(Washington, DC)--Amnesty International welcomes reports that Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev, a 64 year-old prisoner of conscience from Turkmenistan, was ordered to be released today by the government of Turkmenistan. Durdykuliev was arrested and forcibly confined to a psychiatric hospital on February 13, 2004, after he asked President Niyazov for authorization to hold a peaceful political protest. As one of Amnesty International USA's five Special Focus Cases in 2006, Durdykuliev's case was the subject of intensive advocacy by the organization.

"Dissent is not an illness; it is a right protected by international law," said Michael O'Reilly, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) Casework Director. "The forcible psychiatric confinement of Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev was a chilling reverberation from the Soviet era, when many dissidents were locked away in psychiatric hospitals in an effort to silence them. We hope that Mr. Durdykuliev's reported release signals repudiation by Turkmen authorities of this odious practice."

AIUSA activists from across the country worked on Durdykuliev's behalf. More than 400 AIUSA student groups in the Northeast United States "adopted" Durdykuliev, sending hundreds of letters and petitions to Turkmen authorities calling for his immediate release. AIUSA also worked with Congress to draw more attention to Durdykuliev's case, both by writing letters and meeting with officials. On April 4, 2006--partly due to AIUSA's efforts--54 members of Congress sent a letter to the President of Turkmenistan calling for Durdykuliev's release and condemning the use of forced psychiatric confinement of political dissidents.

Amnesty International is particularly concerned about Durdykuliev's health. While in confinement, he was believed to suffer from severe stomach pains and the aftermath of a heart attack he experienced before his confinement in the psychiatric hospital.

Background

On January 3, 2004, Durdykuliev, then 63, sent a letter to President Saparmurad Niyazov and to the governor of the Balkan region, asking them to authorize a two-day demonstration on the main square of Balkanabad on February 18-19, to coincide with the President's birthday. He wrote: "We want to carry out a peaceful demonstration ... to express our disagreement with the policies of the President and other senior government officials and urge them to rectify any shortcomings in due course ... I ask you to refrain from using force against the participants of the meeting." Durdykuliev had earlier criticized Niyazov's policies in interviews he gave to the USA-funded Radio Liberty and had openly spoken about the need to form an opposition political party in Turkmenistan.

On February 13, six medical personnel and six others, possibly police, seized Durdykuliev at his house in Suvchy in western Turkmenistan and took him to a psychiatric hospital in the town of Balkanabad (formerly called Nebitdag), where he was forcibly confined. Shortly afterwards he was transferred across the country to a psychiatric hospital in Garashsyzlyk district in the eastern Lebap region. A commission at the psychiatric hospital chaired by an official of the Ministry of Health reportedly declared Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev to be mentally ill. He was officially diagnosed as suffering from "wild paranoia in an aggressive form." However, several medical staff of the hospital in Garashsyzlyk district reportedly were pressured to diagnose him as mentally ill.

Contact: Devon Haynie, 202-544-0200 x 232

Send this page to a friend

Your Email:
Friend's Email:
Add a Message:
Security code: (case sensitive)