VZCZCXRO6215
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1100/01 2350452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 220452Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1401
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4195
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2007
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1872
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 2443
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2805

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001100 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, PPD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: INTERNATIONALS GIVE COMMENTS ON 
DRAFT CONSTITUTION 
 
REF: A. ASHGABAT 1068 
     ¶B. ASHGABAT 1026 
     ¶C. ASHGABAT 0963 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  SUMMARY: On August 12, diplomats from various 
Western embassies met at a UN-hosted roundtable to provide 
comments to Turkmenistan's draft constitution.  On August 20, 
the UN resident coordinator "informally" passed those 
comments to  Institute for Democracy and Human Rights 
director Shirin Akhmedova.  Akhmedova welcomed the 
contribution and indicated that she would carefully review 
the recommendations and present them to the parliament for 
consideration.  It is anybody's guess, what, if any of these 
suggestions, gets incorporated into the final document. 
Nevertheless, this was probably the best avenue for getting 
these proposals into receptive hands.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On August 12, Ambassadors and Charges representing 
the United States, UK,  French, Turkish, and German 
embassies, OSCE, UNDP, and UNICEF met at a roundtable hosted 
by the UN resident coordinator to discuss and provide 
comments on Turkmenistan's draft constitution.  The comments 
were uniformly constructive.  After consolidating the 
comments, the UN sent them around for review by the 
participants. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The UN resident coordinator met August 20 with 
Institute for Democracy and Human Rights director Shirin 
Akhmedova, a member of the Constitutional Commission, and 
presented her with the group's recommendations.  The UN 
resident coordinator stressed that the recommendations were 
made in a constructive spirit, bearing in mind the 
government's expressed commitment to align its legislation 
with international standards.  Akhmedova welcomed the 
contribution and indicated that she would carefully review 
the recommendations and present them to the parliament for 
consideration. The UN resident coordinator gained the sense 
from the meeting that Akhmedova really did appreciate the 
group's inputs to the constitutional amendment exercise. 
 
¶5. (U) The following are the submitted comments, keyed to the 
articles in the draft: 
 
-- Article 12 (on freedom of religion):  There should be 
mention of the state's non-interference into religious 
affairs.  In addition to guaranteeing the freedom of 
religions and confessions, it should declare that "the state 
should guarantee the equality of religions and confessions 
before the law." 
 
-- Article 19 (on human rights and liberties) The term 
"fundamental human rights" should be changed to "all human 
rights."  A clause should be added saying "children under the 
age of 16 may not be deprived of their liberty under any 
circumstances."  Reason:  Currently, Turkenistan has a 
two-tiered minimum age for criminal responsibility, for which 
it has been criticized by the Committee on the Rights of the 
Child. The recommendation from the Committee is to have one 
-- the highest possible age. 
 
-- Article 24 (on detention or arrest)  The stipulation of 
detention of citizens "for some time" in urgent cases needs 
further clarification. 
 
-- Article 27 (on the right of free movement) The article 
should contain a clause on the right to leave the country. 
 
-- Article 29 (on the right to information) The article lacks 
a clear reference to the law which should specify what is 
regarded as secret or classified information, and therefore 
should define what are state or official secrets. 
 
 
ASHGABAT 00001100  002 OF 003 
 
 
-- Article 30 (on freedom of assembly)  Freedom of assembly, 
demonstration and rally should simply be guaranteed. 
 
-- Article 31 (on political parties)  Propaganda of "social 
inequality" is unclear, because of the lack of definition of 
what social inequality in this context actually means. 
 
-- Article 34 (on the right to work) The sentence in the 
first paragraph on the prohibition of forced labor, except as 
envisaged by law, should simply state that forced labor is 
prohibited or it should explain those circumstances when 
forced labor is lawful.  The following sentence should be 
added to the first paragraph: "All forms of labor of persons 
under the age of 15 are prohibited."  Reason: This sentence 
will ensure the compliance with the ILO Convention 182 on 
worst forms of child labor Article 3 (d) as well as the 
National Law on Guarantees of the Rights of Youth to labor. 
 
--Article 35 (on recreation) It is unclear what is meant by 
"rational use of free time." 
 
