Rights activists are calling on Turkmenistan’s government to disclose information about a group of approximately 30 prisoners who have not been heard from for over 10 years.

As part of an OSCE human rights meeting in Warsaw on October 2, activists from the Civic Solidarity Platform, a coalition, and Virginia-based Crude Accountability launched the campaign, “Prove They Are Alive: The Disappeared in the Turkmen Prisons,” Fergana News reported. 

On November 25, 2002, a lorry blocked President Saparmurat Niyazov's cortege in Ashgabat and unidentified people opened fire. Niyazov survived the attack and promptly rounded up opposition leaders and alleged critics, including former Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov, who was reportedly planning to run for president. Members of the group were accused of conspiracy, forced to confess during a show trial, and handed long prison sentences. The New York Times characterized the episode as “the most chilling public witch hunt since Stalin.” 

The families of the jailed have been unable to obtain information about the fate of their loved ones for over a decade.

The editor-in-chief of the opposition-minded Gundogar website, Bayram Shikhmuradov, son of Boris Shikhmuradov, helped organize the initiative. He criticized Turkmen authorities and the OSCE Center in Ashgabat for failing to attend the hearings, Gundogar reported on October 3.