Child and the International Medical Diagnostic Centre.

Turkmenistan entrepreneurs, who are members of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan, also make a significant contribution to the development of the pharmaceutical industry. In 2023, new private pharmacies were opened in the city of Kerki, Lebap velayat, and in the administrative centre of Mary velayat, the city of Mary.

Turkmen medical specialists regularly attended medical centres in European and other countries to improve their professional qualifications.

With the completion of the first stage of construction of a city of national significance - Arkadag city, a number of healthcare facilities were put into operation, including a multidisciplinary hospital with 350 beds, an Oncology Centre with 150 beds, a Maternal and Child Health Centre with 150 beds, an Emergency Care Centre, and a Health House.

Humane government policy aims at a lot of work to be done in the country with regard to citizens in need of support. The facilities commissioned on 29 June 2023 included the Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre named after Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Of the 274 children who applied for treatment at the Centre, 212 children underwent comprehensive health and rehabilitation treatment. The Centre was equipped with cutting-edge and rare high-tech equipment from the world’s leading manufacturers. The Swiss-made Lokomat Pro 6 PE installed in the Centre was a special rehabilitation complex designed to teach and restore walking in children with disabilities and other locomotor disorders.

The Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov Charitable Foundation for Assistance to Children in Need of Care is operating to provide support to young Turkmenistan citizens who have lost their parents for various reasons and are in need of special social assistance. This fund plays an important role in financing the treatment of children, restoring their health and returning to a full life, equipping children’s hospitals with state of the art equipment, and fostering a physically healthy young generation that forms the foundation of the modern Turkmen state and society. Since the Foundation’s creation, the scope of its activities has been expanding year after year.

During the period under present observation, the Foundation carried out a number of charitable events, in particular, at the expense of the state and the Foundation, the health of many children in need of care was rehabilitated. For example, at the request of guardians of children in need of care, the Foundation financed 260 surgical operations that were carried out throughout the country, including 117 for the treatment of pathologies of the cardiovascular system, 102 for locomotor disorders, along with other therapeutic and diagnostic procedures for treatment of various diseases. That being said, 47 children underwent medical and preventive examinations, 54 children were provided with medical supplies.

At the expense of the Charity Foundation, children’s departments of velayat hospitals were provided with ambulances, and children’s boarding schools and children’s homes were regularly provided with medical equipment and devices. All of the above clearly demonstrated that in the reporting year the human and civil right to health protection was ensured.

Over the past year, the Ombudsman’s Office received 13 appeals on issues to protect the health of citizens, of which 8 were written, which amounted to 2.05% of the total number of appeals, and 5 or 3.07% were oral. All appeals were considered in accordance with the requirements of the law and the applicants were given appropriate responses, of which 2 appeals were satisfied.

Speaking about social security, it should be noted that in 2023, the work effectively continued within the framework of the joint programme of the Government of Turkmenistan and the UN for 2020-2022 ‘Improving the social protection system through the introduction of inclusive high-quality social services at the community level’. 45 employees enrolled as a pilot activity continued to provide assistance to social groups in need of help. The emergence of such a new direction in the system of social protection of the population has become evidence of even greater improvement in the social protection sphere.

Social benefits were being expanded for young families, and measures were being taken to assist them in acquiring modern housing. In order to improve the living conditions of young families, on 23 September 2022, the President of Turkmenistan signed a Resolution, according to which the amount of a loan without collateral, based on a guarantee issued to officially registered newlyweds who have formed a family, was increased to 20 thousand manats for the purchase of necessary household property and effects. The loan is issued for a period of 3 years with 1% annual interest rate. In the year under present observation, the number of persons receiving loans in accordance with this Resolution increased significantly.

One of the priorities of socially oriented government policy includes comprehensive support for women. In this regard, it is worth noting that a lot of work is being done in the country in the field of social support for women. For instance, during the celebration of International Women’s Day of the year 2023, in accordance with the Decree of the President of Turkmenistan, mothers who gave birth and raised eight or more children were awarded the honourary title ‘Ene mähri’. Additionally, on behalf of the head of state, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, large families were given the keys to new comfortable apartments.

During the reporting year, the Ombudsman, within the framework of her powers to monitor the implementation of the rights of persons in need of social protection, visited the velayats of the country. In Ahal, Balkan and Mary velayats, seminars were held with representatives of government agencies and public associations working with children. During the seminars, issues arising in the process of work, in particular in the implementation of government policy in the field of ensuring the rights and interests of children, were discussed.

Such events helped on the one hand, to raise awareness of children’s rights among representatives of organizations working with children, and on the other, to establish direct contacts between the Ombudsman’s Office and local authorities. Along with this, they provided the opportunity to discuss and make the right decisions on issues in question that existed on the ground.

During the reporting year, the Office of the Ombudsman received 5 appeals from citizens regarding social security issues, which amounted to 1.3% of the total number of received appeals. Appropriate responses were given to 5 appeals based on the Law, of which 1 was satisfied.

A review of the work conducted by the Ombudsman’s Office in 2023 to ensure the labour rights of our citizens enables to state that the opening of educational and healthcare institutions last year, as well as the commissioning of new plants and factories resulted in creation of thousands of new jobs. According to information updated as a result of regular monitoring by the Ombudsman’s Office, during 2023 labour and social protection institutions registered 24,964 job seekers, of which 16,393, to wit over 65% were employed. Of these, 9,924 were men and 6,469 were women. In addition, commissions created in local hyakimliks (municipalities) in accordance with the Regulations on ‘the Procedure for establishing quotas for hiring citizens who are in particular need of social protection and are not able to compete on equal terms in the labour market’, employed 1,848 vulnerable persons who were in particular need of social protection and were not able to compete on equal terms in the labour market, including 89 people with disabilities. According to the Programmes and Plans for the socio-economic development of the country, approved by the relevant acts of the President of Turkmenistan, in 2023, 1,164 new jobs were created solely through 29 projects implemented by the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

Despite such developments, in the past 2023, the Office of the Ombudsman received 42 appeals from citizens on labour issues, a significant part of which were related to employment. Of these, 24 or 6.15% were written appeals, 18 or 11% were oral. Based on the Law, appropriate decisions were made on the appeals received, of which 1 was satisfied.

Every person, along with the right to participate in the socio-political, socio-economic life of the state, has the right to participate in cultural life and access to cultural values. In accordance with Article 56 of the Constitution of Turkmenistan, the state promotes the development of culture, along with other areas.

Our country pursues its cultural policy through the organization of educational and other various events, including at the international level. The events of 2023 in the cultural sphere demonstrated a high level of development of national culture. In the year under report, cultural events dedicated to national holidays, festive concerts, and creative meetings were held in the country and abroad. Last year was also marked by theatrical productions, stage performances, and the holding of the ‘Arkadagyň säheri’ International Film Festival.

In addition, last year relevant work was done to strengthen the legal framework in the cultural sector. In particular, in accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of Turkmenistan’ adopted on 16 March 2023, the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Archives and Archival Affairs of Turkmenistan’ has been improved. In accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Amendments and Additions to Some Legislative Acts of Turkmenistan’ passed on 3 June 2023, the Laws of Turkmenistan ‘On Libraries and Librarianship’, ‘On the Protection of National Intangible Cultural Heritage’, ‘On Tourism’, ‘On Culture’, and in accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of Turkmenistan’ adopted on 25 November 2023, the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Protection of Objects of National Historical and Cultural Heritage’ have been improved. According to the Resolution signed by the Head of State on 3 February 2023, the procedure and conditions for awarding the title ‘Halk’/People’s to amateur artistic groups were approved.

In accordance with the programme ‘The Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State: National Programme for the Socio-Economic Development of Turkmenistan in 2022-2052’, consistent work is being carried out to improve the sphere of national culture, fundamental study of the national cultural heritage, and popularize it at the international level.

According to the ‘Programme for the Development of the Cultural Sphere in Turkmenistan for 2019-2025’, the necessary measures are being taken towards improvement of the activities of theatres, cinema and concert centres, libraries, museums, children’s arts schools, houses of culture, and state historical and cultural reserves.

Particular importance is attached to the implementation of the ‘State Programme for 2022-2028, adopted in 2022, for the careful preservation of objects of national historical and cultural heritage, their protection and study, attracting tourists to them’, aimed at the scientific study of objects of national historical and cultural heritage, national values, addressing important and priority tasks for the development of cultural heritage preserved in the spiritual world and socio-cultural principles of the people, coordinating scientific research, educating young people in the spirit of patriotism, increasing the efficiency of training highly qualified specialists who are proficient in modern innovative technologies.

In the period under review, when implementing big plans for the new historical era, special importance was attached to supporting talented youth and honing their skills. At the same time, great attention was paid to the development of various types of arts and the popularization of national heritage in the world.

The competition for the award of the President of Turkmenistan ‘Türkmeniň Altyn asyry’, held among literary, cultural and artistic personalities, amateur young singers and gifted children, promotes the professional growth of creative personalities, identifying talents, and introducing young people to the trove of national culture. As part of this competition, a television competition for young amateur singers ‘Ýaňlan, Diýarym!’, a competition among dutarists of bagshy musicians ‘Çalsana, bagşy!’ are held annually on a par with a competition among talented children ‘Garaşsyzlygyň merjen däneleri’.

These creative competitions between singers and musicians serve as vocational training, opening the avenues to the world of art for them. The country also holds competitions among representatives of the fine arts, poets and prose writers, journalists, and art directors. During the reported year, which passed under the motto ‘Happy youth with Arkadag Serdar’, national and international holidays were widely celebrated in the country.

According to the established good tradition, the Week of Culture is held annually in June, dedicated to the Day of Workers of Culture and Art, as well as the poetry of Magtymguly Fragi. Last year, the grand opening of the city of Arkadag was an event of historical significance for our country. On the same day, the first issue of the Arkadag newspaper was published and the Arkadag TV channel began broadcasting. The State Drama Theatre named after Aman Gulmammedov, located in the new city, hosted a concert of Turkmen singers, and a joint concert of opera singers of the Turkic states and the State Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan. This was evidence of the creation in our country of equal opportunities for the realization of the right to cultural leisure of representatives of different nationalities living in our country.

Last year, special importance was attached to the consistent expansion of international relations in the cultural sphere, including with the United Nations agencies, in particular with the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In February 2023, Agreements were signed on the establishment of UNESCO departments at the Magtymguly Turkmen State University ‘Cultural Heritage: From Past to Future’ and at the Seyitnazar Seydi Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute ‘Environmental Education for Sustainable Development’. The opening of UNESCO clubs is of great importance in the context of the formation, development of creative and research activities, increasing the knowledge of young people about the cultural values, traditions and customs of their country. The clubs ‘Languages of the World’ and ‘Culture of the World’ were opened at the Turkmen National Institute of World Languages named after Dovletmammed Azadi and at the Institute of International Relations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan respectively as part of the work to open UNESCO departments, with the joint participation of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for UNESCO and university teams.

UNESCO’s representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity has been replenished with such nominations as ‘Turkmen art of embroidery’, ‘Sericulture and traditional production of silk for weaving’ and ‘Traditions of retelling the parables of Molla Ephendi’. Along with this, at the 18^th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in the city of Kasane, Republic of Botswana, a unanimous decision was made to include the nomination ‘The Art of Ahal-Teke horse breeding and traditions of horse decoration’ in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In addition, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in May last year, at the 216^th session of the UNESCO Executive Council, a unanimous decision was made to include the collection of manuscripts of the Turkmen greatest philosopher and poet Magtymguly Fragi in the International ‘Memory of the World’ List. Also at the session, the proposal of UNESCO Member States to celebrate 46 memorable dates in 2024-2025 was approved, including the initiative presented by Turkmenistan with the support of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Ukraine to be included in the UNESCO List of Memorial Dates Celebration of the 300^th anniversary of the Turkmen poet Magtymguly Fragi.

The constructive nature of the dialogue with the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), which meets the goals of strengthening the bonds of friendship and brotherhood, positive cooperation between peoples united by common historical roots and spiritual values, for the preservation, development and transfer to future generations of material and cultural monuments of the Turkic peoples should be specifically underlined.

It should be noted in this context that during the meeting of the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov with the Secretary General of TURKSOY on 28 November 2022, prospects for the further development of a multifaceted partnership were discussed. In addition, issues of celebrating the 300^th anniversary of the eminent poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi in 2024 were raised.

The cultural events held annually make it possible to present in all its diversity the historical and cultural heritage of our country, centuries-old evidence of the rich culture of the Turkmen people, who have made a significant contribution to the treasury of universal human values. In this regard, the regular celebration of Culture Days of friendly countries in Turkmenistan, as well as Culture Days of Turkmenistan abroad, is of great importance. Such creative actions, embodying the enduring values as peace, humanism and good neighborliness, act as a powerful incentive to strengthen interstate relations.

Therefore, the events of cultural life of the past year clearly demonstrated that our country has gained worldwide recognition not only for its economic power, but also for the large-scale work done to develop national culture. The above is evidence that equal opportunities were created for the Turkmen people and representatives of other nationalities living in our country to discover talent in the field of culture and art, and to realize the right to cultural leisure.

Last year, the Office of the Ombudsman received no complaints about violations of cultural rights.

