SOLTAN ACHILOVA

 SOLTAN ACHILOVA

Soltan Achilova (71) is an independent photojournalist and reporter in Turkmenistan, one of the most isolated and repressive countries in the world. She is shedding light on the many injustices and human rights violations people face in her country. With almost complete governmental control over its population, citizens of Turkmenistan have scarcely any recourse to defend their rights.

Strict surveillance and the denial of fundamental rights are what ignited the fire of activism in Soltan Achilova. She does not expect the human rights situation in Turkmenistan to improve anytime soon, but she wants her fellow citizens, as well as the international community to be aware of the situation in Turkmenistan, even at her own risk

Her work illustrates issues affecting Turkmen citizens in their daily lives such as food insecurity, forced and illegal evictions, lack of adequate healthcare and the discrimination faced by people with disabilities. She has reported on these issues for more than a decade, filing articles and reports smuggled on to foreign-based media outlets. Her photographs and findings were central to investigations of housing rights violations in Ashgabat conducted by the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch.

As an investigative journalist in a country without media freedom, Soltan Achilova is subject to severe forms of attacks and harassment. She has been stopped from leaving the country on several occasions and has almost no access to the internet. Despite the difficult circumstances and personal hardships, threats,  harassment she keeps denouncing abuses and continues to investigate and stand alongside Turkmen citizens. Without her courage and work, silence on Turkmen human rights abuses would prevail.

Her reports have been published by international media outlets and human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch.  

Turkmen authorities, who don’t tolerate an independent press, have targeted the journalist for her work. Achilova has been detained by police and physically assaulted by officers, thugs, and other unidentified assailants, while her relatives had also come under pressure by the authorities.

Achilova is a contributor to the Vienna-based independent news website Khronika Turkmenistana (Chronicles of Turkmenistan), which focuses on news and developments in Turkmenistan.

She has in the past worked as a reporter for RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service.

2021 Soltan Achilova was a one of finalists for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. 

https://www.martinennalsaward.org/hrd/soltan-achilova/