Week of the Disappeared

Every year, during the International Week of the Disappeared, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee joins friends and colleagues from the Prove They Are Alive! campaign in remembering victims of enforced disappearance in Turkmenistan.

The “Prove They Are Alive!” campaign was launched with the goal of promoting work to defend human rights in Turkmenistan. The campaign members have documented over 120 disappearances in one of the world’s most repressive regimes. Over the years, we have gotten to know the families of the disappeared, who live every day not knowing the location of their loved ones, or whether they are alive or dead. The lack of information amounts to psychological torture of those who are left behind.

The campaign works with intergovernmental organizations as well as with governments and parliaments of various countries and with international civil society. We have had fruitful cooperation with the OSCE and the EU, and with several UN committees, such as the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) in Geneva.

Take a moment to read our latest statement. The international community must not forget the disappeared of Turkmenistan. Turkmen authorities must release them, and as a minimum – prove they are alive.

The Prove! team includes Crude Accountability (USA), the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights (Russia), Freedom Files (Russia), the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights Center Memorial, Human Rights Watch as well as independent experts and civil society activists in Turkmenistan.

Read the whole statement here.

Contact us

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Ivar Dale

Senior Policy AdviserEmail: [email protected]Phone: +47 936 71 900Twitter: @IvarDale
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Lasse Thomassen

Senior AdviserEmail: [email protected]Phone: +47 947 945 61
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