[3][4][needs update] The Turkmen government's decision to cancel a dual-citizenship agreement with Russia in 2003 prompted thousands of ethnic Russians to leave Turkmenistan as they lost their property.

[5] Many of those fleeing "in panic" reportedly feared being trapped in a state which has been widely criticised for human rights abuses and has imposed severe restrictions on foreign travel for its citizens.

[6] For these who remained, estimated at 100,000, all Soviet-time diplomas, certificates and other official documents that were issued outside the Turkmen SSR were nullified, drastically limiting the people's access to work.

[12] News anchors, both men and women, were prevented from wearing any sort of make-up after Niyazov discovered he was unable to tell the difference between them when the presenters wore it.

According to Forum 18, despite international pressure, the authorities severely repress all religious groups, and the legal framework is so constrictive that many prefer to exist underground rather than have to pass through all of the official hurdles.

Protestant Christian adherents are affected, in addition to groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Baháʼí, and Hare Krishna.

For example, a 33-year-old member of the denomination was sentenced to a 4-year prison term after being found carrying religious literature at a train station in Dashoguz.

The UN committee noted, "The State party should take all necessary measures to review its legislation with a view to providing for alternative military service.

The State party should also ensure that the law clearly stipulates that individuals have the right to conscientious objection to military service.

There, the government continues to restrict the freedom of parents of Jehovah's Witnesses to raise their children in accordance with their religious beliefs.

[39] On April 18, 2008, freelance journalist Sona Chuli Kuli was interrogated for several days under physiological pressure and forced to sign a statement agreeing not to collaborate with the international media.

Moreover, ordinary citizens have no access to the World Wide Web, and instead are limited to the use of the Turkmenet, an online community in Turkmen language, but effectively a censored version of the Internet.

[citation needed] In addition to this, there is a newly founded (27 March 2012) local Turkmen social network, E-Dostluk, which is currently accessible.

[47] Gulgeldy Annaniyazov, an opposition leader to Niyazov's government, was arrested in 1995 and released in 1999 after a presidential amnesty decree.

Back in Turkmenistan, he was arrested in June 2008 and sentenced to 11 years in jail following a closed-door trial; the charges against him are unknown.

[48] Similarly, Ovezgeldy Ataev, former Speaker of Parliament, and Akmurad Redzhepov, former head of the State Security Council, had closed-door trials and remain in prison.

Amnesty International suspects that the reason for the imprisonments lies in the fact that both were potential political rivals of the current President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.

[49] Andrey Zatoka, environmentalist and activist, citizen of Turkmenistan and Russia, was arrested on false charges for 46 days from December 2006 to January 2007.

In November 2009, after international pressure from environmental and human rights organisations and Russian authorities,[53] Zatoka was released upon payment of a fine, relinquishing his Turkmen citizenship and immediate emigration from Turkmenistan.

In 2018's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices by the US State Department, Turkmenistan was condemned for "alleged torture", arbitrary arrests and detentions, involuntary confinement, imprisonment of political prisoners, severe corruption, lack of free and fair elections, and restrictions on freedom of religion, assembly, and movement.