DUSHANBE, September 8, 2014, Asia-Plus — In a report released at a session of the CIS Council of Interior Ministers in Cholpon-Ata, a resort town on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda revealed on September 4 that 30 members of terrorist organizations have been detained in Tajikistan over the first six months of this year. Among them are 12 members of Jamaati Ansarullah, 7 members of Musalmononi Soleh, three members of the Taliban Movement, and one member of Jabhat al-Nusra.
“Besides, 39 members of illegal armed formations, nine members of gangs that committed 89 crimes have been detained in Tajikistan over the same six-month period,” Rahimzoda.
The minister added that 25 members of extremist organizations, including 18 members of Salafi group, four members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, and two members of Jamaat at-Tabligh have been detained in Tajikistan over the report period.
Meanwhile, ten issues have been tabled to the agenda of the session of the CIS Council of Interior Ministers that took place in Cholpon-Ata on September 4-6. The agenda, in particular, included the routine security issues of combating crimes and draft documents concerning tracing of persons by competent agencies and return of minors to their countries of permanent residence as well as cooperation in combating cyber crimes.
Members of the CIC Council of Interior Ministers also discussed organization of work of the Scientific-Consultative Council on providing conditions for conducting joint research works. They also discuss personnel issues and inventory of legal foundation of the CIS Council of Interior Minister.
The CIS is a loose association of states. Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is aimed at being more than a purely symbolic organization, nominally possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security. It has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention.
The CIS Interior Ministers Council was founded in 1996 to expand cooperation between the CIS member nations in crime prevention and law enforcement. The Council members include representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. Turkmenistan partakes in some of the Council’s meetings.
