HRW Urges Germany To Discuss Human Rights With Turkmen President
November 14, 2008
BERLIN -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to raise human rights issues during her talks with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
HRW's director in Berlin, Marianne Heuwagen, told RFE/RL's Turkmen Service that there was limited improvement in Turkmenistan immediately after Berdymukhammedov took office, but that the overall human rights situation "is pretty dismal."
She added that no independent organizations have been allowed to investigate alleged human rights abuses.
Berdymukhammedov is to hold talks with Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on November 14.