Visit of the Regional Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for Central Asia

The purpose of the visit was to take part in the Annual Planning Meeting of the United Nations Country Team in Turkmenistan in Mary, where priorities for cooperation between the Government of Turkmenistan and the UN Country Team for 2023, including in areas related to human rights, were discussed. Komenda also held bilateral meetings to discuss priorities for cooperation on human rights with the Government of Turkmenistan in 2023.

On 7 November, Mr. Komenda met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Meredov, Ms. Ombudsperson Kurbannazarova, Director of the Institute of State, Law and Democracy Mr. Nuryev and Deputy Minister of Interior Mr Agabayev. 

During the meeting with the Ombudsperson, Mr. Komenda commended her for constructive cooperation in requesting and conducting a Capacity Assessment of the Institute in October 2022, jointly with the Asian-Pacific Forum, OHCHR and UNDP. Mr. Komenda reiterated OHCHR’s offer to provide advisory and capacity building support to the newly established national human rights institution, in line with the Paris Principles.

At the meeting with the Deputy Minister of Interior, Mr. Komenda expressed readiness to continue working on human rights education and engage in discussions about effective national mechanisms for the prevention of torture. 

At the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Komenda noted Turkmenistan’s commitment to promote the implementation of UN human rights treaties and welcomed strengthened cooperation between the UN and the Inter-Agency Commission in the field of human rights and international humanitarian law. He also discussed Turkmenistan’s upcoming UN Treaty Body reports and Universal Periodic Review (4th cycle) at the Human Rights Council in 2023. Mr. Komenda stressed the importance to continue progress in the dialogue between Turkmenistan and UN Special Procedures and other UN human rights mechanisms. For 2023, priorities for cooperation will include the implementation of the UN Secretary General’s Call to Action for Human Rights, the UPR process, strengthening the national human rights institution, human rights education and preparations for the campaign dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.