Amnesty International (AI) says Tajik authorities have launched an “unrelenting assault” against lawyers, particularly those who took up the defense of government critic.
In a statement released on May 24, the rights watchdog says lawyers in Tajikistan are confronted with significant obstacles in the exercise of their professional duty as the country is increasingly turning its back on human rights and the rule of law.
Tajik authorities have reportedly dealt a major blow to the legal profession through political manipulation of the criminal justice system and repressive legislation.
A new briefing reveals a raft of repressive government tactics used to intimidate, silence and crush lawyers in the country, punishing them for the legitimate exercise of their professional duty, according to the statement. Over the last two years, the number of licensed lawyers fell by more than half.
Amendments adopted in November 2015 to the law regulating licensing requirements for lawyers brought the process back under control of the Ministry of Justice, the statement says, noting that the number of licensed lawyers has fallen from more than 1200 in 2015, to just 600 today.
The statement comes ahead of Tajikistan’s Professional Day of the Lawyer that is marked on May 26.
According to the statement, lawyers who defended clients accused of “extremism” have themselves faced increasing state abuse and persecution, including punitive arrest and long prison terms following unfair trials. The families of lawyers have reportedly also faced harassment and intimidation from Tajikistani security forces and local authorities.
“Lawyers Buzurgmekhr Yorov and Nouriddin Mahkamov defended detained members of the recently banned opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan in September 2015. Now they both languish in prison, with little access to their families, after being convicted on terrorism-related charges and sentenced to terms of more than 20 years each,” the statement says, noting that after Yorov and Mahkamov’s arrest, few of their colleagues were prepared to defend them.
Amnesty International is calling on the Tajik authorities to free those lawyers currently being held behind bars after being convicted in unfair trials and to urgently review the legislation that has caused the disbarment of more than half of their profession in the past two years.
“The Tajikistani authorities must also respect human rights, including those of lawyers. All lawyers in Tajikistan must be able to perform their professional duties without hindrance and fear of reprisals.”
