TURKMENISTAN'S NEW WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001400

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, G/TIP, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SMIG SOCI KWMN TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN'S NEW WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND
ANTI-TRAFFICKING LAWS: POSITIVE FRAMEWORKS, BUT LACKING
IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS

REF: ASHGABAT 1387

Classified By: Charge Richard E. Hoagland for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Turkmenistan's new laws on women's rights
and trafficking-in-persons, published on December 19 and 20
(reftel),demonstrate a noteworthy desire to address these
two problem issues, according to two locally based foreign
legal experts. Nonetheless, the two laws contain some
substantial gaps -- most notably, they lack implementing
frameworks -- that will prevent either from being anything
more than window dressing until additional legislation is
passed. Both experts attribute the laws' shortcomings to a
lack of capacity and limited legal understanding, rather than
a lack of will to address these issues, and believe that
international cooperation is essential if Turkmenistan is to
get the next steps right. President Berdimuhamedov seems to
agree and called for establishment of a new special
commission and Law Institute to oversee improvement of
Turkmenistan's laws, as well as greater cooperation with the
international community. The environment seems increasingly
receptive to new U.S. initiatives in this area, if funding is
available. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) As noted reftel, Turkmenistan published two new laws
on December 19 and 20: the "Law on State Guarantees of Equal
Rights of Women" and the "Law on the Battle against
Trafficking in Persons." Both were new pieces of legislation
that have been on the drafting list for the Third Session of
the Mejlis (Parliament) since 2005, and both were efforts to
respond to pressure from the international community for
legislation in these areas. Post will e-mail to the
Turkmenistan desk officer English-language translations of
both laws.

A SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD


3. (C) A locally based ABA-CEELI representative and the
Acting Human Dimension Officer from the OSCE Center in
Ashgabat both concurred during separate meetings on December
26 that the two new pieces of legislation, particularly the
trafficking-in-persons (TIP) law, are basically positive.
Both experts agreed that, while Turkmenistan's authorities
continue to deny publicly that TIP or discrimination against
women are problems here, the fact that these laws exist
constitutes a tacit admission that these issues could become
problems -- and, as such, represents a significant step
forward. Indeed, these two experts maintained (and local
civic representatives and even some government officials
privately have acknowledged),the laws, in fact, represent an
effort to respond to areas where there already is a growing
need for legislation -- and action.

LAW ON EQUAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN: REITERATES LEGAL GUARANTEES OF
EQUALITY


4. (SBU) According to the experts from ABA-CEELI and the
OSCE Center, although the "Law on Equal Rights of Women" does
not have any potentially problematic clauses, it represents
more a statement of policies and principles that already
exist in Turkmenistan's constitution and laws, rather than a
document with groundbreaking new guarantees. The new law
quotes constitutional guarantees of equal rights and freedoms
in political, social-economic, cultural and other spheres of
human activity. It reaffirms that women should have equal
status with men in all spheres of life and society, and
reiterates women's equality with men in family relations. It
forbids discrimination against women and enumerates women's
rights in the areas of family, work, education and health.
The new law also lays out a definition of discrimination.

TIP LAW: A "STRUCTURALLY SOUND" STEPPING STONE


5. (SBU) By contrast, the TIP law represents an effort to

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break new ground, according to the OSCE Center official.
Although the TIP concept was first mentioned in the highly
problematic 2005 Law on Migration, it was never elaborated.
The new law introduces a number of new legal concepts,
including human trafficking, traffickers, exploitation,
recruiting and TIP victims. It makes a move to incorporate
some of the most basic international standards and states
that the conditions of any international TIP-related treaties
or agreements to which Turkmenistan accedes supercede local
laws, states that TIP is illegal and broadly hints that the
criminal law should be revised to explicitly include TIP
activities. The new law also discusses the need to establish
"specialized agencies" to assist victims, indicates that
juvenile victims should be handled separately from adults,
and assigns the responsibility for drafting the follow-on
legislation on these agencies to the Cabinet of Ministers.

...BUT NEITHER LAW CAN STAND ALONE


6. (C) However, both experts agreed, the major shortcoming
of both laws is that neither creates mechanisms for ensuring
their implementation. For example, although the women's
equality law defines discrimination, it does not lay out any
sort of civil or criminal mechanism for addressing cases of
discrimination. While the law says that women should have
full equality with men in all spheres of life and society, it
does not create an affirmative action mechanism to ensure
that women are given equal opportunities. The law also does
not directly address domestic violence. And, while the TIP
law states that TIP is illegal, it does not explicitly
criminalize such activities, nor does it lay out possible
punishments. (It does, however, state that criminal cases
related to TIP should be tried in closed court sessions.) It
also makes no provision for guaranteeing victims' privacy or
for witness protection.


7. (C) In short, the two experts concluded, both laws are
stepping stones, but the government must follow through --
soon -- with additional legislation containing blueprints for
implementation. And, these experts also agreed, it is better
for the implementing mechanisms to be introduced through
national legislation, rather than through a series of
presidential decrees, a common practice here that, while
allowing the Presidential Office to add teeth to these laws
quickly, would nonetheless most likely offer a piecemeal
approach to address the problem.

NEXT STEP FOR DONORS: FOCUS ON GETTING FOLLOW-ON LEGISLATION
RIGHT


8. (C) Neither expert was surprised at the shortcomings in
the laws. They agreed that the lack of any other recent
legislation clearly demonstrates that Turkmenistan's
law-drafting bodies -- the Mejlis, the Ministry of Justice
and even the Institute for Human Rights and Democracy -- are
far out of their league in producing legislation up to
international standards. Indeed, the ABA-CEELI
representative noted, in working with government officials on
law-related issues, she has found that they view law in a
linear, rather than conceptual fashion. Thus, in drafting
laws, officials focus only on the immediate task at hand, and
do not also consider the need to change other, related codes
as a necessary part of the process. This is further
complicated by a band-aid approach to addressing legal holes.
The result has been a plethora of frequently contradictory
laws and presidential decrees, many of which in
Turkmenistan's secretive environment have never even been
published. At a minimum, the ABA-CEELI representative
suggested, it will take a dedicated working group of local
lawyers savvy in Turkmenistan's laws, as well as
international legal advisors who are able to communicate the
reasons for incorporation of certain legal principles to sort
out what needs to be done and make necessary changes. Both
experts also agreed that international assistance is

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essential to ensure Turkmenistan's law drafters get the next
step right.


9. (C) COMMENT: Over the past two weeks, President
Berdimuhamedov has been calling on the Mejlis and the
Ministry of Justice with increasing urgency to make progress
on drafting new legislation up to international standards.
Indeed, during a December 27 cabinet meeting, he noted that
the lack of new laws was slowing down reform efforts.
Perhaps after viewing the two new law drafts, the president
seems to be beginning to get an inkling, though he still does
not appear to have a full appreciation, of the challenges
that Turkmenistan's law-drafters are facing. To his credit,
the president has established a new Law Institute and a
special commission for improving Turkmenistan's laws, and has
renewed calls for Turkmenistan's law-drafting bodies to work
closely with international organizations as they overhaul
their country's legal base. Most importantly, ABA-CEELI has
reported that law drafters, law departments in Turkmenistan's
universities, and judicial bodies such as the Prosecutor
General office seem more eager than ever for assistance. The
environment seems to be increasingly receptive to new U.S.
programs in this area, if funding is available.
HOAGLAND