Free Gaspar Matalaev

September 6, 2019: Today Gaspar Matalaev is finally freed having served his full sentence. Gaspar’s first message upon his release from prison was a big thank you to everyone who has supported him over the past 3 years. You can help support Gaspar’s recovery here.

May 22, 2019: Today our partners at ILRF and the Cotton Campaign handed in over 100,000 names to the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Washington DC! Take a look at photos from the event here. We won’t stop fighting for Gaspar’s release – add your name to strengthen our call.

May 3, 2019: Thanks to all who joined our call on World Press Freedom Day demanding Gaspar’s immediate release. Read our letter to the President of Turkmenistan here and add your name to strengthen the call for Gaspar’s freedom.

December 2018: Thousands of forcibly mobilised Turkmen citizens reach the end of the year’s cotton harvest, as Gaspar remains incarcerated, 26 months into a three-year sentence on trumped-up charges for reporting on forced labor in the cotton industry.

October 2018: Top apparel brands have signed a pledge to not source cotton from Turkmenistan until forced labor in the country’s cotton industry, which Gaspar reported on, has been eliminated.

We were also outside the UN calling for Gaspar’s release this month – click here to read our surprising impact!

September 2018: Turkmenistan forces state employees from sectors including schools, hospitals and banks, to pick cotton during this harvest.

May 2018: The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency has formally banned the importation of Turkmen cotton into the U.S. following the submission of a petition by our partner, the Cotton Campaign. This is a significant step forward and we hope that international pressure will expedite Gaspar’s release. To read the full press release from the Cotton Campaign, click here.

January 2018: Gaspar’s case has been highlighted most recently in Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) 2018 World Report, and had also been mentioned by the UN Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations on its report of Turkmenistan in April 2017. In May 2017, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also expressed its concern over Gaspar’s detention. You can read the HRW 2018 report here, the UN Human Rights Committee report here, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s full letter here.

September 2017: With the international spotlight on Turkmenistan ahead of the 2017 Ashgabat Asian Games, we wrote to Turkmen ambassadors in Germany, France, Belgium, UK and USA calling for their support in releasing Gaspar. Read our full letter here, written in collaboration with our partners in the Cotton Campaign.

27 June 2017: The publication of the annual Trafficking in Person (TIP) report by the US State Department highlighted the mistreatment of Gaspar by the Turkmen authorities. The TIP report is an influential assessment of governments based on their efforts to acknowledge and combat human trafficking, and its inclusion of Gaspar’s case is an important step in drawing the attention of the international community to the injustice of his case. Click here to read more.

10 May: In collaboration with our partners, the Cotton Campaign, we sent a letter to the Turkmen President requesting Gaspar’s immediate release from detention. Click here to read the letter.