Speaking at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, representative of Tajikistan has responded to accusations launched against the Tajik authorities by the banned Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) and Group-24 opposition organization.
He called the IRPT ally of Islamic State (IS) militant group, noting that it was banned in Tajikistan on September 29, 2015 as terrorist organization.
Recall that Tajik authorities have linked mutinous general Abduhalim Nazarzoda to the IRPT. They said Abduhalim Nazarzoda, who was killed in a special security operation in the Romit Gorge on September 16, was allegedly linked to the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan.
The Islamic Revival Party has denied link to Nazarzoda’s deadly mutiny.
Speaking at the meeting in Warsaw, representative of Tajikistan accused the IRPT members of committing terrorism-related crimes and supporting IS terrorist organization.
“Criminal proceedings have been instituted only against those persons who have committed crimes but not against their relatives,” he added.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s Central Asia researcher Steve Swerdlow told Radio Liberty on September 20 that some 50 relatives of Tajik activists who had staged a protest at an OSCE conference in Poland this week have been detained in Tajikistan.
Swerdlow said some 20 Tajik opposition and rights activists residing in Europe held a silent protest in Warsaw on September 19 during a conference session where the situation of human rights in Tajikistan was being discussed.
The protesters wore T-shirts with portraits of Tajik opposition politicians and lawyers who were jailed in the country in recent months. Human rights groups have called the cases politically motivated.
Tajik government officials, however, say they do not have any information about the alleged arrests.
