SECTION II. RIGHTS, FREEDOMS AND DUTIES OF A PERSON AND A CITIZEN OF TURKMENISTAN
Article 25
Rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen in Turkmenistan shall be recognized in accordance with the universally recognized norms of international law and shall be guaranteed by this Constitution and laws.
Article 26
The rights and freedoms of an individual shall be inviolable and inalienable.
No one has the right to restrict the rights and freedoms of individuals, except in accordance with the Constitution and laws.
The enumeration in the Constitution and laws of certain rights and freedoms of people and citizens shall not be used to deny or diminish their other rights and freedoms.
Article 27
Rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen shall be directly applicable. They shall guide the meaning, content and application of laws, activity of legislative and executive authorities, local self-governments and shall be guaranteed by law.
Article 28
Turkmenistan shall guarantee the equality of rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen, and also the equality of a person and a citizen before the law regardless of their nationality, skin colour, gender, origin, property and official status, place of residence, language, religion, political beliefs, and other circumstances.
Article 29
Men and women in Turkmenistan shall have equal rights and freedoms, and equal opportunities for their realization.
Violation of equality on the basis of gender shall be punishable according to the law.
Article 30
The exercise of rights and freedoms must not violate the rights and freedoms of others, as well as the requirements of morality, law, public order, [or] cause damage to national security.
Article 31
Everyone shall have the right to protection of honour and dignity.
Nothing shall justify humiliation of the dignity of an individual.
Article 32
Each individual has the right to life and liberty and the exercise of this right. No one can be deprived of the right to life. The right of each person to free life shall be protected by the state on the basis of law.
The death penalty has been abolished in Turkmenistan.
Article 33
A person cannot be convicted or punished, except in strict accordance with law.
No one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and without their consent to medicinal, scientific or other experiments.
A person can be arrested by the court only on the grounds precisely specified by law or with the approval of the prosecutor. In urgent cases, precisely specified by law, the state authorities shall have the right to detain the citizens temporarily.
Article 34
An individual shall be presumed innocent until the commission of an offence by him/her is proved in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law and under a final judgment of conviction.
No one shall be obliged to prove his/her innocence.
Doubts arisen as to the guilt of the individual, which cannot be precluded, shall be settled in favour of the accused person.
Article 35
Everyone shall have the right for freedom and personal inviolability.
A person may be subject to criminal punishment only if he is found guilty and convicted by a court in the manner prescribed by law.
Article 36
No one can be subject to repeated criminal prosecution and convicted for the same crime.
Article 37
Everyone shall have the right to private liberty, personal and family secrets and their protection from arbitrary interference in their privacy, as well as infringement of the rules of secrecy of correspondence, telephone and other means of communication,.
Article 38
Collection, storage and dissemination of information about private life of an individual without his consent shall not be permitted.
Public authorities and local self-government bodies, and their officials shall be obliged to get each individual familiarized with the documents and materials directly related to his rights and freedoms, unless otherwise stipulated by law.
Article 39
Every citizen shall have the right to move freely and choose their place of residence within Turkmenistan.
Restrictions on entry into special territories, and movement within those territories shall only be set by law.
Article 40
Family, motherhood and fatherhood, and childhood shall be under the protection of the state.
Men and women having attained the marriageable age, shall have the right, by mutual consent, to marry and start families. Spouses shall have equal rights in family relations.
Parents and substitute parents shall have the right and obligation to raise the children, care for their health, development, education, prepare them for work, and impart to them the culture of respect for the law, historical and national traditions.
Adult children shall be obliged to take care of their parents and to extend help (support) to them.
The state creates the conditions for the exercise of the rights and freedoms of the youth and for promoting its comprehensive development.
Article 41
Each person shall independently determine his/her attitude toward religion, shall have the right to, individually or jointly with others, profess any religion or none, to express and disseminate beliefs related to attitude toward religion, to participate in religious observances, rituals, and ceremonies.
Article 42
Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of opinion and expression. No one shall have the right to prohibit an individual to freely express his/her opinion as well as prevent its dissemination in accordance with the law.
No one can be forced to express his/her opinion or belief, or renounce them.
Everyone shall have the right to free search of information and to receive and disseminate information in ways not prohibited by law, if it is not a state or other secret protected by law.
Article 43
Citizens shall be guaranteed freedom of assembly, rallies and demonstrations and other mass events in the manner prescribed by law.
Article 44
Citizens shall have the right to form political parties and other public associations operating within the framework of the Constitution and laws.
The establishment and activity of political parties, and other public associations, aimed at bringing violent change to the constitutional order, introducing violence in their activity, opposing the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, advocating war, hatred on the basis of colour, national or religious hatred, encroaching on the health and morality of the people, as well as the political parties with ethnic or religious attributes shall be prohibited
Article 45
Citizens of Turkmenistan shall have the right to participate in managing the affairs of the society and state, either directly or through their freely elected representatives.