When summing up this chapter of the Report, dedicated to the economic, social and cultural rights of citizens, it should be noted that in the Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State in Turkmenistan, work has continued to ensure a decent and high standard of living for every citizen. As a result of the analysis of the activities of the Ombudsman’s Office and in order to continue promoting the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights in the future, the following recommendations are issued despite the fact that some of them have been reiterated:

• in order to prevent violations of the law when considering appeals from citizens expressing dissatisfaction with the priority order and distribution of housing, including citizens belonging to a group of the population in need of special assistance, carry out monitoring, control and conduct a regular review of the management of housing queue by the relevant institutions;
• in order to create opportunities for the realization of citizens’ rights to work, carry out systematic monitoring of the activities of the departments and units of labour and social security of the population of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan, primarily over the compliance of information about job vacancies submitted by institutions and organizations to these structures, as well as the outcomes of referrals issued to job seekers, including to persons with disabilities;
• in order to ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities, comply with physical accessibility in public places, buildings, transport and other social service systems; and in order to raise awareness of persons with disabilities ensure accessibility of printed information, works, television programmes, in particular, to establish the use of Braille, subtitles, and sign language interpreters;
• in order to facilitate the strict implementation of Turkmenistan’s international obligations on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, continue to study the recommendations of the UN treaty bodies.

 

Chapter IV. Review of handling citizens’ appeals

 

The institution of Ombudsman that was established in accordance with the Constitution of Turkmenistan, carrying out its activities in accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, complements the existing government remedies of protecting the human and civil rights and freedoms. According to the Law, the Ombudsman, within the limits of his competence, considers appeals from citizens of Turkmenistan, as well as foreign citizens, stateless persons located on the territory of Turkmenistan, regarding actions and decisions of officials and organizations related to the violation of their rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, other normative legal acts and international treaties of Turkmenistan. In addition, chapter five of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ enshrines rules on the procedure, conditions, and timing for the Ombudsman to consider complaints filed by citizens, and on making decisions on complaints. This chapter of the Law also defines the rights and responsibilities of the Ombudsman with regard to sending appeals and recommendations to the competent authorities to assist in verifying complaints filed by citizens and to assist in restoring violated human and civil rights and freedoms.

This chapter of the Report presents the results of an analysis of the work done by the Ombudsman in 2023 to handle citizens’ appeals in accordance with the above norms.

During the period under report, the Ombudsman’s Office accepted 562 appeals, including 399 written and 163 oral. The below table shows the indicators disaggregated by quarter:

№	Type of appeal	I quarter	II quarter	III quarter	IV  quarter	Total
1.	Written appeals	66	91	132	110	399
2.	Oral appeals	34	42	41	46	163
3.	Total No of written and oral appeals	100	133	173	156	562

 

As could be seen from the above indicators, in the first quarter the number of registered written requests decreased, and in the second, third and fourth quarters their number increased. The number of oral appeals decreased in the first and third quarters, and increased in the second and fourth quarters.

Thus, compared to 2022, the number of written requests registered in 2023 increased by 12.07%, and the number of oral requests decreased by 1.79%.

The increase in the number of written complaints in the year under review compared to 2022 is explained by the fact that, as before, to a certain extent, this is the result of the activities carried out by the Ombudsman to protect human rights and assist in raising public awareness on the basis of the annual Work Plan. It was deemed appropriate in this part of the annual Report to remind that the responsible staff of the Ombudsman’s Office regularly publish adopted regulatory and legal acts on the Ombudsman’s website, including rules establishing the procedure for filing and handling citizens’ complaints.

The Report will primarily provide an analysis of written complaints received by the Ombudsman’s Office in 2023. The following indicators present the results of the analysis of written requests disaggregated by region and quarter.

№	Region (welayat)	I quarter	II quarter	III quarter	IV quarter	Total	Ratio of appeals received, %
1.	Ashgabat	26	38	42	37	143	35,83 %
2.	Balkan	6	15	21	11	53	13,28 %
3.	Dashoguz	15	15	30	27	87	21,80 %
4.	Lebap	10	8	13	12	43	10,77 %
5.	Mary	1	10	19	10	40	10,02 %
6.	Ahal	8	5	7	13	33	8,30 %
7.	Turkmenistan	66	91	132	110	399	100 %

As the indicators show, of the total number of written appeals received by the Ombudsman’s Office, the majority, in particular 143 are from the city of Ashgabat, in percentage terms this amounted to 35.83%. 53 requests or 13.28% were registered from Balkan velayat, 87 or 21.80% from Dashoguz velayat, 43 or 10.77% from Lebap velayat, 40 or 10.02% from Mary velayat. The lowest share of complaints came from Ahal velayat - 33, which amounted to 8.30% of the total number of complaints registered by the Ombudsman’s Office.

As defined in Article 21 of the said Law, when contacting the Ombudsman, privileges or restrictions on any grounds are not allowed and this norm is strictly observed. In this regard, the Report presents the results of the analysis of written appeals from citizens received by the Ombudsman’s Office during the year, broken down by quarter by the number of appeals, the number of applicants, including group applicants, as well as by region of residence, gender and ethnicity. This information is shown in the below tables.

№		I quarter	II quarter	III quarter	IV quarter	Total
1.	No of appeals	66	91	132	110	399
2.	No of applicants	129	108	166	195	598
3.	No of group applicants	9/72	4/21	13/47	10/95	36/235

№	Regions	Total	Including		Ethnicity
			Female	Male	Turkmen	Russian	Ukrainian	Azerbaijani	Mordovian	Armenian	Tatar	Kazakh	Uzbek	Persian	German
1	Ashgabat	189	104	85	139	26	3	10	3	1	1	-	5	-	1
2	Balkan	74	43	31	53	14	-	-	-	-	5	-	2	-	-
3	Dashoguz	183	82	101	129	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	53	-	-
4	Lebap	59	34	25	54	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	4	-	-
5	Mary	57	27	30	49	3	-	2	-	-	-	-	1	2	-
6	Ahal	36	25	11	33	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	Turkmenistan	598	315	283	457	46	3	13	3	1	6	1	65	2	1

As can be seen from the above indicators, citizens who filed written complaints with the Ombudsman’s Office were representatives of various ethnicities. In accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan “On the Ombudsman”, applicants have the right to contact the Ombudsman in their native language or another language they are fluent in. In this case, the answer is given in the state language with a translation into the language spoken by the applicant.

In their appeals to the Ombudsman, applicants raised various issues. An analysis of their content was carried out, and its results are shown in the tables below.

№	Issue	Region							Total	Ratio to the total No of appeals, %
		Ashgabat	Balkan	Dashoguz	Lebap	Mary	Ahal	From abroad
1	Housing law	53	8	5	1	14	9	-	90	23,07 %
2	Propiska issues (residence registration)	13	2	-	-	1	-	-	16	4,1 %
3	Dissatisfaction with court decision	18	3	6	4	5	1	-	37	9,5 %
4	Dissatisfaction with execution of court decisions	3	5	-	2	1	2	-	13	3,33 %
5	Migration	1	-	4	5	-	1	-	11	2,82 %
6	Right to work	5	6	6	3	4	-	-	24	6,15 %
7	Land law (lease, land plot)	-	-	14	5	2	-	-	21	5,4 %
8	Right to education	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	6	1,53 %
9	Guardianship/Custodianship	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	0,51 %
10	Dissatisfaction with actions of the law enforcement officers	11	2	7	8	7	1	-	36	9,23 %
11	On criminal cases and criminal offences	7	8	4	-	1	5	-	25	6,41 %
12	Pardoning	7	-	1	1	1	3	-	13	3,33 %
13	Social security	3	-	2		-	-	-	5	1,3 %
14	Right to health	2	-	2	2	2	-	-	8	2,05 %
15	Issues related to gas, electricity and water	-	-	7	1	-	-	-	8	2,05 %
16	Banks and banking	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	0,25 %
17	Other issues	16	14	25	8	2	9	-	74	18,97 %
	TOTAL	141	52	86	40	40	31	-	390	100 %

In the year under review, out of 399 complaints received by the Ombudsman’s Office, 9 were repeated complaints written by citizens before they received responses to the first one. Because they raised the same issue, they were handled by adding them up to the previously received complaint. That is why the repeated issues raised in subsequent appeals were not included in the above indicators. Thus, the percentage for each issue was derived without taking into account the repeated issues raised in the latest appeals added up to those previously received.

As could be seen from the indicators in the tables above, a significant share of written appeals from citizens, as in the previous years, were related to the right to housing. The number of appeals on this issue was 90, which in percentage terms is equal to 23.07%. Compared to 2022, this figure is 16 appeals less. In 2022, 106 requests were received regarding housing law issues, which amounted to 31% of the total number of appeals. In this part of the Report, it was considered appropriate to indicate that the requests for housing rights received in the year under review concerned not only issues of obtaining housing. 18 requests or 4.61% were related to improving housing conditions. If in the previous years, one of the main issues raised in appeals was related to dissatisfaction with court decisions, then in the year under review the number of applicants with a similar issue decreased, and a total of 37 appeals or 9.5% were registered (in 2022, 42 appeals or 12, 3%).

In addition:

• on issues of guardianship and custodianship, 2 appeals or 0.51% were registered (in 2022, 3 appeals or 0.9%);
• on banking issues, 1 appeal or 0.25% was registered (in 2022, 4 appeals or 1.2%);
• about dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers, 36 appeals or 9.23% (34 appeals or 9.9% in 2022) were registered;
• about criminal cases and criminal acts, 25 appeals or 6.41% were registered (14 appeals or 4.1% in 2022);
• regarding registration at the place of residence 16 or 4.1% (14 appeals or 4.1% in 2022) appeals were registered;
• on issues of land law, 21 appeals or 5.4% were registered (13 appeals or 3.8% in 2022);
• on migration issues 11 appeals or 2.8% were registered (10 appeals or 2.9% in 2022);
• 13 appeals or 3.33% were registered on clemency (7 appeals or 2% in 2022);
• 13 appeals or 3.33% were registered about dissatisfaction with the execution of court decisions (6 complaints or 1.8% in 2022);
• on issues of the right to education, 6 appeals or 1.53% were registered (4 appeals or 1.2% in 2022);
• on issues of social security, 5 appeals were registered or 1.3% (4 appeals or 1.2% in 2022);
• on issues of gas, energy and water supply, 8 appeals or 2.05% were registered (4 appeals or 1.2% in 2022);
• on issues of health protection, 8 appeals were registered or 2.05% (3 appeals or 0.9% in 2022);
• on issues of the right to work 24 appeals or 6.15% were registered (15 appeals or 4.4% in 2022);
• on other issues, 74 appeals or 18.97% were registered (59 appeals or 17.3% in 2022).

Other issues, as in the previous years, mainly included citizens’ dissatisfaction with the actions of heads of institutions or officials, debt, property and family conflicts or quarrels with neighbours, as well as clarification of legislation, assistance in obtaining the necessary documents from institutional organizations and other various household issues.

Also, when analyzing the questions posed in the appeals, attention was paid to the frequency of occurrence of certain issues by region. Namely, the main priority issue in the city of Ashgabat was housing law, including improvement of living conditions, registration at the place of residence, dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers; in Balkan velayat these were appeals related to criminal cases and criminal acts; in Lebap velayat - about dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers; in Mary velayat - housing issue; and in Dashoguz velayat - land law.

Based on the results of the analysis, it was found that compared to 2022, in the year under review, the number and percentage of requests for the right to housing, dissatisfaction with court decisions and banking issues decreased. For other issues raised in the appeals, their number and percentage increased in 2023 in comparison with 2022.

After the Office receives citizens’ appeals, the Ombudsman makes a decision to accept it for proceedings, to refuse to hear an appeal, or to explain to the applicant the legal remedies with regard to their rights and freedoms.

As before, in the year under present observation, after a thorough study of the issues raised in the complaints accepted for processing, on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, requests of the Ombudsman were forwarded to the relevant competent government authorities, including local executive authorities and officials. The request for assistance concerns verification of the facts specified in the appeals, and in case of agreement with the verification findings, written responses were sent to citizens with reference to the findings.

Moreover, during the period under review, based on Article 30 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, recommendations with appropriate proposals were sent to the relevant authorities.

Based on the content of the questions raised by citizens in their appeals, some of them, in accordance with the law, were sent for consideration according to their affiliation. The appeals were basically sent to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, and based on the results of the consideration, written responses were given to the applicants.

In addition, in accordance with paragraph 2, part one, Article 18 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, for some appeals the necessary documents were requested and reviewed. The written results of the review were sent to citizens.

There were also cases of positive resolution of issues raised in appeals as a result of forwarding, on the basis of paragraph 2, part one, Article 18 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, requests to the relevant authorities to obtain the necessary documents, as well as assistance in verifying the facts. Some of them have been covered in detail in Chapter VIII on ‘Inquiries and Recommendations of the Ombudsman’.

However, complaints that did not comply with the requirements of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ remained unhandled, in particular, those that did not disclose the main essence of the matter; were not signed; were filed in violation of the terms of appeal or issues were beyond the competence of the Ombudsman, as well as complaints, withdrawn by applicants, and repeated written appeals.

The applicant was notified of the decision made regarding the acceptance or refusal to hear the appeal and its grounds within the time limits prescribed by law, to wit, five days.

The table below provides information based on the results of the review of appeals received by the Ombudsman’s Office, broken down by region. The indicators include appeals accepted for processing that were not considered by the end 2022, and were pending at the beginning of 2023.