-- Article 37 (on natural resources) The article should read: 
"The state supervises the efficient and sustainable use of 
natural resources with the aim of protection and improvement 
of citizens' living conditions, as well as protection and 
restoration of the environment. 
 
-- Article 39 (on the right to education) There should be a 
clear reference to a specific law regulating the process of 
establishing private schools. 
 
-- Article 41 (on the rights and liberties of citizens)  This 
article could be interpreted as depriving citizens of 
Turkmenistan of their rights if they don't fulfill duties to 
society and should be changed. 
 
-- Article 42 (on the duty to serve in the army)  The article 
should substitute adult males for "men," so that it is clear 
that adults are the ones who can be conscripted.  The term of 
service should also be specified and provision should be made 
for conscientious objectors. 
 
-- Article 44 (on protection of honor and dignity)  The 
article lacks clarification of the legal guarantee of the 
honor and dignity of foreign nationals. 
 
-- Article 52 (on election of the president of Turkmenistan) 
The clause on the high respect and recognition of the 
candidate qualified for election be dropped due to the 
impossibility to measure the extent of public respect or 
recognition enjoyed by the candidate.  The reference to being 
someone working in state bodies seems quite restrictive and 
limits the pool of potential candidates for the post of 
president by possibly preventing those from academia, the 
business community, and other sectors of society from 
participating. 
 
-- Article 54 (on the president of Turkmenistan)  The 
paragraph on the Central Election Commission lacks detail on 
the kind of changes (qualitative or quantitative) the 
president can make to its composition. 
 
-- Article 59 (on the transfer of power) The article needs 
clarification, setting the norms for people making up the 
State Security Council.  The process of appointing an acting 
president is not clear.  Also, it is unclear what are the 
criteria for choosing one or another deputy chair of the 
Cabinet of Ministers for the post of acting president. 
 
-- Chapter V (local authorities)  There is no clear 
definition or description of functions of local halk 
maslahatys and separation of their duties from executive 
authorities. 
 
 
ASHGABAT 00001100  003 OF 003 
 
 
-- Article 103 (on appointment of judges) There is no 
description of the procedure for dismissal of judges. 
 
-- Article 107 (on legal proceedings in courts) There needs 
to be a provision on access to language services for 
defendants whose native language is not Turkmen. 
 
-- Article 109 (on qualified legal support)  The right to 
qualified legal support should be "guaranteed" rather than 
"recognized." 
 
-- No article on gender discrimination.  There should be a 
separate article prohibiting gender discrimination.  This 
will ensure compliance with international standards as per 
the CEDAW.  That committee has issued concluding observations 
that recommend that Turkmenistan "incorporate fully the 
definition of discrimination against women, encompassing both 
direct and indirect discrimination, in line with article 1 of 
the Convention, in its constitution." 
 
-- No article on freedom and independence of media.  There 
should be an article on freedom and independence of the 
media.  Suggested language: "The State shall promote and 
ensure the freedom and independence of the media.  All 
state-owned media shall be empowered to have fair 
opportunities and facilities for the presentation of free 
views and opinions.  There shall be no impediments to the 
establishment of private press or media.  All citizens have 
the right to free and open access to information from all 
media sources." 
 
-- Other General Comments.  The constitution refers to 
citizens' rights without specifying if foreign nationals are 
entitled to the rights enjoyed by Turkmen nationals.  There 
is no constitutional court in Turkmenistan to determine 
compliance or non-compliance of laws with the constitution. 
Currently, the parliament has this role, which can be 
interpreted as conflict of interest. (article 64). 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT:  It made sense to convey comments by 
internationals "informally" to the government via the UN. 
The government had not provided another avenue for comments 
by the international community.  And Akhmedova, who is one of 
the most forward-leaning of Turkmen officials, is charged 
with helping the country meet its international obligations 
regarding human rights.  It will be anybody's guess, however, 
what, if any of these suggestions, gets incorporated into the 
final document.  Certainly, Akhmedova's voice will not be the 
only one regarding the issue.  One hopeful note that 
something might make the cut was conveyed to us by the head 
of the UNHCR office.  Weeks ago, she had independently 
approached Akhmedova to include language on refugees. 
Akhmedova had assured her that the language, which was lifted 
from the UN convention, would be incorporated.  END COMMENT. 
CURRAN