The Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is a non-governmental organization, based in Bulgaria, for the promotion of human rights in Turkmenistan. The organization was founded on July 21, 2003, in Varna, Bulgaria as a branch of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.

In 2006, THF activists Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev were arrested by Turkmenistani security forces on espionage charges, later changed to illegal firearm charges.[1] Amnesty International considers them prisoners of conscience and named them a 2011 "priority case."[1] Front Line,[2] Reporters Without Borders,[3] and Human Rights Watch[4] have all described the charges as fabricated. On 11 December 2010, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also called for their immediate release, stating that their detention was a violation of international law.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "ANNAKURBAN AMANKLYCHEV AND SAPARDURDY KHADZHIEV, PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  2. ^ "Fears for three Turkmen human rights defenders held incommunicado". Front Line. 3 August 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  3. ^ "Reporters Without Borders Concerned Over Conditions Faced by Turkmen Prisoners". Reporters Without Borders. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. ^ "Letter to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov regarding human rights concerns in Turkmenistan". Human Rights Watch. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  5. ^ "United Nations declares Turkmenistan's detention of Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev a violation of international law". Freedom Now. 11 December 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.

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