Going after the families of dissidents still in the country is a common tactic of dictatorships, so this really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Registan reports on testimony implicating the regime in what it does best.

Pressure on dissenters and their associates or families has long been a common factor in Turkmenistan according to Farid Tukhbatulin. He heads the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, another Turkmen rights group.

???????If the authorities cannot get those who are abroad then their families and relatives who live in the country are harassed,??????? said Tukhbatulin, speaking from Vienna. He added that his brother had been sacked from his job earlier this year. ???????He was fired because of my rights work although he had nothing to do with my activities and is in no way involved in my work.???????

ÄTajigulÅ Begmedova Ähead of the Turkmen Helsinki FoundationÅ said that the authorities have even harassed her school friends, university fellows, former friends and colleagues, who were not necessarily even aware of her human rights work.

A good comparative example would be Iran, given the huge number of expats living abroad. Those Iranians in Europe and the United States are particularly vehement in their opposition to the regime. The community is very strong, connected, and influential due to its organization. This poses a huge problem to the regime, as such influence emboldens both foreign governments and people within the country to act.

The best way to silence these very outspoken critics is to attack them where it really hurts. Remember, these people are generally willing to sacrifice themselves in order to push against the regime, so the government can’t go after them personally. They have to go after their family, friends, and everything else that they love. It forces them to make a compromise: continue the mission or save the other things that you love. It’s something straight out of the movies, but an issue that forces many, many opponents to the regime silence themselves.