Tajikistan remains among the most repressive countries in the world

The international human rights organization Freedom House, in its report “Freedom in the World – 2026: The Growing Shadow of Autocracy,” once again included Tajikistan among the most repressive countries in the world.

According to the organization’s assessment for 2025, the level of freedom in the country was only 5 points out of 100, resulting in the country remaining among the “unfree” countries.

The report was published on March 19 of this year and evaluates freedoms in the world for 2025. In total, the organization’s experts assessed the situation regarding freedom in 195 countries and 13 territories based on two key indicators — political rights and civil liberties.

The report notes that in Tajikistan, the authoritarian regime of President Emomali Rahmon, who has been in power since 1992, deprived the main opposition party of registration before the 2015 elections and subjected its members and their relatives to persecution, arrests, and, in some cases, physical elimination.

These repressive measures continued in subsequent years. Currently, there are virtually no conditions for real political competition in elections in Tajikistan, the report states.

Over the past five years, persecution for public statements has significantly intensified in the country. According to Freedom House, from 2020 to 2025, six countries — Belarus, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, Tajikistan, and Venezuela — fell to the lowest possible level on the personal expression freedom indicator amid large-scale arrests and criminal prosecution for critical statements.

The report also notes that 2025 marked the twentieth consecutive year of declining freedom levels worldwide. During the year, a deterioration in political rights and civil liberties was recorded in 54 countries, while improvement was observed in only 35.

It is noted that authoritarian trends are strengthening globally, with authorities engaging in election falsification and control, pressure on independent media, persecution of the opposition, and an increase in armed conflicts and military coups. Against this backdrop, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to a fair trial are being seriously undermined.

At the same time, Freedom House is not the only organization criticizing the Tajik authorities for restricting citizens’ freedoms. Previously, other international human rights organizations, the UN, and the European Union have repeatedly made recommendations to improve the human rights situation in the country, but the current leadership of Tajikistan systematically ignores these proposals.