The first sitting of the interdepartmental commission responsible for ensuring implementation of Turkmenistan’s commitments under the human rights conventions was held in the Turkmen capital. The commission is a permanent advisory interdepartmental body established in accordance with the Resolution of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov to co-ordinate the activity of the state authorities and administration bodies on implementation of the human rights commitments.

The agenda of the sitting held at the Turkmen Institute of Human Rights and Democracy under President of Turkmenistan included the issues of the functions and authorities of the commission, the short-term plans of action and the preparation of the national reports on implementation of the UN human right conventions by Turkmenistan.

Defining the priority tasks Chairman of the interdepartmental commission, Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Meredov emphasized that the commission had been established to pursue steadily the policy of humanism and to ensure implementation of the international human rights commitments by Turkmenistan.

Those speaking at the sitting noted that as a United Nations full member Turkmenistan joined over 90 conventions and consistently implements the provisions of the international legal documents. Establishment of the commission, whose activity provides the vast opportunities for expanding and enhancing co-operation with the United Nations that remains a priority aspect of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy, is another step towards this important goal.

In accordance with the Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan the interdepartmental commission is in charge of coordinating the activity of the national ministries, state committees, departments and local executive authorities on implementation of Turkmenistan’s international legal commitments, interacting and co-operating with the state authorities and administration bodies, international organisations on protection of human rights and monitoring implementation of the decisions of the commission. The commission consists of the members of the Mejlis, the representatives of the ministries and departments and the public organisations of Turkmenistan.

The participants considered establishment of the interdepartmental commission to be another important step towards democratization of the Turkmen society and implementation of the norms on the international law noted that President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov profoundly contributed to the solution to the current humanitarian problems faced by the Turkmen society. The members of the commission emphasized that establishment of the State Commission responsible for considering citizen’s appeals against the actions of law-enforcement bodies under President of Turkmenistan that had facilitated the pardon of 11 convicted citizens of Turkmenistan vividly proved it.

The commission is responsible for monitoring the preparation of and further submitting the national reports on implementation of the provisions of the key human right international documents to the relevant UN Committees, assisting in Turkmenistan’s joining the international agreements on human rights and freedoms and considering the proposals and issuing the conclusions on Turkmenistan’s position on implementation of the international legal norms.

Those speaking at the sitting noted that working at the national level on a regular basis the commission would monitor the current national legislation for its compliance with the international human rights standards. The monitoring outcomes include the preparation of the proposals on improvement of the national legislation, institutional reforms and the assessment of the advisability of Turkmenistan’s participation in the international agreements on human rights and freedoms.

Those speaking at the sitting noted that in recent years the government of Turkmenistan had prepared and submitted the national reports on implementation of the UN Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child to the relevant UN Committees and the reports on the UN recommendations. At present, Turkmenistan is working on the national report on implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The reports on the UN recommendations are prepared on a regular basis.

The long-term plans of action adopted at the first sitting included the draft Human Rights National Programme and implementation the joint project Building of Reporting Capacities in Turkmenistan of the Office of the UN Higher Commissioner for Human Rights and UN Development Programme