№	Region		Accepted for processing /remained at the beginning 2023	Registered in 2023 and referred to institutions for consideration, including			Consideration of appeals by obtaining appropriate documents	Including satisfied	Responses sent with recommendations	Not considered	Including						Pending at the beginning of 2023
											No signature	Repeated	Violation of deadline	Beyond competence	No essence of the matter	Withdrawal by an applicant
				By affiliation	Article 27	Article 30
1	Ashgabat		53/2	2	47	2	2	7	40	50	10	8	2	29	-	1	4
2	Balkan		20/2	2	15	-	1	2	14	19	2	9	-	7	1	-	1
3	Dashoguz		29/0	1	27	-	1	5	39	19	3	2	1	13	-	-	1
4	Lebap		12/1	2	9	-	-	2	18	11	2	2	1	5	1	-	-
5	Mary		12/0	1	11	-	-	-	18	10	2	2	2	4	-	-	1
6	Ahal		7/2	2	3	-	-	1	18	8	4	1	-	3	-	-	-
7		Turkmenistan	133/7	10	112	2	4	17	147	117	23	24	6	61	2	1	7

The tables and diagrams show that out of 399 complaints received by the Ombudsman’s Office in 2023, 9 were complaints written by citizens repeatedly before they received answers to the precious one. Because they raised the same issue as the first one, they were considered by adding them up to the previously filed complaint. More than one third of the written requests accepted for processing in the year under observation, in particular, 147 or 36.84%, received written responses of an advisory nature, explaining to the applicant the remedies of protecting his rights and freedoms. These recommendations will help applicants act in accordance with current legislation when resolving their issues. Also, 117 or 29.32% of the appeals/complaints accepted for proceeding last year, pursuant to the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, remained unhandled for the following reasons: they did not reflect the main essence of the matter; there was no signature; were repeated; due to the expiration of the deadline for filing an appeal; a matter beyond the competence of the Ombudsman; the complaint was withdrawn by the applicant.

Moreover, a total of 133 appeals were pending, of which 7 or 2.27% were those remaining from 2022 and 126 or 31.57% related to the period under review. Of the 7 appeals sent to the competent authorities in 2022 on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, all were considered in the reporting year and 1 was satisfied. Also, 112 or 88.88% of the appeals accepted for processing, on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, were sent to the competent authorities with a request for assistance in verifying the facts specified in the appeals. Recommendations were sent to the same competent authorities on the basis of Article 30 of the Law due to disagreement with the responses received on 2 appeals. In addition, 10 appeals were sent by affiliation. Along with this, in accordance with paragraph 2 of part one of Article 18 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, 4 appeals were considered by requesting the necessary documents from the ground. 7 out of 126 requests remained unconsidered at the end of the year. In total, 119 appeals were handled, of which 17 or 14.28% were satisfied.

Thus, as a result of consideration of complaints remaining unconsidered since 2022, 1 was satisfied. In addition, 17 appeals accepted for handling in the last year were satisfied. A total of 18 appeals were satisfied. Some of these appeals can be found in the chapter ‘Inquiries and Recommendations of the Ombudsman’.

The above indicators for the reporting period were analyzed by region. In particular, in the year under review, 143 complaints were registered in the city of Ashgabat. Of these, 2 were added to those previously received, another 2 were considered through a request from the ground for the necessary documents, 47 or 33.33% were sent to the competent authorities on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, 2 - due to disagreement with the received responses based on Article 30 of the Law were sent to the same competent authorities with recommendations, 2 were sent according to their affiliation to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan. Of the 51 appeals reviewed, 7 or 13.72% were satisfied, 4 appeals remained unconsidered at the end of the year. 53 appeals were registered in Balkan velayat. Of these, 1 was added to what was previously received, 1 was considered through a request from the ground for the necessary documents, 15 or 28.84% were sent to the competent authorities on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, 2 were sent according to their affiliation to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan. Of the 18 appeals reviewed, 2 or 11.11% were satisfied, 1 appeal remained unconsidered at the end of the year. As for Dashoguz velayat, 87 complaints were registered. Of these, 1 was considered by adding to what was previously received, according to 1 appeal a request was sent to obtain the necessary documents from the ground, 27 or 31.39% - on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ were sent to the competent authorities, 1 - sent according to affiliation to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan. Of the 29 appeals handled, 5 requests or 17.24% were satisfied, 1 remained unconsidered at the end of the year. 43 complaints were registered in Lebap velayat. Of these, 3 were considered by adding to those previously received, 9 or 22.5% were sent to the competent authorities on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, 2 were sent according to their affiliation to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan. Of the 11 requests reviewed, 2 or 18.18% were satisfied. 40 complaints were registered in Mary velayat. 11 or 27.5% - on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ were forwarded to the competent authorities, 1 - sent according to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, 1 - remained unconsidered at the end of the year. 33 complaints were registered in Ahal velayat. Of these, 2 were considered by adding to those previously received, 3 or 9.6% were sent to the competent authorities on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, 2 were sent according to their affiliation to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan. Of the 5 requests reviewed, 1 or 20% were satisfied. Thus, out of 126 appeals, 119 were considered by receiving the necessary documents from the ground, as well as referring them to the competent authorities and according to their affiliation, 17 of them were satisfied and the applicants were given answers about the results of the consideration, 7 remained unconsidered at the end of the year.

As noted above, after acceptance of appeals received by the Ombudsman’s Office for processing, requests for assistance in fact checking specified in the appeals or recommendations with proposals have been sent to the competent authorities, and appeals have also been sent to the competent authorities. In this regard, an analysis of the results of consideration of these appeals was carried out by the organizations to which they were sent. Information about it is presented in the table below.

№	Agency	Referred to	Including				Violation of deadline	Reminders sent	Satisfied	Pending appeals at the end of year
			By affiliation		art. 27	art. 30				ст. 27	ст. 30
1	Office of the Prosecutor General of Turkmenistan	17	-	17		-	15	1	3	1	-
2	Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan	9	-	9		-	7	-	3	1	-
3	Supreme Court of Turkmenistan	10	10	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Ministry of Defence of Turkmenistan	6	-	6		-	3	-	-	-	-
5	State Migration Service of Turkmenistan	2	-	2		-	-	-	1	-	-
6	Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan	2	-	2		-	2	-	-	-	-
7	Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan	6	-	6		-	4	-	1	1	-
8	Ministry of Healthcare and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan	4	-	4		-	3	-	1	-	-
9	Ministry of Justice of Turkmenistan	1	-	1		-	-	-	1	-	-
10	Agency ‘Türkmendemirýollary/Railways’ of the Transport and Communications Agency under Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan	1	-	1		-	1	-	-	-	-
11	Ministry of Energy of Turkmenistan	1	-	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Ministry of Textile Industry of Turkmenistan	1	-	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Ministry oft Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan	1	-	1		-	1	-	-	-	-
14	Agency 'Türkmentelekom'	1	-	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Agency ‘Türkmenaragatnaşyk/Communications’ of the Transport and Communications Agency under Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan	1	-	1		-	1	-	-	-	-
16	Hyakimlik (Municipality) of Ashgabat	27	-	25		2	18	-	3	3	2
17	Hyakimlik of Balkan welayat	6	-	6		-	5	1	2	-	-
18	Hyakimlik of Dashoguz welayat	13	-	13		-	13	-	1	-	-
19	Hyakimlik of Lebap welayat	4	-	4		-	3	-	1	-	-
20	Hyakimlik of Mary welayat	9	-	9		-	7	1	-	1	-
21	Hyakimlik of Ahal welayat	2	-	2		-	2	-	-	-	-
	GRAND TOTAL:	124	10	112		2	85	3	17	7	2

As could be seen from the above figures, 112 appeals accepted by the Ombudsman’s Office for processing, on the basis of Article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, and another 2 - on the basis of Article 30 of the said Law, were sent by the Ombudsman to the competent authorities, indicating the deadline for their consideration. 10 appeals accepted for processing were sent for consideration according to their affiliation.

As a result, 7 appeals, out of the indicated 112, remained unconsidered at the end of the year. Responses were received in a timely manner to 10 appeals sent for consideration according to their affiliation, and relevant responses were sent to citizens. In addition, out of 105 requests sent to the competent authorities with a request for assistance in consideration and proposals, 85 or 81% received responses in violation of the established deadlines. According to the review of appeals to which responses were received late, the following is noted: out of 27 appeals sent to the hyakimlik of the city of Ashgabat, 18 were answered late, 3 appeals were satisfied, 3 were left at the end of the year; out of 6 appeals sent to the hyakimlik of the Balkan velayat, 5 were answered late, a reminder letter was sent to 1 appeal, 2 were satisfied; out of 13 appeals sent to the hyakimlik of Dashoguz velayat, 13 were answered late, 1 was satisfied; out of 4 appeals sent to the hyakimlik of Lebap velayat, 3 were answered late, 1 was satisfied; out of 9 appeals sent to the hyakimlik of Mary velayat, 7 were answered late, a reminder letter was sent to 1 appeal, 1 was left at the end of the year; out of 2 appeals sent to the hyakimlik of Ahal velayat, 2 received responses with a delay; 1 appeal sent to the Türkmenaragatnaşyk agency of the Agency of Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan received a late response; 1 request sent to the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan received a late response; 1 appeal sent to the Türkmenaragatnaşyk agency of the Agency of Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan received a late response; 1 request sent to the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan received a late response; 1 appeal sent to the agency “Türkmendemirýollary” of the Agency of Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan received a late response; out of 4 requests sent to the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan, 3 were answered late, 1 was satisfied; out of 6 appeals sent to the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan, 4 were answered late, 1 was satisfied, 1 was left at the end of the year; out of 2 appeals sent to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan, 2 were answered late; out of 6 appeals sent to the Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan, 3 were answered late; out of 9 appeals sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan, 7 were answered late, 3 were satisfied, 1 was left at the end of the year; out of 17 appeals sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Turkmenistan, 15 were answered late, a reminder letter was sent to 1 appeal, 3 were satisfied, 1 was left at the end of the year.

Moreover, when analyzing the above data on responses received late, it was established that additional clarifications were needed for the questions raised in some appeals, mainly sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Turkmenistan. In this regard, the violation of deadlines was considered justified, since additional time was required.

However, based on the results of an analysis of complaints to which responses were received late, it was established that the reason for this was the irresponsible attitude of the heads of local executive authorities when considering complaints. Moreover, this led not only to a violation of the deadlines for consideration of appeals on their part, but consecutively on the part of the Ombudsman. Such situations also resulted in the repeated appeals of citizens to the Ombudsman’s Office.

In some cases, primarily for complaints that were not responded to in a timely manner, written notices were sent to the relevant managers.

During the year under review, the Office of the Ombudsman registered 163 oral appeals from citizens, which were analyzed by region. The results of the analysis are shown in the table below.

№	Region	I quarter	II quarter	III quarter	IV quarter	Total	Ratio to the total No of appeals, %
1.	Ashgabat	13	16	13	26	68	41,71 %
2.	Balkan	6	8	2	5	21	12,88 %
3.	Dashoguz	5	5	5	2	17	10,42 %
4.	Lebap	6	4	5	5	20	12,30 %
5.	Mary	2	3	12	5	22	13,49 %
6.	Ahal	2	6	4	3	15	9,20 %
7.	Turkmenistan	34	42	41	46	163	100 %

According to the above indicators, as in the previous years, the bulk of oral appeals, in particular, 68 or 41.71%, originated in the city of Ashgabat. One of the reasons for this is the location of the the Ombudsman’s Office in Ashgabat, which makes it accessible to citizens.

Oral appeals were also analyzed by quarter and by the number of applicants.

№		I quarter	II quarter	III quarter	IV quarter	Total
1.	No of oral appeals	34	42	41	46	163
2.	No of applicants	39	46	50	54	189
3.	No of group appeals	4/9	3/7	9/18	6/14	22/48

As can be seen from the results of the analysis, according to 163 oral appeals accepted during the year under review, the number of applicants was 189 citizens, of which 48 were citizens who submitted group appeals.

An analysis was also carried out by gender and ethnicity of citizens, according to which the number of women was 116, men - 78. It should also be noted that the applicants were representatives of different ethnicities, in particular, 149 Turkmen, 16 Russians, 1 Kazakh, 6 Azerbaijanis, 4 Armenians, 11 Uzbeks, 1 Persian, 1 Lezgin. Taken as a whole, the percentage of applicants, representatives of other ethnicities was 21.17%.

The results of the analysis of applicants based on ethnicity or other characteristics served as evidence of the creation of equal opportunities for everyone to realize their rights. As noted above, applicants had the right to receive responses to written requests in the language in which they applied or with a translation into the language, the applicant spoke. Also, interviews with citizens who applied orally were conducted in the language that the applicant was fluent in, and they were given appropriate recommendations and explanations in the same language. It should be noted that during the reporting period, as in the previous years, there were no cases when applicants did not understand the content of the answers given to them by the Ombudsman’s Office in written or oral form.

An analysis of oral appeals was carried out, broken down by issues raised in the appeals and by region. The results are shown in the table below.

