Turkmenistan
In early 2026, Turkmenistan remains one of the most closed and repressive "hermit kingdoms" in the world. Since Serdar Berdimuhamedow took over the presidency from his father in 2022, the state has further tightened its absolute control over all facets of public and private life, scoring a near-zero (1/100) on global freedom indices.
The primary human rights issues in Turkmenistan as of 2026 include:
1. Total Suppression of Information and Media
Turkmenistan operates one of the world's most sophisticated and restrictive censorship regimes.
The "Intranet" (Turkmenet): Access to the global World Wide Web is almost non-existent for ordinary citizens. In 2025 and 2026, the government expanded its blocking list to over 122,000 domains, including all major social media (X, Facebook, YouTube) and independent news outlets.
VPN Crackdown and Corruption: Security officials have turned censorship into a profit-making scheme. In late 2025, reports emerged that cybersecurity officials were deliberately blocking free VPNs to sell access to state-monitored, profit-generating "legal" alternatives.+1
Targeting TikTok and "Indecency": In September 2025, a woman was sentenced to 15 days in jail specifically for reading "anti-government" websites and posting what authorities deemed "indecent" photos on TikTok.
2. State-Imposed Forced Labor
Despite "roadmaps" signed with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the 2025 and 2026 cotton harvests remain fueled by systemic coercion.
"Work or Pay": Public sector employees—including teachers, doctors, and nurses—are forced to either pick cotton themselves or pay a "replacement fee" (roughly 30 manats per day as of August 2025) to hire substitutes.
Child Labor Under-the-Radar: While official policy bans child labor, the economic pressure on families often results in children being sent to the fields in place of their parents to fulfill state quotas.
3. Systematic Gender Discrimination and "Morality"
In 2025 and 2026, the state intensified its campaign against women’s bodily autonomy and social freedom.
Forced "Virginity Tests": Reports from the Balkan Province in early 2025 confirmed that female high school students were subjected to mandatory gynecological exams, with results reported directly to the police.
Dress Codes: In March 2025, an informal but strictly enforced dress code was introduced for female public sector workers, requiring unmarried women to wear yellow headscarves and married women to wear traditional yellow dresses.
Restricted Abortion Access: A de facto ban on voluntary abortions after five weeks remains in place—a point at which most people do not even know they are pregnant.
4. Transnational Repression and Passport Denial
The government increasingly targets the Turkmen diaspora, particularly in Turkey and Russia.
Passport "Hostage" Policy: Turkmenistan refuses to renew passports through its consulates abroad. This forces citizens to return to Turkmenistan, where they frequently face immediate travel bans or arrest, effectively trapping them in the country.
Forced Returns: Throughout 2025 and early 2026, several Turkmen activists in Turkey disappeared or were forcibly deported back to Ashgabat, where they remain in "enforced disappearance" status.
5. Enforced Disappearances and Political Prisoners
The fate of dozens of people arrested during the early 2000s remains a state secret.
"Prove They Are Alive": International campaigns continue to demand information on at least 96 individuals who have vanished into the prison system.
The Case of Murat Dushemov: In June 2025, activist Murat Dushemov was scheduled for release after a four-year sentence; instead, he was held in pretrial detention on new, dubious charges of "assaulting a prisoner," a common tactic used to extend the sentences of political dissidents indefinitely.
6. Religious Persecution
Only state-approved versions of Islam and Russian Orthodoxy are tolerated.
Conscientious Objectors: In January 2026, two Jehovah’s Witnesses (Agabek Rozbaev and Arslan Vepaev) were sentenced to corrective labor for refusing military service on religious grounds.
Surveillance of Worship: During Ramadan in 2025, police reportedly stationed themselves at mosques to confiscate the phones of worshipers to check for "extremist" content or unauthorized religious materials.