Ovadan-Depe (Arabic for “picturesque hill”) prison is located 70 kilometers northwest of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, in the Karakum Desert in a low-lying area surrounded by hills, about 6 kilometers from the nearest highway.
The prison, considered the most secretive in the country, was established between 2002 and 2008 under the late President Safarmurat Niyazov, to isolate political opponents and high-ranking officials involved in corruption cases.
The prison, which houses those accused of “conspiracy” and those accused of “extremism”, was built close to the capital to make it easier to control. Some accounts say that the Turkmen authorities took the decision to build this prison shortly before the assassination attempt on Niyazov.
Little was known about this prison, especially since international observers and delegations from the International Committee of the Red Cross were repeatedly prevented from visiting it.
The capacity of the Ovadan-Debi “political” prison is about 150 prisoners, but Turkmen organizations (based outside the country) and international human rights organizations confirm that it holds a much larger number.
According to information revealed by former prisoners, harsh weather conditions, torture and lack of medical care caused high death rates among prisoners due to diseases, especially tuberculosis, exhaustion and the mosquito problem, as well as high rates of suicide and psychological disorders.
According to the prisoners mentioned, regular beatings and terrorizing with dogs are common, and prisoners sentenced to life are kept in shackles for long periods.
prison design
According to satellite images taken by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in different years (2002, 2009 and 2019), this prison consists of 6 reinforced concrete blocks, each containing 26 cells.
Each wing contains 16 cells measuring 5 x 6 metres, and 10 cells measuring 6.5 x 6 metres, all of which are covered with ceilings that make it impossible to make out their details from the inside.
Satellite images show a trench along the outer perimeter of the prison, with checkpoints and a private road to access it, and a double fence on the inside surrounded by guard towers.
hunchbacked dungeons
What distinguishes this prison from other prisons in the world is that it contains what are called humpback cells, each of which is a room without windows, 150 centimeters wide and 120 centimeters high, which forces the prisoner to sit in a squatting position all the time.
Ironically, Turkmenistan’s former Minister of National Security, Boron Berdiyev, who oversaw the construction of the Ovadan-Depe prison, died in one of these cells in 2017 after being imprisoned for “gross dereliction of duty and failure to perform official duties.”
Winter and summer torment
Temperatures in the Karakum Desert – and therefore in the prison located there – rise to 50 degrees Celsius in the summer, and in the winter they drop to 20 below zero, with large differences between night and day.
The cells are not air-conditioned, and heating in winter is often ineffective due to exposed windows and concrete walls that exacerbate the cold.
According to the Turkmen Helsinki Human Rights Organization, 26 people live in one cell with only 12 beds, meaning that prisoners do not get enough sleep and rest, and are forced to take turns in the beds, with some sleeping at night and others during the day.
The organization said it had received information indicating that a number of prisoners had died due to harsh detention conditions, torture, illness, exhaustion, and lack of medical care.
The relatives of prisoners in Ovadan-Debi are not informed of their deaths and their bodies are not delivered to them. The list of the dead or presumed dead includes Turkmen citizens, as well as Russian, Iranian and other citizens.
The burials are done secretly and in an unknown location. According to the organization “Prove They Are Alive”, there is a crematorium in the prison, and the ashes are buried in its courtyard.
In addition, prisoners are completely isolated from the outside world, as they are prohibited from using the Internet, reading newspapers, watching television or listening to the radio, and they are strictly forbidden from speaking to the prison guards and guards.
The Turkmen Helsinki Organisation says some prisoners, especially political ones, are subjected to “brutal” forms of torture, including having fecal matter poured onto the walls of their cells.
Although the prison was built in the 21st century, there are no toilets in the cells.
The organization also spoke about other cases of torture, such as sticking needles under fingernails, suffocation, electric shocks, sexual violence, forcing prisoners to take drugs that affect their mental abilities, and depriving them of food and water.