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UN, With Office in Turkmenistan, Assesses One-Party
Election But Won't Comment
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
December 15 -- The UN under Ban
Ki-moon and his political advisor B. Lynn Pascoe opened a regional
center in
Turkmenistan. Over the weekend, as an election was held in the country
in which
90% of the candidates all came from one party, the UN had three people
in
Turkmenistan in connection with the election. All hail, Gurbanguli
Berdymukhamedov!
Inner
City Press on Monday asked Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas if the UN
thought
that election had been free and fair.
Ultimately the answer was in writing:
Subj: Your question on
Turkmenistan
From: unspokesperson-donotreply
[at] un.org
To: Inner City Press
Date: 12/15/2008 4:25:39 P.M.
Eastern Standard Time
In response to a request from the
Government of Turkmenistan, the United Nations deployed a small
technical
assessment mission with a view to report to the Secretary-General on
the
parliamentary elections on 14 December 2008. It was not
there to observe the elections, not will it be making public
statements on the conduct of the electoral process.
So how can
it be called an assessment mission? What did it assess, and for whom?
What is
the least quantum of democracy which the UN will use to justify putting
a
center in a state rich in natural gas?
Voting in Turkmenistan, under a watchful eye, UN's 3 watch but no
comment
For
now, we
tip our hat to chrono-tm.org
and include this from it --
"Gulgeldy Annaniyazov was
one of the dissident leaders known as the 'Ashgabat Eight.' He was
imprisoned
in 1995, after organizing a demonstration in support of democratic
reform in
Ashgabat. The severe conditions in Turkmen prisons took their toll on
the
prisoners. In 1998, a fellow prisoner reported that Annaniazov's
condition had
deteriorated dramatically, and he could barely walk or speak. One of
his
co-defendants, Charymurat Gurov, died in prison, apparently as a result
of
torture.
"Annaniazov was released
under a presidential amnesty decree in January 1999. Following his
release,
Annaniazov fled to Kazakhstan but was arrested when trying to cross the
border
into Russia. In the face of intense international pressure, Kazakhstan
did not
extradite "Annaniazov, who was granted refugee status and resettled in
Norway in 2002. He was living in Norway with refugee status until his
return to
Turkmenistan in June 2008. "According to Annaniazov's own statement, he
returned to Turkmenistan in order to 'help his fatherland to improve
its
education and public health systems.'
Three men, presumed to be
security service agents, entered his parent's home on 24 June 2008 and
arrested
him, without presenting a warrant or giving any reasons for his arrest.
They refused
to tell Annaniazov's family where he would be detained. The arrest took
place
at the same time as the EU-Turkmenistan human rights dialogue was
conducted."
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
Click here for Inner City
Press Nov. 7 debate on the war in Congo
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
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here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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