In 2024, the government of Tajikistan intensified measures to suppress dissent, using detention to persecute public figures, journalists, and bloggers. This is stated in the annual report of the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch. In 2024, the authorities of Tajikistan regularly sent requests for the deportation or extradition of activists and critics associated […]
In 2024, the government of Tajikistan intensified measures to suppress dissent, using detention to persecute public figures, journalists, and bloggers.
This is stated in the annual report of the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch.
In 2024, the authorities of Tajikistan regularly sent requests for the deportation or extradition of activists and critics associated with banned opposition parties in the country.
The authors of the report note that the Rahmon regime applies transnational repression, citing the disappearance of the leader of the “Group 24”, Suhrob Zafar, and a prominent member of this group, Nasimjon Sharifov, in Turkey. They were later found in Tajikistan with signs of torture and ill-treatment and, after a closed trial on unclear charges, were sentenced to 20 and 30 years in prison, respectively, the report states.
The report also mentions the Tajik opposition figure Dilmurad Ergashov, who was deported from Germany and was detained immediately upon arrival and taken into custody.
Human Rights Watch also notes an increase in repression against civil society. In particular, human rights defender, publicist, and deputy chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Shokirdzhon Hakimov, was detained on charges of “treason,” and the trial is still ongoing.
Despite international calls for release, particularly for the release of elderly prisoners on humanitarian grounds, leaders and members of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) are still held in Tajik prisons. IRPT member, 80-year-old Zubaidullo Rozik, was hospitalized due to heart disease but was returned to prison after treatment.
As a result of the government’s suppression of peaceful protests in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in 2021 and 2022, no independent investigation has been conducted, and no officials have been held accountable for illegal actions.
According to the organization, representatives of the Pamiri peoples living in GBAO continue to report a high level of persecution and pressure from the authorities. In August, 27 residents of the village of Yazgul in GBAO were detained, suspected of belonging to the banned group “Ansarullah.”
A criminal case has been opened against journalist Anora Sarkorova from GBAO on charges of “public calls for extremist activities,” and she has been declared wanted.
Another journalist, the editor-in-chief of the independent weekly newspaper “Paik,” Ahmad Ibrohim, was arrested on charges of bribery.
Authorities are infringing on the rights of women and girls by prohibiting them from wearing clothing “alien to national culture” in public places. The report notes that women and girls were even denied hospitalization because they did not wear the approved style of headwear. Authorities forcibly took people to police stations for fingerprinting and photographing, as well as detaining men, forcing them to shave their beards.