№	Issue	Всего	Ratio to the total number of appeals, %
1	Housing law	36	22,09 %
2	Dissatisfaction with court decision	28	17,18 %
3	Dissatisfaction with execution of court decision	1	0,61 %
4	Migration	8	4,91 %
5	Labour law	18	11 %
6	Land law (lease, land plot)	10	6,13 %
7	Right to education	2	1,23 %
8	Guardianship/Custodianship	4	2,5 %
9	Dissatisfaction with actions of law enforcement officers	16	9,81 %
10	Criminal cases and criminal acts	3	1,84 %
11	Right to health	5	3,07 %
12	Propiska/residence registration	10	6,13 %
13	Other issues	22	13,50 %
	Total	163	100 %

№	Issue	Region						Total	Ratio to the total no of appeals, %
		Ashgabat	Balkan	Dashoguz	Labap	Mary	Ahal
1	Housing law	14	7	2	-	7	6	36	22,09 %
2	Dissatisfaction with court decision	12	4	3	3	2	4	28	17,18 %
3	Dissatisfaction with execution of court decision	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	0,61 %
4	Migration	2	-	1	1	4	-	8	4,91 %
5	Labour law	5	4	2	4	2	1	18	11 %
6	Land law (lease, land plot)	2	1	3	1	2	1	10	6,13 %
7	Right to education	1	1	-	-	-	-	2	1,23 %
8	Guardianship/Custodianship	4	-	-	-	-	-	4	2,5 %
9	Dissatisfaction with actions of law enforcement officers	5	1	3	4	2	1	16	9,81 %
10	Criminal cases and criminal acts	-	1	-	1	-	1	3	1,84 %
11	Right to health	-	-	1	3	1	-	5	3,07 %
12	Propiska/residence registration	8	-	-	-	1	1	10	6,13 %
13	Other issues	15	1	2	3	1	-	22	13,5 %
	Total	68	21	17	20	22	15	163	100 %

As can be seen from the above figures, the bulk of oral appeals from citizens, in particular 36, were related to the housing issue, which in relation to the total number of appeals amounted to 22.09%. The number of oral complaints about dissatisfaction with court decisions was 28 or 17.18%, about dissatisfaction with the execution of a court decision - 1 or 0.61%, on migration issues - 8 or 4.91%, on labour law issues - 18 or 11%, on issues of land law -10 or 6.13%, on the right to education - 2 or 1.23%, on issues of guardianship/custodianship - 4 or 2.5%, on dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers - 16 or 9.81%, on criminal cases and criminal acts - 3 or 1.84%, on issues related to health care - 5 or 3.07%, on issues of registration at the place of residence - 10 or 6.13%. The remaining 22 oral appeals, or 13.5%, related other issues. Basically, they expressed citizens’ dissatisfaction with the actions of heads of institutions or officials, or they were related to debt, family quarrels or conflicts with neighbours, some contained a request for assistance in obtaining the necessary documents from institutions and organizations, as well as various routine issues.

When analyzing oral appeals from citizens, attention was also paid to the priority of issues by region. For example, in the city of Ashgabat, these were mainly housing issues, as well as dissatisfaction with court decisions and the actions of law enforcement officers, labour law and registration at the place of residence. In Balkan, Mary and Ahal velayats, these were housing issues.

The following part of the Report will look at the results of an analysis of written and oral collective appeals from citizens, in particular, on the issues raised in them, broken down by quarters and regions will be presented.

As noted above, the number of applicants for the registered 36 written group appeals amounted to 235 citizens. Most of them came from Dashoguz velayat, i.e. 108 citizens on 12 appeals. 6 appeals raised issues related to gas, energy and water supply, 1 - land law, 2 - dissatisfaction with court decisions, 2 - other issues. 57 people from the city of Ashgabat filed 11 appeals, 1 appeal was about improving housing conditions, 2 - about registration at the place of residence, 3 - about dissatisfaction with court decisions, 4 - about dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers, 1 - other issues. In 5 appeals from the Balkan velayat, 26 people applied, of which 1 appeal was about labour law, 4 - other issues. From the Lebap Velayat 19 citizens applied in 3 appeals. In 1 appeal, the issue related to gas, energy and water supply, 1 - about dissatisfaction with the court order, 1 - other issues. Out of 4 appeals or 21 applicants from Mary velayat, 1 concerned the right to housing, 1 - dissatisfaction with a court order, 2 - dissatisfaction the actions of law enforcement officers, 1 - other issues. 4 citizens addressed the housing issue in 1 appeal from the Akhal Velayat.

Some group appeals of citizens were satisfied. Information about them can be found farther in chapter VIII ‘Inquires and recommendations of the Ombudsman’.

As can be seen from the above figures, the number of applicants for the registered 22 oral group appeals amounted to 48 citizens. According to 8 appeals, 19 citizens applied from the city of Ashgabat. 2 appeals out of 8 were about dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers; 1 - about dissatisfaction with a court order, 1 - about the right to work, 3 - about registration at the place of residence, 1 - about assistance for debt repayment, 1 - other issues. 6 people addressed in 3 appeals from the Balkan Velayat. Of these, 1 was about dissatisfaction with a court order, 1 was about dissatisfaction with the execution of a court order, 1 was about criminal cases and criminal acts. According to 2 appeals from the Dashoguz velayat, 4 citizens addressed issues related to dissatisfaction with court rulings. In 6 appeals, 13 citizens applied from the Lebap Velayat. In 1 appeal out of 6, the issue related to criminal cases and criminal acts, 2 were about dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers, 1 about a question related to the right to work. 4 people applied from Mary velayat in 2 appeals. Of these, 1 appeal was about dissatisfaction with the actions of law enforcement officers, 1 was about the right to housing.

In accordance with the results of the analysis of the work done by the Ombudsman to review citizens’ appeals during the year 2023, in order to reduce citizens’ dissatisfaction and repeated appeals, and fully comply with legal requirements when considering appeals, the following is recommended:

• considering that in the previous years, the Ombudsman made recommendations that ministries, sectoral departments, institutions subordinate to them, and local executive authorities should organize consideration of appeals at the proper level, in accordance with the procedure and within the time limits provided for by law, on the merits of the issues raised in them, regardless of whether they came from the citizens themselves or competent authorities, as well as, taking into account that such facts took place in the year under review, ministries, industry departments should keep this issue under strict control;
• taking into account that the number of oral and written appeals of citizens remained high in the city of Ashgabat, and the cases of repeated appeals occurred here, mainly related to the housing issue, and in connection with offenses committed by the city hyakimlik/municipalty when considering citizens’ complaints, appeals and recommendations on them from competent authorities should be considered within the established time frame and on the merits, in particular including the Ombudsman, to eliminate these shortcomings;
• in order to reduce the number of appeals related to land law in the velayats/regions, in particular, in the Dashoguz velayat, to keep under control the legality of cases conducted by local executive authorities in this direction.

 

Chapter V. Work of the Ombudsman to assist improving the national legislation of Turkmenistan

 

One of the significant events in the socio-political life of the country in 2023, held under the motto ‘Happy Youth with Arkadag Serdar’, was the elections of the Mejlis/Parliament of Turkmenistan seventh convocation, members of the velayat, etrap and city people’s councils and Gengeshi/local self-governments. It is worth noting that in the year of the celebration of the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in state policy and the legislative sphere, large-scale work was carried out to strengthen human and civil rights. According to the prevailing tradition, a meeting of the head of state was held with the new composition of the legislative body of Turkmenistan, during which key tasks were discussed and priority areas of legislative activity were identified.

The meeting noted that in accordance with the main areas of development of the country for the period 2022-2052, in the field of lawmaking there were great tasks encompassed the protection of human rights and freedoms, legislation and its norms, economics, social sphere, science, education, culture, youth policies, digital system, environmental protection, nature management and agro-industrial complex, foreign policy activities of Turkmenistan, the work of local representative authorities and local self-government, electoral system.

Over the past year, under the leadership of the President of Turkmenistan, the esteemed Serdar Berdimuhamedov, specific measures were identified in order to effectively implement measures defined in the programme ‘The Revival in a New Era of a Powerful State: the national programme of socio-economic development of the country in 2022-2052’.

In 2023, the Office of the Ombudsman, together with the new composition of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, took an active part in improving national legislation, strengthening the legal foundations of government programmes implemented under the leadership of President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov. During the period under review, representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office participated in the work carried out in accordance with the legislative plan of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, including participating in meetings as members of Working Groups on the development of draft laws established under the Mejlis of Turkmenistan and presented their proposals and recommendations on draft laws. Concurrently, relevant proposals were made on draft laws developed and submitted to the Mejlis of Turkmenistan for consideration. When preparing the proposals, an analysis was given of the compliance of the provisions of the draft laws with the requirements of the Basic Law of the country, the norms of international human rights law and the humane policy of our state, based on the main motto of the President of Turkmenistan: ‘The Motherland is the Motherland only with the people! The state is a state only with the people!’

In the reporting year, in order to improve the legislative framework of the reforms carried out in the country, 5 meetings of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan were held, as a result of which 49 Laws of Turkmenistan and 51 resolutions of the Mejlis were passed. Among the adopted documents were 3 Constitutional Laws, the Laws of Turkmenistan ‘On the Mejlis of Turkmenistan’, ‘On the city of Arkadag’,’"On the State Budget of Turkmenistan for 2024’, ‘On the legal protection of integrated circuit topography’, and on the ratification of international conventions, amendments and additions to some Laws of Turkmenistan. The working group established under the Mejlis of Turkmenistan continued work on the preparation of a number of draft laws, in particular, a new version of the Civil Code, legal acts on energy conservation and rational use of energy, and on hydrometeorological activities. During the period under report, the Ombudsman’s Office made proposals and recommendations on draft laws prepared by the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, in particular, on the Laws of Turkmenistan ‘On Amendments to the Family Code of Turkmenistan’, ‘On Amendments to the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Court’, ‘On the Mejlis of Turkmenistan’, ‘On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of Turkmenistan’, ‘On amendments and additions to the Electoral Code of Turkmenistan’, ‘On amendments and additions to the Law of Turkmenistan on the procedure for resolving issues of the administrative-territorial structure of Turkmenistan’. Along with this, representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office participated in meetings of working groups established by the resolution of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, in particular, the ‘Working Group on the preparation of the draft Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Mejlis of Turkmenistan’, the ‘Working Group on the preparation of a new version of the Civil Code of Turkmenistan’, and the ‘Working Group on the preparation of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the State Register of Voters’.

During the year under observation, work was also carried out to strengthen the country’s regulatory framework. Thus, in accordance with the Decree of the President of Turkmenistan No. PP-250 of 14 July 2023 ‘On increasing salaries, pensions, state benefits, scholarships for students and trainees in Turkmenistan’, starting 1 January 2024, the salaries of employees of budget-funded institutions, self-supporting enterprises and public associations, pensions and state benefits, scholarships for students and trainees have been indexed by 10 percent. The Decree of the President of Turkmenistan No. 671 of 23 August 2023 ‘On the appointment of personal pensions’, provided for the establishment of a Special Commission under the President of Turkmenistan for the appointment of personal pensions and approved its composition and the Procedure for the appointment of personal pensions.

The above shows that the laws, resolutions, acts of the President of Turkmenistan, National programmes and plans adopted were aimed at legal regulation of the country’s development in all directions, as well as at ensuring civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights in full.

Turkmenistan, as a country taking an active part in international relations, is a participant to hundreds of international instruments regulating various spheres of international relations. In this regard, Turkmenistan implements the norms of international documents into national legislation, and thereby confirms its commitment to its international obligations, implementing these norms in practice. In the year under review, the national Parliament of Turkmenistan adopted laws on ratification or accession to a number of international instruments. On the one hand, these international documents form the legal environment for the integration of our country into the system of international relations, and on the other hand, they play a significant role in ensuring and protecting human rights and interests. Despite the fact that these documents vary in content, they all have a positive impact on the realization of human rights and freedoms. Therefore, it is of particular importance that the norms of international documents to which our country has acceded are recognized as part of the national legislation of Turkmenistan.

The activities of the Ombudsman to promote the improvement of the legislation of Turkmenistan in the field of human rights are defined in chapter VI of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’. The objective of the Ombudsman is to assist in bringing national legislation into line with the Constitution of Turkmenistan, international treaties of Turkmenistan, generally recognized principles and norms of international law.

These functions were performed during the past year with the submission of relevant proposals on draft laws developed in accordance with the Plan of Legislative Activity of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, and on familiarization with draft laws submitted to the meetings of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan. The representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office participated as members of Working Groups on the preparation of draft Laws of Turkmenistan established under the Mejlis of Turkmenistan.

In general, during the reporting period, work was carried out on an ongoing basis to improve the legislative and legal framework of the transformations being implemented in the country in all areas and corresponding results were achieved.

For the timely and proper implementation of the Laws of Turkmenistan adopted by the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, a systematic analysis of existing normative legal acts and their alignment with the requirements of the adopted laws is required. In this context, the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, the Ministry of Justice, as well as other ministries and sectoral departments are conducting relevant work on the review, preparation and adoption of normative legal acts.

Based on the above, in order to facilitate the improvement of legislation and the proper application of legislation, it is recommended:

• to continue work on bringing into line with the current legislation the normative legal acts regulating the activities of ministries and sectoral departments (subordinate institutions), local public authorities and local self-government bodies;
• to continue work on the adoption and state registration in accordance with the established procedure of normative legal acts that form the legal basis for the activities of ministries and sectoral departments (subordinate institutions), local government bodies and local self-government bodies;
• to strengthen monitoring of the process of improvement in accordance with the current legislation of normative legal acts regulating the activities of ministries and sectoral departments (subordinate institutions), local public authorities and local self-government bodies.

 

Chapter VI. Participation of the Ombudsman in public events. Assistance in raising awareness in the field of human rights

Pursuant to the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, one of the main activities of the Ombudsman is to raise public awareness in the field of human rights. This function is performed through the participation of the Ombudsman and the staff of the Ombudsman’s in various public events, organizing presentations, publishing articles and information on various areas of human rights in the media and on the Ombudsman’s website.

The year 2023, which was held under the motto ‘Happy youth with Arkadag Serdar’, was full of socio-political, cultural and mass events, regional and international fora and events of historical significance. Among the main events of historical significance, events in honour of the 32^nd anniversary of Turkmenistan’s independence and the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a meeting of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, the grand opening of the city of state significance - the city of Arkadag could be highlighted. To celebrate these significant dates and important events, various cultural, outreach and promotion events were held throughout the country, in which the Ombudsman took an active part within her powers. During the year, the Ombudsman’s Office, together with national and international partners, organized events aimed at assisting in raising public awareness in the field of human rights in accordance with the approved Work Plan of the Ombudsman’s Office for 2023.

