Minister Rashid Meredov
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Prospect Makhtumkuli, 83
744000, Ashgabad
Turkmenistan
Fax: +993-12-35-42-41
October 23, 2009
Dear Minister Meredov:
On October 20, 2009, Mr. Andrey Zatoka, an internationally renowned environmental expert, was arrested in his hometown of Dashovuz, Turkmenistan and is being detained in prison on charges of inflicting bodily harm.
Mr. Zatoka is a well respected environmentalist who has contributed enormously to the Turkmen, Central Asian and international environmental movements. He is a founding member of the International Socio-Ecological Union, founder of the Dashovuz Ecology Club, and has worked with many international environmental organizations including the United Nations. He is a biologist who graduated from Ural State University, and who has worked in Turkmenistan protecting the environment for over 20 years.
Mr. Zatoka’s arrest has raised the concerns of the international community, which is closely monitoring Turkmenistan’s observance of international human rights obligations. We respectfully urge you to immediately and unconditionally release Andrey Zatoka, allowing him to return to his family.
His detainment causes great anxiety and concern among his friends and colleagues around the globe and creates a negative image of Turkmenistan in the eyes of the world. We are concerned for his safety and urge you to ensure his safety and immediate release.
Thank you for attention to this matter—we request that it be resolved immediately.
Sincerely,
- Kate Watters, Crude Accountability, USA
- Michelle Kinman, Crude Accountability, USA
- Doug Norlen, Pacific Environment, USA
- Karin Lissakers, Revenue Watch Institute, USA
- Farid Tukhbatullin, Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, Austria
- Enid Schreibman, Center for Safe Energy, USA
- Mika Minio-Paluello, PLATFORM, England
- Neil Tangri, GAIA, USA
- Alexey Zimenko, Biodiversity Conservation Center, Russia
- Mary Dalsin, Public Health Trust, Public Health Institute, USA
- Ivar Dale, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norway
- Yann Louvel, Friends of the Earth, France
- Valeria Enriquez, Fundar, Center for Analysis and Research, Mexico
- Regine Richter, Urgewald, Germany
- Jora Wolterink, BankTrack, The Netherlands
- Elena Gerebizza, Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale, Italy
- David Gordon, Pacific Environment, USA
- Catherine Porter, Friends of the Ganges, USA
- Joe Dalsin, Advent Software, USA
- Natalie Bridgeman, Accountability Counsel, USA
- BJ Chisholm, California, USA
- Ann Pallasch, Virginia, USA
- Susie Wood, Tbilisi, Georgia
- Amy Wilson, California, USA
- John Sterling, California, USA
- Amy Forster Rothbart, New York, USA
- Amy Spagnola, South Carolina, USA
- Kim Schumaker, Virginia, USA
- Nelya Tukaeva, California, USA
- Viktor Sokolov, California, USA
- Elaine Attias, California, USA
- Melissa Overton, Missouri, USA
- Brian Overton, Missouri, USA
- Susan A. Crate, George Mason University, USA
- Erika Weinthal, Duke University, USA
- Zoya Talitskaya, Moscow, Russia
- Jim Boissonnault, Virginia, USA
- Susan Linsenbuehler, Germany
- Alice H. Grabowski, Virginia, USA
- John Musolino IV, California, USA
- Teresa Kinman, Nebraska, USA
- Rod Kinman, Nebraska, USA
- Jean Hardisty, Boston, MA, USA
- Anne Delaney
- Giorgi Tsintsadze, Biologist, Georgia
- Wendy Volkmann, USA
- Mele Lau, USA
- Melinda Marcus, Duke University, USA
- Francis Chandler, Environmental Consulting, USA
- James M. Dunn, Georgia, USA
- Tamara Kowalski, Texas, USA
- Debbie Chapman, California, USA
- Alexandra Ewing, Vanderbilt University, USA
- Lisa Swaim, Ohio, USA
- Patti Karr, California, USA
- Huub Scheele, Both ENDS, The Netherlands
- Kellie Bingman, North Carolina, USA
- Christa Watters, Virginia, USA
- Leslie Howerton Jones, Florida, USA
- Chris Musolino, Louisiana, USA
- Ashley Doucet, Louisiana, USA
- Sergey Solyanik, Crude Accountability, Kazakhstan
- Timur Berkeliev, Turkmenistan
- Pam Pavliscak Ellis, New York, USA
- Tatyana Lysenko, public environmental group “Za Zhizn!”, Russia
- Gavin Hayman, Campaigns Director, Global Witness, UK