TURKMEN PRESIDENT PARDONS 1,284 PRISONERS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001161

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMEN PRESIDENT PARDONS 1,284 PRISONERS


1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified. Not for Internet
distribution.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: At the recent session of Cabinet
of Ministers of Turkmenistan, on the occasion of
holy "Gadyr Gijesi" (Night of Omnipotence)
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree
on the pardoning of prisoners. In line with the
decree, a total of 1,284 persons including 21
foreigners have been released from further serving
their prison sentences and also from additional
punishment in the form of obligation to reside in
certain areas. Government of Turkmenistan has been
practicing pardoning of prisoners in honor of
Omnipotence Night since 1999. Omnipotence Night is
the night from 26th to 27th day of Ramadan, a
sacred month for Muslims. Although the pardoning
of prisoners is a welcome step given the flawed
judicial system and horrendous prison conditions,
yet, the fact that the government focuses on petty
criminals and rarely includes persons sentenced
for political reasons indicates that there are
limits to Turkmen officials' mercy. END SUMMARY.

OMNIPOTENCE NIGHT PARDONING


3. (SBU) At the September 9 session of the Cabinet of
Ministers, Minister of National Security Chary Amanov
reported on preparation of a list of prisoners to be
pardoned on the occasion of one of the most honored
and sacred dates for Muslims - Omnipotence Night.
Noting that the act of pardoning is a tribute to
humane traditions of their ancestors, President
Berdimuhamedov informed the Cabinet that 1,284
persons, including 21 foreigners, would return to
their homes on the Night of Omnipotence. Having
signed the decree on pardoning, Berdimuhamedov
authorized publication of the list and instructed
relevant officials to take all measures to enable
pardoned persons to celebrate the holiday at their
homes among their families. Thus, according to the
Presidential decree, 1,284 persons were pardoned,
released from further serving their prison sentences
and also from additional punishment in the form of
obligation to reside in certain areas.

THE PARDONING STATISTICS


4. (SBU) Out of the total 1,284 persons pardoned by
the Presidential decree, the names of 1,263 persons
were published in September 10th issues of local
newspapers. The remaining 21 persons were foreigners
and their names are normally not published in local
papers. Only 81 out of 1,263 published names were
those of criminals who were convicted before 2009,
which is 6.4 percent of the total. The figure
includes three persons convicted in 1999, three in
2001, two in 2002, eight in 2003, eleven in 2004,
three in 2005, two in 2006, 13 in 2007, and 36 in

2008. In terms of age, the oldest person pardoned was
71 years old, and the youngest was 15 years old. In
terms of gender, out of 1,263 names published, 1,169
were men and 94 were women. Post found no names of
individuals of concern (convicted for alleged
involvement in November 2002 assassination attempt on
President Niyazov, or persons of individual Human
Rights concern) on the list.

BACKGROUND HISTORY


5. (SBU) According to the law on annual pardoning of
prisoners in honor of "Gadyr gijesi" (Omnipotence
Night),convicts tried for insignificant crimes are

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released from prisons. The law has been in effect
since December 29, 1999. Omnipotence Night is the
night from 26th to 27th day of Ramadan, the sacred
month for Muslims. This year the Omnipotence Night
falls on the night from September 16th to 17th. While
the country's former President Niyazov used to pardon
a large number of prisoners only once a year on
Omnipotence Night, Berdimuhamedov pardons smaller
numbers of prisoners several times a year on the
occasion of significant dates for the country.


6. (SBU) COMMENT: After the Khitrovka armed incident
between a drug gang and law enforcement officials in
Ashgabat in mid September 2008, Berdimuhamedov,
according to unofficial sources, allegedly banned
pardoning of persons convicted for drug-related
crimes. While the list of pardoned prisoners in
previous years included mainly those involved in drug-
related crimes, this year it is believed that that is
not the case. The list does not state what crime a
person was charged for, however, according to many
local residents, the list consists primarily of those
who committed petty crimes in 2009. Although the
pardoning of prisoners is a welcome step given the
flawed judicial system and horrendous prison
conditions, yet, the fact that the government focuses
on petty criminals and rarely includes persons
sentenced for political reasons indicates that there
are limits to Turkmen officials' mercy. END COMMENT.

CURRAN