Young Man Tortured to Death by Law-Enforcement Officers in Turkmenistan (video)

At the end of November, law-enforcement officers in Mary region of Turkmenistan beat to death Allamurat Hudayramov – an ethnic Baloch arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking. Three days later his body, bearing numerous signs of torture, was returned to relatives. They were offered money to keep quiet, but the family of the dead man want justice.

Turkmen.news is in possession of a video in which fellow countrymen of thirty-four-year-old Allamurat say that he was detained on November 27. He walked into the National Security Ministry’s Mary Regional Department for questioning. Three days later, on November 30, Hudayramov’s relatives were called and told to collect his body.

According to turkmen.news’ sources, the young man was not a drug trafficker himself, and was just giving a lift to someone involved in that type of crime. It’s not known what happened to this other person.

Regardless, it was for a court to decide the guilt of the arrested man. But the National Security Ministry’s Mary Department meted out their own punishment. They beat the detainee to death, breaking his skull. Marks left by handcuffs can be clearly seen on the dead man’s wrists and ankles. The whole of the young man’s back is covered in marks from blows, possibly from a truncheon, and the soles of both feet are badly bruised. On November 30, Allamurat’s only sister was telephoned and told to collect the body from the morgue. Allamurat’s body had been cut open: he has a long line of stitches from his throat to his navel.

Sources told turkmen.news that law-enforcement officials visited the dead man’s sister, apologized, and offered to buy her silence. But she replied that she would not sell her brother and would seek punishment for the guilty according to the law.

Turkmenistan systematically rejects accusations of torture of detainees. Representatives of the country’s Interior Ministry regularly report that there are no recorded cases of the use of torture.

Turkmen.news calls on the country’s top leadership to conduct a thorough investigation into the murder of Allamurat Hudayramov and to publicly bring to justice those involved in his killing. On our part, we will submit a complaint to the U.N. Committee against Torture. Turkmenistan’s report will be considered at the committee’s 79^th Session in April-May 2024.

There is prejudice towards ethnic Balochis in Turkmenistan. Since their language has Persian roots, it’s easier for them to deal with Iranians and Afghans. The authorities think that they use their connections to smuggle drugs. Law-enforcement officers are convinced that simply being an ethnic Baloch is evidence of involvement in drug trafficking.

This is the reason for the suffering of Mansur Mingelov, who defends the rights of Balochis. When he was a senior conscript in the army, he stood up for a raw Baloch recruit. He was arrested for it but was soon released under an amnesty. In 2012, Mingelov and his brother were named in a drugs case. Mansur was arrested, badly beaten, and then held without justification in a center for drug addicts (though he had never taken drugs) so that the traces of the beatings could heal. When he left the center, Mingelov began to seek justice, writing to state bodies. He was rearrested again as he left the U.S. embassy in Ashgabat where he had taken CDs with testimonies of torture from other Balochis.

As a result, Mansur was sentenced to 22 years on fabricated charges. He is still behind bars, despite serious health problems.