Please
join us for a screening of "Shadow of the Holy Book"
A
Documentary Film on Turkmenistan
Wednesday,
February 18, 2009
3:30
p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Ford
House Office Building Room 108
Screening Co-sponsored by the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom
and the U.S. Helsinki Commission
The film "Shadow of the Holy Book, "directed by
award-winning Finnish director Arto Halonen, examines how some of the world's
biggest international companies have secured lucrative contracts with former
President Niyazov's dictatorial regime, including funding translations of the Ruhnama, Niyazov's so-called "spiritual
guide."
The
Ruhnama embodied the grotesque
personality cult of former Turkmen president Niyazov which dominated the
country's public life for almost two decades. A generation of Turkmen
schoolchildren was forced to study the Ruhnama
at the expense of genuine education. "Shadow of the Holy Book" also looks
beyond the Niyazov regime to the new government of President Berdymuhammedov
who has ruled the country since early 2007.
The documentary questions the morality of international
companies doing business with the dictatorship of oil-and-gas-rich
Turkmenistan, and if their activity helps to hide, or even promote,
Turkmenistan's dismal human rights record.
The
film screening (52 minutes) will be followed by a discussion featuring:
Farid Tuhbatullinis a former political
prisoner and the current director of the independent Turkmen Initiative for
Human Rights, based in Vienna. An environmentalist and civic leader, he was
arrested in December 2002 on politically motivated charges and later sentenced
to three years of imprisonment. He was
amnestied under international pressure in 2003 and is now a political refugee
in Austria, where he is a leading voice for human rights in Turkmenistan.
Arvind
Ganesan
is the director of Human Rights Watch's business and human rights program, and
is involved in research, advocacy, and policy development for Human Rights
Watch on issues involving business and human rights, with a primary focus on
the energy industry. Currently, his program focuses on human rights issues
related to the extractive industries, labor rights, trade, and the economic
interests of militaries.
The discussion will be
moderated by Catherine Cosman, who was on a U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom delegation to Turkmenistan in August 2007 and Janice Helwig, a
Helsinki Commission Policy Advisor who organized a hearing on Turkmenistan in
2008.
For
further information please contact Cathy Cosman at 202-523-3240 ex 125 or Janice Helwig at 202-225-1901.