Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 2004  [on the report of the Third Committee (A/59/503/Add.3)]  59/206. Situation of human rights in Turkmenistan        The General Assembly,    Reaffirming that all States Members of the United Nations have the obligation  to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and the duty to  fulfil the obligations that they have undertaken under the various international  instruments in this field,    Recalling its resolution 58/194 of 22 December 2003,    1.  Welcomes:    (a)  The limited increase in the ability of members of certain religious  minority groups, including members of the Bahá’i faith, the Baptist church, the Hare  Krishna movement and the Seventh Day Adventist church, to practise their religion;    (b)  The release in June 2004 of a number of Jehovah’s Witnesses who had  made conscientious objections to undertaking military service, but notes with  concern that other Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to be jailed on the same charge;    (c)  The comments of the Government of Turkmenistan in May 2004 that  interested representatives of the international community were welcome to visit  Turkmen prisons, and notes with satisfaction that the Government has begun  preliminary discussions with representatives of the International Committee of the  Red Cross regarding prison access;    (d)  The fact that the Personal Envoy of the Chairman-in-Office of the  Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for Participating States in  Central Asia, has been given the opportunity for further dialogue with the  Government of Turkmenistan, and expresses the hope that a constructive dialogue  on human rights issues is to be continued soon;    (e)  The submission of the national report under the International Convention  on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1 to the Office of the  United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the recent submission of  the report under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination  _______________  1 Resolution 2106 A (XX), annex.   A/RES/59/206  2  against Women2 to the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department  of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat and the announcement by the  Government of Turkmenistan that it intends to submit the reports due under the  Convention on the Rights of the Child3 by the end of 2004;    (f)  The amendment of 2 November 2004 to the Criminal Code of  Turkmenistan rescinding article 223/1, which stipulated criminal penalties for  unregistered activities of public associations, including non-governmental  organizations;    (g)  The invitation by the Government of Turkmenistan to the High  Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and  Cooperation in Europe, which was extended on 16 November 2004, to visit the  country by the end of 2004;    2.  Expresses its grave concern at the continuing and serious human rights  violations occurring in Turkmenistan, in particular:    (a)  The persistence of a governmental policy based on the repression of all  political opposition activities;    (b)  The continuing abuse of the legal system through arbitrary detentions,  imprisonment and surveillance of persons who try to exercise their freedom of  expression, assembly and association, and by harassment of their families;    (c)  Further restrictions on the freedom of expression and opinion, including  the loss of local retransmissions of Russian language programmes on Radio Mayak,  and serious harassment endured by local correspondents and collaborators of Radio  Liberty;    (d)  Continued restrictions on the exercise of the freedom of thought,  conscience, religion and belief;    (e)  Continued discrimination by the Government of Turkmenistan against  ethnic minorities in the fields of education and employment and by forced  displacements, despite assurances by the Government that it will stop this  discrimination;    (f)  Constraints faced by civil society organizations, including the slow  progress in the registration of non-governmental organizations;    3.  Regrets the decision of the Government of Turkmenistan not to renew the  accreditation for the Head of the Centre of the Organization for Security and  Cooperation in Europe at Ashgabat, but hopes that the Turkmen authorities will  cooperate fully with her successor;    4.  Calls upon the Government of Turkmenistan:    (a)  To ensure full respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms  and, in this regard, to implement fully the measures set out in Commission on  Human Rights resolutions 2003/11 of 16 April 20034 and 2004/12 of 15 April 2004;5  _______________  2 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378.  3 Ibid., vol. 1577, No. 27531.  4 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2003, Supplement No. 3 (E/2003/23), chap. II,  sect. A.  5 Ibid., 2004, Supplement No. 3 (E/2004/23), chap. II, sect. A.   A/RES/59/206  3    (b)  To work closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human  Rights with regard to the areas of concern and to cooperate fully with all the  mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights and all the relevant United  Nations treaty bodies;    (c)  To implement fully the recommendations outlined in the report of the  Rapporteur of the Moscow Mechanism of the Organization for Security and  Cooperation in Europe and to work constructively with the various institutions of  the Organization, in particular following the visit of the Personal Envoy of the  Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Participating States in Central Asia, to  work towards implementation of those recommendations and to make the necessary  arrangements to facilitate fully a visit by the High Commissioner on National  Minorities of the Organization by the end of 2004;    (d)  To release immediately and unconditionally all prisoners of conscience;    (e)  To give real substance to the May 2004 offer of the Government of  Turkmenistan for interested representatives of the international community to visit  Turkmen prisons by providing appropriate independent bodies, including the  International Committee of the Red Cross, with full access to all places of detention  in accordance with the usual modalities for those organizations and ensuring that  lawyers and relatives have full and repeated access to all those in detention,  including those convicted of involvement in the attempted coup d’état of  25 November 2002;    (f)  To ensure that the forthcoming parliamentary elections will be held  consistent with the commitments of the Organization for Security and Cooperation  in Europe and other international standards for democratic elections;    (g)  To remove the remaining restrictions on the activities of public  associations, including non-governmental organizations, and to enable those  organizations, in particular human rights organizations, and other civil society  actors to carry out their activities without hindrance, building upon the amendment  of 2 November 2004 to the Criminal Code of Turkmenistan abolishing criminal  penalties for unregistered activities of public associations;    5.  Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General  Assembly at its sixtieth session on the implementation of the present resolution.