Being LGBTQ+ in Tajikistan means leading a difficult life. Faced with social stigma, discrimination, extortion, and abuse by law enforcement, members of the community are subjected to severe exploitation and their rights are violated on a systemic level. According to a local civil society activist in Tajikistan, who spoke to the International Partnership for Human … Read more
December 9 marks one year of imprisonment of the human rights defender Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov from Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) in Tajikistan, a lawyer who defended ordinary citizens, worked on cases of unlawful eviction, and who believed that everyone is equal before the law. GBAO lies below the snow-covered mountain peaks of eastern Tajikistan, covering almost … Read more
Ahead of a December 6 hearing by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations focused on transnational repression, the committee’s chair, Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), sent a letter to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, laying out his concerns regarding the Tajik government’s “ongoing harsh treatment of political opponents, human rights and civil society actors.” Cardin’s letter … Read more
Advertisement On May 19, 2015, an outspoken 24-year-old critic of the Tajik government left his apartment in Moscow and disappeared. Ehson Odinaev – who was known on social media as “Sarfarozi Olamafruz” – was a member of Group 24 and Youth of Tajikistan for Revival (YRT), related Tajik opposition groups, the latter formed among the … Read more
Advertisement On September 19, U.S. President Joe Biden met with the presidents of the five Central Asian nations – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – a major upgrade in the United States’ relationship with the region. Geopolitics (i.e. Russia and China), the specter of instability (the region has seen several incidents of mass violence … Read more
Advertisement On July 4, a group of 10 U.N. experts – including special rapporteurs whose mandates cover human rights defenders, religious freedom, judges and lawyers, and the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism – issued a statement urging Tajikistan “to show genuine commitment to improving the situation of human rights defenders in … Read more