Why do Tajik authorities ignore the brutal suppression of popular protests in GBAO?

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern that two years after the events in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) – the killing of 34 people and the arrest of dozens of residents – no one has been held accountable “for the brutal suppression of protesters.”

HRW urged international partners of Tajikistan not to forget the bloody events that took place in May 2022 in Khorog and Rushan, and to demand answers from Dushanbe. The authorities of Tajikistan at that time called this crackdown an “anti-terrorist operation,” however, human rights defenders consider it a suppression of dissent. “The international reaction was relatively restrained,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, a Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch.

In a statement from HRW on May 16, citing Sultanalieva, it was noted: “In July 2022, the European Parliament, and in December 2022, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor called on the authorities of Tajikistan to investigate the events in GBAO. But additional measures are needed.” Meanwhile, according to the HRW researcher, after the May events in GBAO, hundreds of civil society organizations were shut down, Ismaili followers were banned from holding prayers at home, and well-known civil activists are still in detention.

The Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region became a site of protests by citizens and the brutal suppression of these protests in May-June 2022. It all began on May 16, when a group of young people seeking justice set out from the Barkhorug neighborhood to the center of Khorog. They demanded a fair investigation into the killing of a resident of the Roshtkala district, Gulbidin Ziyobekov, and two others during the November 2021 protests in Khorog. One of the other demands of the youth was the resignation of the mayor of Khorog and the head of GBAO. The authorities did not heed their demands and used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. At that time, 31-year-old Khorog resident Zamir Nazarshoiev was killed. On May 17, the wave of protests moved from Khorog to the Rushan district. The next day, according to the authorities, an “anti-terrorist” operation began in the area.

The authorities stated that they began the operation after an attack on a convoy of Tajik security forces and the blocking of a section of the international road between Tajikistan and China. According to official information, from the start of the operation until June 17, 16 people were killed in Rushan and Khorog. Meanwhile, a report by UN diplomats indicated that up to 40 people were killed in those events. To date, with the efforts of Radio Ozodi, the names of 34 deceased individuals have been established. They were aged between 30 and 57, mostly residents of the Rushan district.

On June 18, 2022, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon stated in Dangara that “the government had no other choice”: “…The head of the district, his deputy, a woman were beaten… Excuse me, but they beat a Tajik woman… Well, there was no other choice… I gave the order, saying that you should try to neutralize the militants, or, if possible, detain them.”

Many residents of Rushan condemn the government for its brutality and the death of innocent civilians. Over the past two years, many human rights organizations and Western countries have criticized the actions of the Tajik authorities towards the Pamiris. The international human rights organization Amnesty International called on the Tajik authorities in September 2023 to “immediately and unconditionally release all Pamiri activists and human rights defenders who have been detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.”

Fernand de Varennes, the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, also stated that “harsh measures have been applied against those protesting during the events of 2021 and 2022 in GBAO, and these events should be subject to an independent and fair investigation.”

GBAO is a mountainous region in eastern Tajikistan, home to about 250,000 people. The majority of the residents are ethnic Pamiris, who speak Pamiri languages, belong to the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, and consider Prince Karim Aga Khan IV their spiritual leader.