Are human rights respected in Tajikistan?

The government of Tajikistan has adopted the National Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan for the Protection of Human Rights, however, the practice of human rights violations continues.

As reported to the “Khovar” agency by the Human Rights Commissioner in Tajikistan, Umed Bobozoda, on August 5, the country’s government adopted the National Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan for the Protection of Human Rights for the period until 2038.

According to him, the purpose of adopting the National Strategy is to define the main tasks and directions for implementing the state policy carried out by Tajikistan regarding the provision of human rights and freedoms.

“An interdepartmental working group has developed and adopted the strategy taking into account the analysis and assessment of the state of human rights compliance in the republic, strengthening national legislation in this area, international human rights standards, recommendations from UN specialized agencies, sustainable development goals, and the formation of a culture of human rights through educational programs in the education system, government bodies, law enforcement agencies, civil society, and the media,” said the Human Rights Commissioner.

The Human Rights Commissioner stated that Tajikistan has laid a solid foundation for developing cooperation with UN charter and treaty bodies and has ratified 7 out of 9 universal human rights documents (2 treaties and 5 conventions).

It is also emphasized that Tajikistan adopted these documents to implement them and that the state currently has no debts in submitting national reports.

Bobozoda noted that Tajikistan has been a full member of the United Nations since March 2, 1992, and has committed to comply with all international human rights norms.

However, in recent years, human rights have been systematically and grossly violated in Tajikistan, for which the country’s authorities have faced harsh criticism in almost all reports from international and human rights organizations. The country is recognized as one of the most authoritarian in the world, ranking alongside North Korea and Turkmenistan in international ratings.

On July 4, in their statement, UN experts expressed concern over the sentences against human rights defenders, activists, and journalists, and urged the government of Tajikistan to demonstrate its genuine commitment to improving the situation of human rights defenders in the country.

In their statement, the experts emphasized that the criminalization of lawful and peaceful activities of human rights defenders is incompatible with Tajikistan’s international human rights obligations and called on the country’s authorities to uphold their international human rights commitments. The experts stressed that “the identification of human rights defenders with extremists and terrorists is a very dangerous practice.”

Journalists and bloggers Daleri Imomali, Abdullo Gurbati, Zavkibek Saydamini, and Abdusattor Pirmukhammadzoda were imprisoned for covering social issues and human rights violations in the country, while Ulfatkhanim Mamadshoeva, a representative of civil society in Badakhshan, and lawyers Manuchehr Kholiknazarov and Faromuz Irgashev, as well as blogger Khushom Gulom, were engaged in human rights activities in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, experts stated. 8 out of 9 were convicted on charges of extremism and terrorism.

UN experts also expressed serious concern about the apparent use of anti-terrorism legislation to silence critical voices.