DUSHANBE, September 8, Asia-Plus — The European Union has expressed concern about the situation in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) and demanded that Tajik authorities allow international organizations and diplomatic missions to have access to the region.
Participants at the 923rd session of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) passed a statement to this effect on September 7.
“We remain concerned about the situation and urge the Tajik authorities to allow early access to the region for international organizations and diplomatic missions. Given its mandate for early warning and conflict prevention and its broad field presence in Tajikistan, the OSCE could play an important role in assisting the Tajik authorities, the statement said.
The statement also called on the Tajik government to ensure a transparent investigation into the murders of Islamic Revival Party activist Sabzali Mamadrizoyev and former field commander of the united Tajik Opposition (UTO) Imomnazar Imomnazarov.
We will recall that Sabzali Mamadrizoyev, the head of IRP’s organization for Gorno Badakhshan, was killed in July in Khorog and Imomnazar Imomnazarov, the former opposition commander from the Tajik Civil War, was killed in an attack on his home in Khorog on August 21.
The statement says, “We call on the Tajik authorities to ensure transparent investigations into the recent killings of the Head of the Gorno-Badakhshan branch of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, Mr. Sabzali Mamadrizoyev and the former field commander of the United Tajik Opposition, Mr. Imumnazar Imumnazarov. We call for due legal process to be followed in any trials of those detained as a result of recent events.”
The EU has also complained that Tajik authorities continue to block access to certain websites.
“A number of websites in Tajikistan remain blocked. We recall the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media’s statement of July 27 when she noted that “blocking is a restriction on free media and, most importantly, deprives citizens of their right to know, to receive and impart information about developments in their own country”. The EU calls on the Tajik authorities to lift these restrictions to allay any misunderstandings that inevitably emerge when access to information is restricted.”
