Five non-governmental organizations have been liquidated in GBAO

According to the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan, a court decision in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region has dissolved a number of non-governmental organizations.

On August 8, 2023, Deputy Minister of Justice Asadullo Hakimzoda announced at a press conference that after reviewing more than 140 public organizations and associations in GBAO, the activities of five organizations in the region were terminated.

Hakimzoda stated that the court had dissolved the public organizations “Nomus va Insof,” “Association of Lawyers of Pamir,” “Pyanj,” “Youth of Ishkashim District,” and “Club of Shaydons Wrestling,” which, according to him, “were linked to local criminal groups and were funded by them.” However, activists in Badakhshan reject these accusations from the authorities.

In May, Radio Ozodi reported that authorities were pressuring non-governmental organizations in GBAO. At that time, civil society representatives stated that the authorities were forcing NGOs to voluntarily dissolve under the pretext of lack of funding. They reported that local residents worked in these NGOs, and the population received assistance through these organizations.

However, they responded that they only ceased the activities of organizations “that interacted with criminal groups in the region.”

Pressure from the authorities on civil society in GBAO has intensified against the backdrop of violent events in the region. Dozens of civil society activists from Badakhshan have been imprisoned.

Manuchehr Kholiknazorov and Ulfatkhanim Mamadshoeva, leaders of the dissolved organizations “Association of Lawyers of Pamir” and “Nomus va Insof,” were sentenced to 16 and 25 years in prison, respectively, as a result of the authorities’ repression.