As for the participation of the Ombudsman in socio-political events, it should be noted spefifically that she participated in an expanded meeting of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan as a member of this representative body. The meetings of this body are held in accordance with the ancestral tradition of consulting with representatives of the people on state-important issues in the interests of the people. The National Forum, being the highest representative body of the people’s power, is held with the participation of people of all walks of life in Turkmenistan, opening up wide opportunities for discussing vital issues of further socio-economic development of the country and improving the welfare of citizens.

The participation of the Ombudsman on a regular basis in meetings of another government body, specifically, the legislative branch of government - the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, creates great opportunities for familiarization with laws and regulations planned for adoption and passed by the legislative body, as well as for expressing her opinion on them. Last reporting year, the Ombudsman took part in the twenty-second meeting of the Mejlis of the sixth convocation, as well as in the second, third, fourth meetings of the Mejlis of the seventh convocation.

At one of the meetings, to wit at the second meeting of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan of the seventh convocation, held on June 3, 2023, the Ombudsman, in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, made a report on the work done in 2022 and on the human rights situation in the country.

Additionally, the Ombudsman took part in two meetings of the Interagency Commission on Ensuring Compliance with Turkmenistan’s International Human Rights Obligations and International Humanitarian Law, during which she shared her views on various issues on the agenda, in particular those related to ensuring human rights and freedoms. It should be specifically noted that the meetings of the Interagency Commission served as an effective platform for discussing issues in various areas of human rights.

In 2023, the Ombudsman and the staff of the Ombudsman’s actively participated in various seminars, workshops and awareness-raising activities on human rights. These included the seminar ‘Cooperation of journalists with the Office of the Ombudsman on covering human rights issues in the media’ held on 10-11 May 2023, and a seminar held on 11 July 2023 at the Nesil Children’s Wellness Centre located in Geokdere Gorge. The Ombudsman and the head of the Representative Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Turkmenistan. Participated in person at the events.

In addition, in the year under report, representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office took part in events dedicated to various areas of human rights, in particular in seminars/workshops on the development of a National plan to improve public services; to improve the justice system for children and the development of child-friendly attitude in Turkmenistan; to analyze national legislation prohibiting the use of corporal punishment against children; analysis of labour legislation and preparation of a review of its content; on management aimed at gender equality for civil servants; on comprehensive consideration of the gender issue according to indicator 5.a.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals on women’s equal right to land management. They participated in fora on combating human trafficking; in the final meeting of the Steering Committee and the Task force established within the framework of the Plan ‘Raising public awareness on reducing various risks associated with the global pandemic and involving young people in this work’; in a seminar for representatives of the working group of Turkmenistan on the implementation of the Global Compact ‘On Safe, Orderly and Legal migration’; at a ‘round table’ meeting on the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Day of Neutrality; in the competition between the departments of the Institute of International Relations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, organized by the scientific circle ‘Young Lawyers’ to honour the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; as well as in the implementation of the National Action Plan of Turkmenistan on Human Rights for 2021-2025.

Representatives of the Ombudsman's Office, being members of working groups established in ministries and sectoral departments of our country, participated in the respective meetings, made interventions and shared their views on the issues under consideration through the prism of human rights. For example, participation in the meetings of the Working Group of the Interagency Commission on the Implementation of Turkmenistan’s International Human Rights Obligations and International Humanitarian Law, the National Working Commission on the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, the Working Group of Turkmenistan on the Implementation of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Legal Migration, and the working groups of the Mejlis Turkmenistan on the development of draft laws, etc. to name but a few.

It is also important to note the work carried out in the reporting year as part of the implementation of the tasks provided for in the Annual Work Plan of the Ombudsman’s Office to raise public awareness in the field of human rights. The Ombudsman’s website has been operating since 16 April 2021 (www.ombudsman.gov.tm ) in order to comply with the requirements of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ pertaining the coverage of the activities carried out by the Ombudsman, and in accordance with the Decree of the President of Turkmenistan approved on 27 February 2020 ‘On the creation and implementation of an electronic document management system and Internet websites in Turkmenistan’. Currently, this site is constantly being improved, its individual pages contain information about the country’s domestic and foreign policy, about large-scale activities based on human care, and publications on the work carried out by the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan in the field of human rights protection, norms of national and international legislation regulating human rights issues.

Concurrently, articles by the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan have been published in the periodical press, in particular in newspapers and magazines, demonstrating multifaceted activities, reforms and democratic transformations in Turkmenistan to protect human rights and freedoms and affirm democratic values. The articles presented to the attention of a broad public included the article ‘Activities for the protection of human rights’, published in the magazine ‘Democracy and Law’, the interview ‘Caring for children-caring for a bright future’ of the Authorized Representative for Human Rights in Turkmenistan, the Ombudsman and Head of the Representative Office of the Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Turkmenistan, Mohammed Fayazi, published in the newspaper ‘Turkmenistan’. This publication was timed to coincide with the International Children’s Day and informed about the significance of putting together joint efforts to protect children’s rights, the promising tasks of bilateral cooperation in this area and the outcomes of the work done.

In the past, in 2023, articles published in the media by the staff of the Ombudsman’s Office on the democratic development of the Turkmen state, on ensuring and protecting human and civil rights and freedoms, on celebrations organized in all parts of the country on the occasion of holidays, successes achieved and socio-political events were also presented to the public. In particular, the newspapers ‘Turkmenistan’, ‘Adalat’, ‘Watan’ and ‘Aşgabat’ published the following: an article ‘Principles of ensuring human rights’ on the work done in the country to protect human rights; articles ‘Children’s Rights’, ‘Legal foundations for supporting educated youth’ - on child protection and the country’s concerns about children, and the publication on ‘The Triumph of High Trust’ dedicated to the large-scale cooperation of Turkmenistan with the United Nations.

Following the participation of the Ombudsman in social and cultural events in the year under review, as well as the result of the work done to help raise public awareness of the ongoing human rights reforms in the country, it was concluded that it was necessary to continue the constant work to raise awareness, knowledge and legal culture of the population, including responsible officials persons. In this regard, the following is proposed:

• In support of the recommendations made in the previous years, in order to implement activities in a consistent, concerted and integrated manner to increase legal awareness, knowledge and legal culture of the population and responsible officials, civil servants of the country in the field of human rights, to prepare and submit for approval, in accordance with the established procedure, a draft unified government programme providing for specific measures to be jointly implemented by ministries, sectoral departments, velayat, etrap, city hyakimliks, law enforcement agencies, mass media, public organizations. 

 

Chapter VII. International cooperation

In the era of the Revival of a Powerful State under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the state continued to consistently implement its creative foreign policy strategy. This strategy is based on the principles of positive neutrality, peacefulness, good neighbourliness and equal constructive cooperation.

It is a known fact that our country’s initiative led to the proclamation of the year 2023 the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace, pursuant to the resolution of the UN General Assembly. Modern challenges but confirm the relevance and importance of this initiative. It aimed to unite the efforts of states and peoples to strengthen the traditions of peaceful and trusting coexistence, and to work together through dialogue and partnership to overcome global challenges and create a better, conflict-free future for future generations.

Turkmenistan not only offers solutions to pressing regional and global issues and strives to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in the interests of universal well-being, but also actively implements these proposals in practice. Strengthening cooperation with foreign partners in bilateral and multilateral format renders an important part of this process.

In the context of these efforts, Turkmenistan also pays special attention to the principles of human rights, demonstrating that the country’s foreign policy is based on progressive and universal values.

Within the framework of international cooperation, the role of national human rights institutions, in accordance with the Paris Principles, includes interaction with international organizations and national human rights institutions of other countries.

The promotion of international cooperation in the field of human rights, the study and introduction of international standards, the implementation of Turkmenistan’s international obligations to protect human rights and freedoms and strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between peoples remained key areas of activity of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan according to the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’.

In accordance with the Annual Work Plan for 2023, international cooperation, as one of the important components of the Ombudsman’s activities, was actively promoted, conducted and developed. The Ombudsman of Turkmenistan paid special attention to cooperation with international partners, striving to actively implement international human rights best practices at the national level.

Additionally, in the reporting year, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan successfully organized and held a number of constructive meetings with the heads of international organizations and national ombudsmen of other countries. These meetings facilitated the exchange of experience and the strengthening of international human rights cooperation. The Office of the Ombudsman continued to introduce innovative approaches and best practices, engaging Turkmenistan in global initiatives to improve human rights and promote democratic values.

For instance, at the beginning of the reporting year 2023, the delegation of Turkmenistan, headed by the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan, took part in a three-day Specialized Course on the Human Dimension in Warsaw, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The course, conducted jointly with the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat within the project on Support for the development of the Ombudsman’s Office was intended to familiarize with OSCE human rights commitments. Experts from various ODIHR units made presentations in various fields, such as strengthening the rule of law, legal assistance and democratic lawmaking, preventing torture, combating hate crimes and other manifestations of intolerance, promoting freedom of religion or belief, supporting human rights defenders, etc. The Director of the ODIHR also spoke at one of the sessions together with the heads of units, presenting a brief overview of the Office’ activities.

For their part, the participants shared information about Turkmenistan’s human rights policy and expanded their knowledge by familiarizing themselves with international best practices of the OSCE participating states.

In February last year, a regional workshop of the Asia-Pacific Forum (APF) was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on the accreditation of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). The Ombudsmen of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, New Zealand and other countries of the Pacific region, attended the event.

The workshop looked into issues related to the procedures for the accreditation of NHRIs and the exchange of experience in this area. APF’s Legal and Policy Manager, Philip Wardle, reviewed the ‘Written Application’ for accreditation to GANHRI, the role of OHCHR and civil society organizations. GANHRI representatives shared their experience of conducting interviews and post-session actions in the GANHRI Subcommittee on Accreditation (SCA). This event significantly enriched the participants’ knowledge of the procedures of the GANHRI Subcommittee on Accreditation.

At the end of February 2023, a project document was signed between the Office of the Ombudsman and the representative Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which was a continuation of the Project on ‘Improving the institutional capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan for 2021-2022’. Within the framework of this project, the work was carried out to study the accreditation of national human rights institutions in the GANHRI. The final meeting of the Project Council was held next. Important aspects of the achieved outcomes were discussed, along with the plans for upcoming events provided for by the signed Joint Project document on ‘Assistance in strengthening the institutional capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan for 2023’.

In March 2023, the Ombudsman held a trilateral meeting with representatives of the Capacity Assessment team from the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and OHCHR. During the meeting, the recommendations presented as a result of the assessment of the Ombudsman’s Office capacity were discussed. The experts presented the results of an analysis of the strengths, achievements and challenges identified during the assessment. The Ombudsman of Turkmenistan expressed gratitude for the elaborated report and made suggestions for improving the activities of the institution. The capacity assessment was carried out in 2022 as part of the completed project on ‘Improving the institutional capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan’, implemented jointly with UNDP.

In April, a delegation from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) arrived at the Office of the Ombudsman’s. The delegation included the Chief Legal Adviser of UNHCR in Central Asia, Ms. Rano Saidumarova, and the Adviser on Statelessness of UNHCR in Central Asia, Mr. Sergey Gaina. The main topic of the meeting was the discussion of the activities of the annual joint plan between the Government of Turkmenistan and UNHCR. During the meeting, the significance of implementing the principles of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the global Convention on Refugees (GCR), UN Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Legal Migration (UNGC) and the global action plan for the Elimination of statelessness in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals was underscored.

In the same month, an online meeting was held between the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan and the Acting Regional Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central Asia, Mr. Fabio Piana.

During the discussion of issues of bilateral cooperation, measures to strengthen the capacity of the Ombudsman’s Office and priorities arising from the recommendations of the Capacity Assessment of the Asia-Pacific Forum (APF) were considered. The parties discussed steps taken in the framework of cooperation with UN Treaty Bodies, including the submission of Alternative Reports. The interaction with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) was among discussed issues. OHCHR was singled out as one of the key and priority international partners of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan. The positive results of cooperation discussed by the parties highlighted the important role of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan and its advocacy in this context.

During the previous reporting year, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan successfully held numerous meetings with senior leaders and representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union and EU States. These meetings have become not only landmark events in diplomatic practice, but also an important stage in strengthening international human rights cooperation.

During the meetings, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan stressed the importance of dialogue and exchange of experience in human rights activities. The Ombudsman of Turkmenistan represented an active mediator between Turkmenistan and international partners, aimed at constructive interaction and achieving common goals in meeting respect and protection of human rights.

During the last reporting year, such landmark meetings included meetings with the OSCE delegation headed by the OSCE Secretary General, Ms. Helga Schmid; with the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities, Mr. Kairat Abdrakhmanov; the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Ms. Teresa Ribeiro; the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Mr. Matteo Mecacci; the delegation of the European Union, which included the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Mr. Eamon Gilmore; EU Special Representative for Central Asia Ms. Teri Hakala; and the Ambassador of the European Union to Turkmenistan, Mr. Diego Ruiz Alonso. There were meetings held with the Head of the Human Dimension of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Centre in Ashgabat Mr. Charles Nouman Philppot; the Head of the regional programme of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Judge of the Berlin City Court J. Pudelka and the Annual Human Rights Dialogue between Turkmenistan and the European Union.

In addition to the above-mentioned meetings, during the past reporting year, an important element of the Ombudsman’s Office cooperation was the exchange of experience between NHRIs of foreign countries in the field of human rights. This mutual exchange of knowledge and practices generously contributed to the improvement of the system of protection of human rights and freedoms.

Thus, from 25 to 28 July 2023, a working visit of the delegation of Turkmenistan to Georgia took place under the leadership of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan. During the visit, the delegation met with representatives of the Public Defender of Georgia, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), the Gender Unit, the Tolerance Centre, and visited the regional office in Gori.

