Civil society in Badakhshan Province thinks that the bloody events of May 21 in Kharough are part of the planned actions by law-enforcement structures
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According to civil society activists, whose statement was disseminated today, aim of the action was to “put pressure on Badakhshan residents and the central authorities’ will to suppress continued disobedience by part of the region’s population; to create an atmosphere of fear and blind obedience to powerful forces, and not to common sense, justice and truth for peaceful coexistence of state and civil society.”
The activists’ statement says that “basing on the high goals of national unity and peace, which are marked in the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, and with the understanding of civil and human responsibility, with an indication of the inextricable link with brothers in all regions of Tajikistan,” Badakhshan civil society activists demand the creation of a joint commission with the representatives of the central government, including the Governor, Shadikhan Jamshedov, and representatives of law-enforcement agencies on one side, and representatives of the civil society on the other side in order to investigate the May 21 Kharough events.
The statement reads: “The Commission must investigate the reasons of bloody events of July 24, 2012 in Kharough, and similar events of a month ago in Roushan in order to prevent such events in the future. It is also important to restore political and social rights of participants of summer 2012 events in Kharough, and provide material support to victims’ families and to release political prisoners.”
They also demand to call an extraordinary meeting of Badakhshan Majlis and of Kharough Majlis with the participation of society in order to discuss the situation with the use of guns in the center of the Province.
The statement notes: “All the Badakhshan administration and provincial and Kharough law-enforcement agencies, who knew about the incident beforehand, but did not take any steps to protect civilians, should be fired from their positions.”
They demand: “Firstly we demand from the Government of Tajikistan to refrain from preliminary evaluations and wait for the results of the incident investigation.”
According to the latest information, a group of people are in the center of Kharough in this moment. Based on some estimates, approximately three thousand people are waiting for officials. They demand the speedy implementation of the civil society statement and the removal of the provincial police chief in Badakhshan. So far no government representatives have appeared.
Ministry of Interior reported that the past night was quite in Kharough, and there were no incidents registered.