Article 46
Citizens of Turkmenistan shall have the right to elect and be elected to the bodies of state authority and local self-governments.
Citizens of Turkmenistan, in accordance with their abilities and professional training, shall have equal right to access to public service.
Citizens of Turkmenistan shall have the right to participate in administration of justice.
Article 47
Everyone shall have the right to freely use his/her abilities and property for entrepreneurial and other economic activity that is not prohibited by law.
Article 48
The right to private property shall be protected by law.
Citizens shall have the right to own private property, use and dispose it individually or jointly with others.
The inheritance right shall be guaranteed.
Article 49
Citizens shall have the right to work, choice of profession, sort of employment and place of work at their own discretion, to safe and healthy working conditions.
Forced labour and the worst forms of child labour shall be prohibited.
Wage earners shall be entitled to compensation, appropriate to amount and quality of work. The size of this compensation shall not be less than the minimum wage established by the state.
Article 50
Citizens shall have the right to rest, as expressed in establishment of limits of work week, grant of annual paid holidays, and days of weekly rest.
The state shall create enabling environment for recreation and use of leisure time.
Article 51
Every citizen shall have the right to living accommodation and support of the state in obtaining or acquiring a comfortable living accommodation, and construction of individual housing.
The home shall be inviolable. No one shall have the right to enter a home or otherwise violate the sanctity of the home against the wishes of people living there, without any legal grounds. An individual shall have the right to protect his/her home against assault (encroachment).
No one can be deprived of their living accommodation except on the grounds established by law.
Article 52
Every citizen shall have the right to healthcare, including free use of the services of public health institutions.
Paid medical and non-traditional healthcare shall be permitted under, and in accordance with, the procedure established by law.
Article 53
Everyone shall have the right to enabling environment for life and health, credible information on its state, compensation of damage caused to health and property as a result of violation of environmental law or natural disasters.
The state shall control the rational use of natural resources in order to protect and improve healthy living conditions, as well as conservation of the stable natural environment.
Everyone shall be obliged to protect nature, take good care of the environment and natural wealth.
Article 54
Citizens shall have the right to social security in an old age, sickness, disability, loss of ability to work, loss of breadwinner, unemployment and according to other legitimate grounds.
Young families, families with large number of children, orphans, veterans, people who lost their health while protecting the state or public interests, shall be provided additional support and benefits from state and public funds.
Article 55
Every citizen shall have the right to education.
General secondary education shall be compulsory; everyone shall be entitled to receive it in public educational institutions free of charge.
The state shall ensure availability of vocational education for each person according to their abilities.
On the basis and in the manner prescribed by law, governmental and non-governmental organizations, citizens shall have the right to engage in paid work activity.
Mandatory state educational standards are set for all educational institutions.
Article 56
Citizens of Turkmenistan shall have the right to participate in cultural life, to freedom of artistic, scientific and technical creativity. All rights (copyrights) and interests of citizens in the area of scientific, technical, creative, artistic, literary and cultural activities shall be protected by law.
The state shall contribute to the development of science, culture, arts, folk arts, sports and tourism.
Article 57
Everyone, living or staying temporarily on the territory of Turkmenistan, shall be obliged to abide by the Constitution and the laws of Turkmenistan, and respect the national traditions, historic, cultural and natural heritage.
Article 58
Protection of Turkmenistan shall be the sacred duty of every citizen. General conscription shall be compulsory for the male citizens of Turkmenistan.
Article 59
Everyone shall be required to pay taxes and other payments in the manner and extent established by law.
Article 60
Everyone shall be guaranteed judicial protection of honour and dignity, rights and freedoms as stipulated by the Constitution and laws.
Everyone shall have the right to appeal in the court against the decisions and actions of the state bodies, public associations, local self-governments and officials.
Article 61
Citizens shall have the right to seek redress in courts for material and moral damage caused to them by illegal actions of state bodies, other organizations and their employees, as well as private individuals.
Article 62
A person shall not be compelled to testify and give evidence against self and close relatives.
Evidence obtained as a result of mental or physical influence, as well as through other illegal methods, shall have no legal force.
Article 63
For each individual, the state shall guarantee the right to obtain legal assistance. The legal assistance shall be provided free of charge in cases stipulated by law.
Article 64
A law, aggravating the situation of citizens, shall not be retroactive. No one shall be held responsible for actions that, at the time of their commission, were not recognized by law as offence.
Article 65
The implementation of the rights and freedoms of citizens stipulated by this Constitution may be limited only in a state of emergency or martial law in a manner and within the limits established by the Constitution and laws.