Issues of cooperation and exchange of experience in the field of human rights were discussed at the meetings. The delegation also was acquainted with the work of the units of the Public Defender of Georgia on the rights of the child, the rights of people with disabilities, equality and human rights education.

The visit was organized within the joint project of the Office of the Ombudsman and the United Nations Development Programme on ‘Improving the institutional capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan’.

The second visit to Georgia took place in November 2023, in an extensive delegation of Turkmenistan headed by the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan. During the visit, the Turkmen delegation held meetings with the People’s Defender of Georgia, members of the National Preventive Mechanism and representatives of the Special Investigative Service, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia, the Human Rights Centre, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Protection.

The purpose of the second visit was to study the experience of the National Preventive Mechanism of Georgia and the activities of law enforcement agencies to protect and promote human rights and freedoms.

In addition to meetings with representatives of states and international organizations, participation in various fora is another important aspect in the field of promoting human rights and sharing experiences. During the last reporting year, the participation of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan in several high-level fora was also noted.

Thus, from 19 to 23 September 2023, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan took part in the 28^th annual General Meeting and conference of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, which was held in New Delhi, Republic of India.

During the visit, representatives of the Turkmen delegation actively participated in the Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions. These events were timed to coincide with the 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 30^th anniversary of national human rights institutions and the Paris Principles.

At the Annual General Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum, representatives of the delegation discussed the progress and achievements of the Forum, including the election of officials, the adoption of policies and the approval of annual accounts. The Turkmen delegation took part in the conference, where it heard introductory remarks from high-ranking representatives, including the President of the Republic of India, the Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Forum, and other key figures in the field of human rights in APF. Participating in these events, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan presented the experience of Turkmenistan in protection of human rights and freedoms. Special emphasis was placed on successful cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Forum, as well as on the prospects for further development of cooperation in this area.

The Ombudsman of Turkmenistan also took part in a high-level regional conference, which was held on 5 October 2023 in the capital of Northern Macedonia, Skopje. The event, organized within the framework of the Action Coalition, provided a platform for discussing the realization of the rights of women and girls in decision-making on reproductive health issues.

The conference brought together about 100 decision-making leaders, civil society activists, youth leaders and experts to review the results achieved, identify new challenges and develop development strategies. The main purpose of the event was to review the commitments made in the region and develop a regional development plan.

The opening ceremony of the conference was attended by high-ranking representatives, including the spouse of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, and the UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The conference was also attended by the spouses of the Presidents of the Balkan countries, representatives of various international organizations, civil society, and experts on the rights of women and girls.

The Ombudsman’s participation in the conference represented Turkmenistan’s unwavering commitment to international cooperation in the protection of human rights, specifically those of women and girls.

On 14-15 October 2023, Turkmenistan hosted an international conference on ‘Promoting access to justice in Turkmenistan: the role of a barrister in international and European law and practice’. The European Union and the Ministry of Justice of Turkmenistan jointly organized the event. Heads and representatives of ministries and departments of Turkmenistan, international experts from Central Asian countries and the Council of Europe, the Bar Association, as well as the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan attended the conference.

Important issues related to adhering to independence principles of the legal profession were discussed at the conference. It focused on contributing to improving the quality of legal aid, improving the status of a barrister, and meeting the priorities identified in the National Human Rights Action Plan in Turkmenistan for 2021-2025. The Ombudsman of Turkmenistan made opening remarks at the conference, in which she stressed the importance of the role of a barrister in international and European law and practice, and expressed support for striving to ensure access to justice in Turkmenistan.

It should be added that the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan took part in the third interdepartmental ‘round table’ of the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities on 21 November 2023 in The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands. The event was attended by representatives of national human rights institutions (NHRIs), government agencies dealing with national minorities of OSCE participating states, international organizations, international experts in the field of national minority rights.

During the event, the participants discussed important issues such as data collection, analysis and use. The sessions also addressed issues of security, accessibility and reliability of data used in the development of policies on national minorities. The participants highlighted the important role of the ‘round table’ in the development of cooperation and exchange of experience, and stressed the expediency of holding similar events in the years to come.

The landmark international fora included high-level events within the framework of the ‘Human Rights 75’ campaign dedicated to the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at which the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan actively participated. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the non-governmental organization BDG, the non-profit organization INHR and the NHRIs of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan organized this series of events.

As part of the activities that took place on 11-12 December 2023, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan spoke at a high-level conference dedicated to the 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In her speech, the Ombudsman shared information about Turkmenistan’s achievements in the field of human rights under the leadership of the President of the country and stressed Turkmenistan’s commitments within the framework of the ‘Human Rights 75’ campaign. Special attention was paid to the country’s commitments in the field of international cooperation, youth policy, environmental approaches, combating statelessness and strengthening an independent human rights institution.

The Ombudsman also took part in a parallel event organized by BDG and INHR and the national human rights institutions of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where she presented a report on the role and contribution of national human rights institutions to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals until 2030.

On 12 December the high-level events within ‘Human Rights 75’ continued. They included the Ombudsman’s participation in sessions on such important topics as ‘Peace and security’ and ‘Digitalization and Human Rights’.

By participating in these events, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan re-confirmed the country’s adherence to human rights obligations and active participation in global cooperation.

Constructive meetings were held with the main partners during the year under observation. On 31 July 2023, an online meeting was held between the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan and the newly appointed Regional Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central Asia, Ms. Matilda Bogner.

The meeting discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, priorities of the Ombudsman’s Office in Turkmenistan, including awareness of human rights and strengthening the institution’s capacity. Cooperation with various international organizations, including the UN OHCHR, was also noted.

On 8 November 2023, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan met with the head of the regional project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ‘Safe Migration in Central Asia’, Mrs. Eleanor Valentine. During the meeting, the state of bilateral cooperation and possible ways of its development were discussed.

During the last reporting year, various events were held, including numerous ‘round tables’ and seminars, in which the staff of the Ombudsman’s and other parties concerned actively participated. Thus, on 10 April 2023, a ‘round table’ was held at the UN building in Ashgabat on the topic ‘The role of advocacy in raising awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities’, which was attended by representatives of public organizations and the Office of the Ombudsman. Mr. Dmitry Shlapachenko, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Turkmenistan, and Mr. Fabio Piana, Acting Regional Representative of the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR/ROCA) in Central Asia, made welcoming remarks at the event. The objective of the event was to familiarize with the importance of the role of social institutions in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and to share international best practices in this area.

On 28 April 2023, in the context of Turkmenistan’s cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a meeting was held to discuss a new draft of the ‘National Action Plan of Turkmenistan to combat human trafficking for 2023-2025’. The event was attended by members of the National Working Group on Combating Human Trafficking, representatives of various ministries and agencies of the country, and representatives of public organizations of Turkmenistan and the Office of the Ombudsman.

During the meeting, global trends in human trafficking were highlighted, which are constantly changing and supplemented by new methods of human exploitation. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the draft of the new National Action Plan of Turkmenistan on combating human trafficking for 2023-2025.

On 10-11 May 2023, as part of a joint project of the Ombudsman’s Office with the United Nations Development Programme Office in Turkmenistan, an event was held at the United Nations House and was dedicated to the topic ‘Best practices in human rights education in journalism. Cooperation of journalists with the Office of the Ombudsman on media coverage of human rights issues’.

The workshop was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, journalists of national media, students of the Faculty of Journalism of higher educational institutions, staff of the Office of the Ombudsman and the representative office of the United Nations Development Programme in Turkmenistan. The international expert of the United Nations Development Programme, Ms. Stephanie Lemke participated online.

At the opening of the workshop, the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan and the Permanent Representative of the United Nations Development Programme, Ms. Narine Sahakyan, expressed satisfaction with the positive experience of Turkmenistan in the protection of human rights and its coverage in the media. They also shared information about national human rights plans and projects implemented jointly with UN agencies.

The purpose of the event was to familiarize participants with international, regional and national human rights protection systems and exchange experiences in dissemination of human rights knowledge through the media. During the workshop, issues of cooperation between the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan and journalists were considered, successful examples from this area were presented, and the Paris Principles and their significance for journalists were highlighted.

Representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office continued their active participation in the events aimed at strengthening national security and respect for human rights. From 22 to 24 May 2023, they took part in a three-day practical exercise (TableTop Exercise (TTX)) dedicated to preventing and combating the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. This event was organized by the Department for Countering Transnational Threats of the OSCE Secretariat (DTNU) in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Centre in Ashgabat and was part of the project on ‘Preventing and combating the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes in Central Asia’.

It should be noted that representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office actively participated in a number of workshops organized by the OSCE. On 7-8 June 2023, a two-day workshop on the topic ‘Implementation of international standards on defamation into national legislation’ was held. It was followed on 15 June 2023, by a ‘round table’ on the topic ‘OSCE best practices in the field of effective participation of national minorities and consultative mechanisms’. In addition, on 19-20 October, within the framework of the project ‘Assistance to the implementation of the provisions of the National Human Rights Action Plan of Turkmenistan for 2021-2025 concerning freedom of the media and freedom of expression’, a two-day training course on media literacy for representatives of government authorities was held.

One more event, attended by representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan, was held on 29-30 May 2023. The participants of the meeting discussed issues related to the implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan of Turkmenistan for 2021-2025. Representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office actively participated in the dialogue, sharing experiences and suggestions on gender equality and human rights-oriented governance in government structures. The purpose of this event was to ensure the active participation of representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office in the process of developing and discussing measures aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of the Office and supporting the implementation of national human rights programmes.

An information session on statelessness was held for the staff of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan. On 21 June 2023, the staff of the Ombudsman’s Office participated in a seminar organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The seminar was conducted by representatives of the delegation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, including Dumitra Lipkan, Deputy Representative of UNHCR in Central Asia, Mr. Sergey Gaina, Adviser on Statelessness Issues of UNHCR in Central Asia, and Balzhan Oshakbayev, UNHCR Protection Specialist.

During the seminar, Turkmenistan’s best practices and achievements in joining the main Conventions on statelessness were highlighted, along with the successful results of the state policy to reduce and prevent statelessness in the country and its legal framework.

Special attention was paid to the important role of the national plan for the eradication of stateless persons in Turkmenistan for 2019-2024, endorsed by the President of Turkmenistan.

On 26-27 June, a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Programme on the Rule of Law in Central Asia was held in Astana, Kazakhstan. This Programme, implemented jointly by the European Union and the Council of Europe, was focused on strengthening human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the countries of the region in accordance with international standards.

The event brought together representatives of Central Asian countries, including delegations from Prosecutor’s Offices, the court, the Ministry of Justice and the Offices of the Ombudsmen. Representatives of the European Union and the Council of Europe presented an overview of the Programme focused on human rights. A representative of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan made a speech, sharing the country’s experience in ensuring the rule of law.

On 19 July 2023, a representative of the Ombudsman’s Office took part in a seminar on combating human trafficking within the framework of Turkmenistan’s cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The event was attended by members of the National Working Group on Combating Human Trafficking, the project on ‘Safe Migration in Central Asia’ (SMICA), representatives of ministries and departments, public organizations and the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan.

The purpose of the event was to share experiences on the legal regulation of the activities of private employment agencies with an emphasis on the prevention of human trafficking.

On 7-8 September, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan hosted the International Conference on ‘Constitutional Justice: Dignity, Freedom and Justice for All’. The event brought together representatives from more than 30 countries, including judges of constitutional courts, human rights commissioners and human rights institutions. Heads of the Presidential Administration, government agencies, members of Parliament, the Prosecutor General, and the Commissioner for Human Rights, representatives of international organizations attended the conference. The issues of constitutional justice, dignity and justice were discussed during the event. The participation of a representative of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan has shown the country’s readiness for international cooperation in the field of human rights and the rule of law. This event has become an important platform for the exchange of experience and further development of cooperation in these areas.

On 9 October 2023, a week-long training seminar on gender equality and reproductive health was held at the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan. The event was organized with the participation of the international consultant of UNFPA, physician Aysel Vazova. The main purpose of the event was to strengthen the knowledge and skills of the staff of the Ombudsman’s Office in the field of gender equality and reproductive health.

Following the training seminar, the staff of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan, together with the international consultant of UNFPA, physician Aysel Vazova, and the national consultant of the United Nations Population Fund, made a working visit to the Lebap and Balkan velayats from 14 to 16 October 2023. During the visit, meetings were organized with representatives of government agencies and public associations of these regions engaged in provision of reproductive health services.

This visit was conducted as part of the technical support provided to the Office of the Ombudsman and was part of a set of events organized in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund to raise awareness on gender equality and reproductive law. The primary objective of these events was to strengthen the professional skills of the staff of the Ombudsman’s Office in gender equality and reproductive law, which corresponded to the priorities of the National Action Plan on Gender Equality for 2021-2025. This visit was conducted as part of the technical support provided to the Office of the Ombudsman and is part of a set of events organized in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund to raise awareness on gender equality and reproductive law. The main purpose of these events is to strengthen the professional skills of the staff of the Ombudsman's Office in the field of gender equality and reproductive law, which corresponds to the priorities of the National Action Plan on Gender Equality for 2021-2025. During the visit, best practices and positive achievements of government institutions and public associations providing reproductive health services were looked into. Positive steps in the implementation of the state policy of the President of Turkmenistan on the development of gender equality and the provision of reproductive health services were particularly noted.

From 17 to 20 October 2023, a working visit of international experts from the Asia-Pacific Forum (APF) to Turkmenistan was held, organized within the framework of cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Office in Turkmenistan and the Regional Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for Central Asia. APF experts held consultations with the staff of the Ombudsman’s Office to strengthen its capacity, including the development of a Strategic Plan, in accordance with the capacity assessment conducted in 2022.

