A visiting United States envoy has spoken to officials in Turkmenistan of international concern about the Central Asian country's human rights record on emigration, lack of religious freedom and other alleged abuses, the US embassy said.
Stephan Minikes, US ambassador to the 55-nation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), recently visited the remote ex-Soviet republic to discuss issues such as emigration controls, allegations of lack of religious freedom, and poor international access to prisoners, the embassy said.
"Minikes emphasized the need for Turkmenistan to remain engaged with multilateral organizations such as the OSCE and to honor its commitments to international conventions," said a statement by the embassy in the Tukmen capital Asgabat.
It did not specify which officials the diplomat met.
International concern about the situation in Turkmenistan has intensified since a crackdown by the authorities over an alleged attempt to overthrow autocratic President Saparmurat Niyazov last November.
A report commissioned by the OSCE at the prompting of the US found that hundreds of people had been rounded up, including children and old people.
The report raised the question whether threats to deport undesirable persons to remote desert areas might refer to members of the Uzbek minority.
Citizens of Turkmenistan must now obtain exit visas if they wish to travel abroad. Women under the age of 35 may leave only in the company of a male relative.
Turkmenistan has not granted any access to the country by the International Committee of the Red Cross, whose prison visits are widely seen as a minimal benchmark of a country's openness to scrutiny of its justice system.
Religious activity in this predominantly Muslim country is strictly controlled by the state, and Christian groups such as Baptists have experienced frequent state harassment.