DUSHANBE, January 30, 2015, Asia-Plus —
World Report 2015: Events of 2014
released by Human Rights Watch on January 29 notes that Tajikistan’s human rights record deteriorated in 2014, as authorities continued to crack down on freedom of expression, imprisoned opposition leaders, pressured a leading independent news agency, and arrested an academic researcher on trumped up espionage charges. Authorities’ use of torture to obtain confessions remained a serious concern. The government blocked various websites, considered introducing a new law that would require NGOs to register all sources of funding from foreign sources, subjected human rights groups to harassment, restricted media freedoms, and continued to enforce serious restrictions on religious practice, as it had in previous years.
In December 2013, a Dushanbe court sentenced businessman and former Minister of Industry Zayd Saidov to 26 years in prison on charges including embezzlement, corruption, polygamy, and rape, following a flawed investigation and trial during which Saidov was held incommunicado and denied access to counsel. Authorities arrested Saidov in April 2013, weeks after he announced plans to run for president and the creation of an opposition political party, New Tajikistan, to focus on economic reforms. During the investigation and trial, authorities harassed and threatened Saidov’s relatives, fellow party members, his legal team, and their families with prosecution.
In March 2014, Tajikistan’s Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption arrested one of Saidov’s lawyers, Fakhriddin Zokirov, on fraud charges. Authorities released Zokirov under an amnesty on November 3.
In May, at least three people, including a police officer, were killed and at least seven, including three police officers, were injured during three-day clashes in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), the report says. The fatal clashes occurred during a police operation against suspected drug traffickers and protests by local residents upset with the police action. Some protesters used violence, attacking a security forces’ building in Khorog using a grenade and firearms.
In June, State Committee for National Security officers arrested scholar and well-known blogger Alexander Sodiqov in Khorog during an interview he was conducting with a leader of the May anti-government protests. He was detained for two months without charge on suspicion of espionage. Following a robust international campaign, Tajik authorities allowed Sodiqov and his family to leave the country and resume his PhD studies abroad.
In July, authorities arrested Shuhrat Qudratov, a well-known human rights lawyer also working on Saidov’s case, for bribery. Qudratov had previously represented prominent public figures and the popular independent news agency Asia Plus.
The report notes that torture is often used to coerce confessions and police and investigators routinely deny detainees access to counsel in pretrial custody.
Authorities’ attempts to restrict media freedoms and access to critical or independent information, including on the Internet, and the intimidation or detention of journalists, NGO representatives, and academics in 2014 harmed freedom of expression.
Authorities periodically blocked access to independent websites. According to Internet service providers, the state telecommunications agency continued periodically to order that several websites be blocked, including Gmail, Facebook, and Radio Ozodi, the Radio Free Europe Tajik service.
In February, a court decision against Tajikistan’s leading independent news outlet, Asia Plus, hampered freedom of expression in the country.
According to the report, Tajik authorities maintained tight restrictions on religious freedoms, including on religious education and worship. Authorities suppress unregistered Muslim education throughout the country, bring administrative charges against religious instructors, control the content of sermons, and have closed many unregistered mosques. Regulations also restrict religious dress; headscarves are banned in educational institutions and beards are prohibited in public buildings, the report says.