This cooperation contributed to not only strengthening the professional skills of the staff of the Ombudsman’s Office, but also ensured interaction within the framework of a regional network of human rights institutions, facilitating the exchange of experience and knowledge in the field of human rights protection and the rule of law.

On 13-14 December 2023, representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan took part in a two-day seminar on ‘Studying the experience of creating a national preventive mechanism (NPM) for the prevention of torture and other forms of ill-treatment with a focus on women deprived of their liberty’. The event was held at the Archabil Hotel of the capital and at the UN House in Ashgabat.

The seminar was organized within the framework of cooperation between the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan within the framework of the project on ‘Improving the institutional capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan’. The participants comprised members of the Working Group of the Interagency Commission and representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan, along with heads of representative offices of international organizations in Ashgabat.

The seminar reviewed international standards for the prevention of torture, especially against women in prison. The participants stressed the importance of holding a seminar and developing cooperation to share experiences in this area.

During 2023, the Ombudsman’s Office actively interacted with international organizations and national human rights bodies. This activity contributed to strengthening the capacity of an independent human rights institution, developing cooperation with international partners in the field of human and civil rights and freedoms.

Turkmenistan’s foreign strategy was focused on effective cooperation with international organizations to ensure sustainable global development. As a matter of fact, our country consistently implemented specific measures within the framework of its international obligations in the field of human rights.

Based on the above, and taking into account Turkmenistan’s foreign policy activities in the field of human rights in 2023, the recommendations of the Ombudsman’s Office on further concerted efforts in the following areas of cooperation on human rights protection include the following:

• to strengthen the work on the implementation of Turkmenistan’s new human rights obligations announced within the framework of the ‘Human Rights 75’ campaign;
• ministries and agencies to take necessary measures to implement the recommendations of the UN treaty bodies taken into account by Turkmenistan;
• to explore the possibility of joining new international human rights instruments.

 

Chapter VIII. Inquiries and recommendations of the Ombudsman

Pursuant to article 19 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the main functions of the Ombudsman - the Authorized Representative for Human Rights, are to promote respect for human and civil rights and freedoms and restore violated human and civil rights and freedoms. In addition, according to article 18 of the said Law, the Ombudsman’s powers include consideration of appeals from citizens of Turkmenistan, foreign citizens, stateless persons who are on the territory of Turkmenistan, against actions and decisions of officials and organizations related to violations of their rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, other normative legal acts and international treaties of Turkmenistan. The norms on the rights and duties of the Ombudsman to assist in the restoration of violated human and civil rights and freedoms are set out in detail in articles 28 and 29 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’.

In accordance with article 27 of the above-mentioned Law, the Ombudsman, within the limits of his powers, has the right to seek assistance in verifying complaints accepted for processing to competent state bodies, local self-government bodies and officials. On the basis of article 30, when establishing the fact of violation of human and civil rights and freedoms, the Ombudsman sends a recommendation to an enterprise, institution, organization or officials with a proposal to take the necessary measures for the immediate restoration of rights. According to paragraph 2 of part 1 of Article 18, the Ombudsman makes a decision by examining the necessary documents received from the ground.

This chapter of the Report, as indicated in chapter IV on the analysis of complaints/appeals, shows that 112 appeals were received in the year under review. Due to disagreement with the responses to 2 appeals, 2 recommendations of the Ombudsman were sent out; 4 were reviewed by obtaining the necessary documents from the ground; 10 were sent out based on the merits. In this regard, it is deemed appropriate to dwell in more detail on some of the appeals considered and satisfied in this chapter based on the results of the inspections, mainly by sending a request to the competent state bodies, local governments and officials on the basis of article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ for assistance in verifying appeals received from citizens in written and oral forms, as well as by telephone.

In accordance with the Constitution of Turkmenistan and the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Education’, everyone has the right to education. The right to education is one of the fundamental and inalienable constitutional human rights. Despite this, in one of the appeals received by the Ombudsman’s Office, the citizen indicated that he had encountered difficulties in enrolling his child in the 1^st grade of a specialized music school, and asked for assistance in this matter.

A statement from a resident of Ashgabat, G.B., expressing dissatisfaction with the refusal to admit his son to study in the 1^st grade of a specialized secondary school, and requesting assistance in this matter, was accepted for proceedings and, on the basis of article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, sent to the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan. The formal response received as a result of consideration of the appeal, stated that K.B. - G.B.’s son was accepted in a specialized music secondary school and was studying in the 1^st grade.To the highly respected Ombudsman Y. Gurbannazarova, 

Adalat/Justice Palace, Turkmenistan

We express our deep gratitude to you for your great contribution to the glory of our Great Motherland. On behalf of our family, we wish you the fulfillment of your best wishes. For all your efforts for the people and the Motherland, may the Great Allah pour abundance and wealth on you.

Respectfully, 

A resident of the city of Ashgabat G.B.

Despite the safeguards of the Constitution of Turkmenistan, the Housing Code of Turkmenistan and other normative legal acts, the rights of citizens of our country to receive housing and live in acquired residential premises, there are cases of forced appeals to various organizations, including the Ombudsman in connection with the violation of the rights of some citizens to housing.

The Office of the Ombudsman accepted a written appeal from a resident of Ashgabat, M.G., with a request to assist in the purchase of housing, for proceedings. Based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the request of the Ombudsman was considered by the mayor of Ashgabat. According to the results of the fact-checking conducted by the hyakimlik, it was reported that the Public Working Commission on Housing of the hyakimlik of the city of Ashgabat satisfied M.G.’s request to purchase an apartment in a 4-storey 32-apartment building under construction in the Buzmeyin etrap, city of Ashgabat based on an agreement with a contractor. The payment for housing under construction was based on a construction equity agreement, therefore in accordance with the concluded agreement it had to be resolved directly with the customer. The customer/applicant was advised to contact the contractor.

The Constitution of the country enshrines the right of every person to inviolability of the home, and defines that no one has the right to enter a home or otherwise violate the inviolability of the home against the will of the persons living in it or without legitimate grounds. A person has the right to protect his home against encroachments, and no one can be deprived of his home except on the grounds established by law. However, despite this, some appeals received by the Ombudsman's Office described cases of attempts to create obstacles to the realization of these constitutional rights of citizens.

The Ombudsman’s office accepted an appeal from a resident of Ashgabat, L.B., which expressed dissatisfaction with the actions of a representative of the local Police Department, who evicted her along with young children from her place of residence, and requested that measures be taken against illegal actions of the police officer. Based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s inquiry was sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan. In its formal response on the consideration of the inquiry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs informed that a representative of the local Police Department and Sh.A., L.B.’s husband, with whom she lived without official marriage registration, were summoned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, preventive work was carried out with them and an official warning was issued. As reported, L.B. was satisfied with the measures taken.

To Authorised Representative for Human Rights - Ombudsman of Turkmenistan Yazdursun Gurbannazarova from Ms XX

Allow me to express my great gratitude and appreciation with which you and your staff responded to my statement on the issue of illegal actions of a police officer and a citizen A. in relation to me and my minor children. On your request, work was carried out in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan, after which the police officer who was mentioned in my complaint was severely reprimanded. A conversation was held with the citizen A about his illegal actions. I was notified of this personally. 

I consider it my civic duty to convey the words of gratitude to you and your team. Thank you for your invaluable contribution!

Sincerely, 

25.10. 2023

Some appeals received by the Office of the Ombudsman have shown that there were misunderstandings between family members regarding registration at the place of residence of citizens; there were also cases of creating obstacles to each other in the exercise of this right due to a misunderstanding of the norms of national legislation. The explanatory work carried out on the ground on the norms of legislation has led to a satisfactory solution of such issues.

An appeal from a resident of Ashgabat, M.M., for assistance in obtaining documents for an apartment from his brother for registration of a residence permit at the place of residence was accepted for processing by the Office of the Ombudsman. Based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s inquiry was sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan. As reported in the reply, M.M. and his brother were summoned to the appropriate department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan and as a result of the conversation, the issue raised in M.M.’s statement was resolved satisfactorily.

N0 76 28/03/2023

86 Alisher Navoi Street, Ashgabat

Adalat (Justice) Palace

 

To the Ombudsman Gurbannazarova Yazdursun from…
Thank you letter

I, NN, have written this letter to the Ombudsman Gurbannazarova Yazdursun on 01.20.2023 regarding my registration in my mother’s apartment and assistance in obtaining the necessary documents. Ombudsman Gurbannazarova Yazdursun personally responded to my appeal, reviewed the letter, and assisted in addressing my problems. 

I personally sincerely thank Ombudsman Gurbannazarova Yazdursun and the Ombudsman’s Office for solving such an important problem in my life. Many thanks to you and your staff. I wish you to continue to be wise, responsive, and good-natured in solving such important problems in people’s lives. Thank you for the fact that there is such a state Ombudsman’s office, which responds wholeheartedly to the request of ordinary citizens at any moment. May God grant you all health and prosperity in your hard care and work for the benefit of people.

Sincerely, NN

The written appeals sent to the Office of the Ombudsman also identify cases when citizens face difficulties in obtaining the necessary documents from some government agencies. The facts were also revealed when, for the above or other reason, citizens remained homeless due to the deprivation of the right to purchase or register housing in their name. As a result of the work carried out by the Ombudsman, appeals with such issues were resolved positively.

For instance, during the interview in the Office of the Ombudsman, a resident of Ashgabat, A.B., asked for assistance in solving the housing issue. In particular, as A.B. stated, after the demolition of an apartment building belonging to his father, an apartment No. 78, house No. 2 of the Parahat 4/1 housing estate was allocated instead, based on a housing certificate issued in his father’s name. However, in 2001, while collecting documents for registration, A. was sent to an institution for compulsory treatment. Upon his return from this institution in 2002, his father died and, due to the lack of a residence permit at the above address, the apartment was seized. According to the applicant, his numerous appeals to a number of organizations to obtain housing instead of the seized apartment in which he lived with his father for many years remained fruitless. As a result of the work carried out by the Ombudsman on this appeal, according to the relevant decision taken by the hyakimlik of the Kopetdag etrap, city of Ashgabat in February 2023, a one room apartment based on a housing certificate was allocated A.B., in the Kopetdag etrap of the city of Ashgabat.No 2117 11.03.2023
To the Authorised Representative for Human Rights in Turkmenistan, Ombudsman 

 Y. Gurbannazarova

from ... A. B., registered at the address: Ashgabat.....

Thank you letter

Dear Yazdursun Gurbannazarova, 

I have twice - in late 2022 and early 2023 - contacted the Office of the Ombudsman and you about the housing problem. As you might be aware, until 1998 I lived with my father, the deceased..... at the above address and after the demolition of our house, he lived at the address Parakhat..... according to a housing certificate issued in my father’s name. In 2001, during the preparation of documents for my registration at a new address, I was forced to go for treatment, and when I finished treatment in 2002, my father died, and our housing was taken away, and then for many years I applied to various institutions and organizations to help us We asked for a living place to substitute the one in which my father and I lived, but it was to no avail. I had no hope of getting a place to live and, in the end, I was forced to address you. 

As a result of the work carried out by you and your responsible employees, I was given a one-room apartment on Nurberdy Khan Street ...., and having received a housing certificate, I have now submitted my registration documents to the appropriate institution. 

Dear Yazdursun Gurbannazarova, by restoring my housing rights and solving my long-standing problem, you have once again proved that there is justice. I wish you good health, long life and success in protecting human rights. 

Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours, .................

Another case related to difficulties in obtaining the necessary documents from government agencies was established according to a written appeal from a minor resident of the Balkan velayat M.G. The appeal was drawn up in connection with difficulties in obtaining a civil passport and registration of a residence permit/propiska because the documents required to obtain a passport were not issued by the Housing and Maintenance department, Balkan velayat. The citizen appealed to the Office of the Ombudsman with a request to assist in addressing this issue. The appeal was accepted in accordance with the established procedure. Based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, an inquiry from the Ombudsman was sent to the hyakimlik of the Balkan velayat. As a result of the work carried out by the velayat hyakimlik, according to letter No. 2/561 dated 14 September 2023, the Housing and Maintenance Department, Balkan velayat issued all the necessary documents to the minor M.G., in order to resolve the issue raised in the complaint.

The Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan’, which was in force before the abolition of the Halk Maslahaty of Milli Gengesh (People’s Council) of Turkmenistan, defines that after the end of the term of office, a member of the Halk Maslahaty shall be provided with a previous job (service), in the absence of such an opportunity - another equivalent job (service). As a result of the legal reforms implemented in 2023, the Halk Maslahaty of Milli Gengesh was abolished and the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, the highest representative body of people’s power, was created.

In the reporting year, the Ombudsman’s Office received one appeal from a member of the Halk Maslahaty Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan, which indicated that he was not given the position he held before the election to the Halk Maslahaty Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan. This appeal was reviewed and, based on the results of the work carried out, the appeal was satisfied.

In particular, citizen G.R., in his appeal expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the position he held before being elected a member of the Halk Maslahaty Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan was not given to him after the abolition of the Halk Maslahaty Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan, despite the fact that this was provided for by the legislation of Turkmenistan. The Office of the Ombudsman accepted the appeal for assistance in resolving this issue. According to article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s inquiry was sent to the Ministry of Justice and, as a result of consideration, was satisfied. In response to the inquiry, it was reported that G.R., based on the relevant order of the Minister of Justice of Turkmenistan, issued in March 2023, was appointed head of the CRVS Office.

In accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Protection of Citizens’ Health’, citizens, persons with disabilities, including minor children with disabilities and those with disabilities since childhood, have the right to medical and social assistance, rehabilitation, and provision of medicines on preferential terms. In accordance with the requirements of this Law, certain categories of citizens are entitled to preferential provision of orthopedic and dental prostheses, hearing aids, means of transportation and other special means. Despite this, some citizens’ appeals received by the Ombudsman’s Office contain requests for assistance in such matters.

For example, the Ombudsman’s Office accepted an application from S.Ch., a resident of Dashoguz velayat for assistance in providing a wheelchair for his relative Y.N. According to article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s inquiry was sent to the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan. In the response of the ministry, it was reported that a meeting was held with S.Ch., and due to the state of health of Y.N., a wheelchair has been granted, and the heads of the Dashoguz velayat Health Department have been instructed to keep the provision of medical care under strict monitoring.

Article 24 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Migration’ guarantees the right of our citizens to leave Turkmenistan and enter Turkmenistan. However, despite this clause, some citizens’ appeals indicated that these norms of the law were violated and the right to free movement was limited.

The Ombudsman’s office accepted an appeal from T.K., a resident of the city of Ashgabat, with a request for assistance in the departure of young daughter E.N.S. abroad. Based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s inquiry was sent to the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan. As a result, a response was received from the Migration Service, in which it was reported that T.K.’s request for permission for the daughter E.N.S. to leave Turkmenistan was satisfied.

The work carried out by the Ombudsman’s Office on appeals from citizens of the country with a request to resolve housing issues, i.e. maintenance of residential buildings, monitoring of the quality of operation of residential buildings, landscaping of territories adjacent to residential buildings and its monitoring, as well as appeals expressing dissatisfaction with the full performance of duties assigned to local executive bodies in accordance with the Housing Code and the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On Local Executive Authorities’ resulted in positive solutions.

For example, the Ombudsman’s Office accepted a written application from Z.M., a resident of the Balkan velayat, with a request to assist in improving the living conditions of an apartment registered with the State Housing Fund. The Ombudsman’s inquiry on this issue, sent on the basis of article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ to the hyakimlik of the Balkan velayat, was considered. In the response of the velayat hyakimlik, it was reported that in the apartment where Z.M. lived, the Housing and Maintenance Trust of the city of Balkanabat carried out the necessary repairs, installed the necessary equipment, the issue raised in the statement was resolved satisfactorily.

The Ombudsman’s Office also accepted a group appeal written by residents of Ashgabat Y.K. and others, which noted the poor quality of construction of the apartment building, provided to them, and despite appeals to the relevant supervisory bodies, the shortcomings have not been eliminated. At the request of the Ombudsman based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Turkmenistan reviewed this appeal. According to the results of the inspection, it was reported that in connection with the demolition of the apartment building in which the applicants lived, they were provided with apartments in the Buzmeyin etrap of the city of Ashgabat. As it was found, the parquet floors of the apartments were damaged in places, the internal doors did not shut properly, the windows were crooked, the heating system did not work properly, there were cracks on the internal walls, there were no gas, electricity, water meters. On the basis of the Act of Prosecutorial Influence sent to the enterprise ‘Demirbetonönümleri’ of the Buzmeyin etrap, Ministry of Industry and Construction Production of Turkmenistan, the above shortcomings were eliminated.

The Ombudsman’s Office accepted a group statement from S.Ch. and other residents of Dashoguz city, in which they expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that gas supply systems and communication facilities were not installed in the apartments they purchased on the basis of an equity participation agreement in construction; the surrounding area was not landscaped. The request of the Ombudsman on the basis of article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ was sent to the hyakimlik of the Dashoguz velayat. In the response of the velayat hyakimlik, according to the results of the verification of the appeal, it was reported that the natural gas supply was fully established in the house due to gasification by the organization of the gas industry ‘Daşoguzşähergaz’, and the telecommunications company ‘Daşoguztelekom’ installed a communication line. It was also reported that work is underway to asphalt the surrounding area. Along with this, it was reported that during the meeting with S.Ch. and other applicants, it was explained that in order to install the landline in apartments, it is necessary to apply in writing to the city telecommunication company ‘Daşoguztelekom’.

The Ombudsman’s office also accepted a group appeal from E.K. and other residents of the Olam surhy village of Bugurchy gengeshlik, Koytendag etrap, Lebap velayat for assistance in conducting electricity on the land plots allocated to them. The inquiry of the Ombudsman on the basis of article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ was sent to the hyakimlik of the Lebap velayat. In the response given following the results of consideration of the application, it was reported that in accordance with the ‘National Programme of the President of Turkmenistan on the transformation of social and living conditions of the population of villages, towns, cities of etraps and etrap centres for the period up to 2028’ power transmission poles have been installed on new land plots allocated in the above-mentioned village; construction and installation works have been carried out; and the issue of electricity supply has been fully resolved.

In some complaints accepted by the Ombudsman’s Office dissatisfaction with the work of law enforcement agencies was expressed; it was indicated that requests on taking measures against persons who have committed a crime remained unattended to.

In the statement of G.G., a resident of Dashoguz velayat, it was reported that as a result of a traffic accident on the part of A.Y., the applicant’s wife P.Y. was injured. In this regard, the applicant requested assistance in taking measures against the culprit of the accident and the police investigator who conducted the investigation into the incident. The application was accepted by the Ombudsman’s Office and, based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s inquiry was sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Turkmenistan. According to the response given after fact checking, the A.Y., violating the requirements of paragraph 10.1 of the Traffic Rules of Turkmenistan, knocked down P.Y. standing by the side of the road by his car. As it was established, at the time of the traffic accident, A.Y. was not intoxicated and assumed all the costs of restoring P.Y.’s health. Concurrently, a counter-statement was submitted to the Police department, which indicated that P.Y. had no complaints against the driver A.Y. Despite the fact that in the act of A.Y. corpus delicti specified in part 3 of Article 326 of the Criminal Code of Turkmenistan occurred, taking into account the above circumstances, the investigator of the Boldumsaz etrap Police department, referring to the law, refused to initiate criminal proceedings. During the check, the decision of the Prosecutor’s office of the Boldumsaz district to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings was annulled. According to the results of an additional check by the Police department of the Boldumsaz etrap, it was found that the victim P.Y., in order to restore her health after her injury, repeatedly received treatment in the hospital, and needed financial assistance for complete recovery. In case of A.Y.'s refusal to provide assistance, P.Y. asked to take measures against the culprit of the incident. Taking into account this circumstance, based on part 3 of Article 364 of the Penal Code of Turkmenistan, a criminal case was initiated against A.Y. Upon completion of the preliminary investigation, the criminal case was sent to the appropriate court. It was also reported that A.Y. fully paid the expenses related to the treatment at the hospital of P.Y.

The Ombudsman’s office accepted a statement from O.B., a resident of Ashgabat, for assistance in taking measures against his son and daughter-in-law, who periodically bothered him, his wife and younger daughter, caused scandals and inflicted bodily harm. Based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s appeal was sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan. As a result of the check up, it was established that on 28 May 2023, due to a housing conflict, O.B., his wife A.G., and daughter G.B., quarreled with their son M.B. and his wife A.H. According to this fact, the Police department of the Bagtyyarlyk etrap of the Ashgabat City Police Department refused to initiate a criminal case. In response to the consideration of the appeal, it was reported that the Prosecutor’s office of the Bagtyyarlyk etrap, city of Ashgabat annulled the decision to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings on the above-mentioned conflict and an additional check was being conducted.

Unfortunately, among the appeals received by the Ombudsman’s Office, there were appeals for assistance in taking measures against persons engaged in fraud, who entered into the confidence of citizens and caused heavy material damage to families.

The Ombudsman’s Office accepted an appeal from H.M., a resident of the Ahal velayat, for assistance in initiating criminal proceedings against persons who fraudulently took handmade Turkmen carpets from him, to withdraw handmade Turkmen carpets from them or to take their value. Based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s inquiry was sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Turkmenistan. According to the response received based on the results of consideration of the application, N.N. a resident of the city of Ashgabat in the period from April 2020 to February 2021, on record, took from H.M. 61 pieces of handmade Turkmen carpets of various sizes for a total of 45,000 US dollars. He did not pay the money for the goods, thereby committing fraud. It was also reported that the Police department of the Baherden etrap/district conducted an investigation in accordance with articles 214-215 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Turkmenistan, and a criminal case was opened against N.N., due to the occurrence of corpus delicti provided for in part 4 of Article 249 of the Penall Code of Turkmenistan.

It should be noted that in comparison with previous years, the number of requests from citizens for assistance in employment matters has decreased. The appeals received by the Office of the Ombudsman on issues of this nature have been accepted and, in accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’ appeals have been sent to the authorized bodies.

During interviews conducted on the ground with people who applied for employment, despite the vacancies offered, some refused offers, explaining this by a desire to work only in certain positions and in certain territories. The following statement is an example of this.

The statement of S.B., a resident of the Balkan velayat, was accepted by the Office of the Ombudsman, which expressed dissatisfaction with the decision on his employment, and requested assistance in this. Based on article 27 of the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’, the Ombudsman’s inquiry was sent to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan. According to the response given based on consideration of the issue, it was reported that employees of the Department of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Esenguly district of the Balkan velayat met with the applicant S.B., and provided him with information about available vacancies in institutions/ enterprises located on the territory of the district. However, the applicant refused the offered jobs, expressing a desire to work in other institutions located on the territory of district. Thus, according to the official response, an answer was given to S.B. explaining that the applicant had the right to ask the district Employment Department of Labour and Social Protection of the Population on the availability of vacancies in institutions located within the district in which he wished to work.

During the year under review, the Ombudsman’s Office also received telephone calls and oral appeals during the reception of citizens. All appeals were listened to; clarifications were given in accordance with the legislation, along with adequate recommendations. There were also cases when operational work was required to address the issues raised.

Thus, in early January 2023, G.S., a resident of the city of Ashgabat contacted the Office of the Ombudsman through the phone and informed that he lived alone, and asked to facilitate the appointment of a social worker assigned to hum due to his visual impediment (blindness). The Ombudsman made an oral inquiry to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population for assistance to the applicant G.S. As a result, the issue of G.S. was considered and in accordance with current legislation, a special social worker was assigned to him to provide assistance in daily social services. The Ministry gave an oral response to the Ombudsman about this.

One of the primary tasks of the Ombudsman’s is to assist in the development of international human rights cooperation, as well as to consider appeals from national human rights institutions of foreign states, should it be necessary to consider the issues raised in the appeals on the territory of Turkmenistan. According to incoming requests from the above-mentioned institutions, the Ombudsman, within the limits of her powers, carried out appropriate work, which is covered in the relevant chapter of the Report.

During the year under review, five appeals were received from Authorized Representatives for Human Rights of other states, and as a result of the work done by the Ombudsman, the documents requested in the appeals were received from the relevant structures and forwarded to their destination.

This chapter on the Ombudsman’s appeals and proposals provides examples demonstrating that the Ombudsman’s Office considered in good faith and successfully addressed appeals received. In addition, the goal of focusing on the committed offenses was to facilitate the prevention of human rights violations.

 

Chapter IХ. Conclusion

The Report of the Authorized Representative for Human Rights in Turkmenistan, the Ombudsman, on the human rights situation in the country - is the Seventh annual report of the Ombudsman. It highlights the work done in the year 2023 with the motto ‘Happy youth with Arkadag Serdar’ that coincided with 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It outlines the activities of the Ombudsman carried out in accordance with the objectives stipulated by the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ and in accordance with the ‘Work Plan of the Ombudsman’s Office for 2023’ approved within the Ombudsman’s mandate.

The year under review has seen the activities of the Ombudsman's Office in accordance with the Work Plan that were aimed at ensuring civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of man and citizen, monitoring the observance of human rights by state and local government bodies, officials, proper consideration of citizens’ appeals, improvement of national legislation, development of international human rights cooperation, increasing knowledge and awareness on human rights, assistance to the work of civil society aimed at protecting human rights, improving the activities of the Ombudsman’s Office.

At the same time, the work done by the Ombudsman over the past year comprised monitoring activity of the human rights situation in the country and fulfilling the duties assigned to the Ombudsman in accordance with the Law on supplementing existing state remedies of protecting human and civil rights and freedoms. Certain chapters of the Report cover it, showing the examples of important socio-political events and concrete facts about the work done, the activities carried out to ensure human and civil rights to a decent life, health protection, education, housing, work, recreation, clean environment and other rights.

The Report provides data on the results of handling citizens’ appeals and some inspections, as a result of which, in cases of violation of the law, citizens’ rights were restored and measures were taken against responsible officials. Based on the results of the work carried out during the reporting year, 13 recommendations of the Ombudsman were sent to the relevant ministries, sectoral departments, and hyakimliks (municipalities). In addition, the relevant chapters of the Report introduce the work done by the Ombudsman in 2023 within the mandate, in such areas as the development of international cooperation, improvement of national legislation, and assistance in raising awareness in the field of human rights.

As in the previous years, the activities carried out, resulted in the recommendations detailed at the end of each chapter. The Ombudsman’s recommendations relate to improving the work carried out in various fields, strengthening monitoring and supervision and preventing human rights violations. In this context, we express confidence that responsible government officials and local self-governments, will continue to facilitate the observance of human rights within their powers.

In conclusion, we express our gratitude to the Government of Turkmenistan for the unwavering support and the conditions created for the Ombudsman to fully exercise the powers assigned to the Ombudsman in accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan ‘On the Ombudsman’ and for further improving the activities of the Office.

The Ombudsman also assures that, within the mandate provided for by Law, together with the consolidated dedicated staff of the Office, in accordance with the needs of the time, she will be improving the work aimed at strict observance of human, civil rights, and freedoms in the country, thereby strengthening the activities of the Ombudsman’s Office