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Tajik Opposition Calls for Global Action Against Rahmon Regime’s Human Rights Violations

According to Azda TV, the Tajik opposition movement “Reform and Development of Tajikistan” has appealed to the governments of the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, and countries of the EU, to support efforts for peaceful and constructive dialogue between the Tajik opposition and President Emomali Rahmon’s government. The movement called the global community to help resolve the crisis in Tajikistan, where Rahmon’s regime targets political opposition, civil society, and independent media. They highlighted human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and the persecution of journalists, activists, and lawyers. Sharofiddin Gadoev, the movement’s leader, called for key goals, such as freeing political prisoners, ending the repression of journalists and activists, ensuring free speech, and having an independent press. He also called for laws in Tajikistan to meet international human rights standards and for free, fair elections involving all political groups. In this regard, the movement “Reform and Development of Tajikistan” called on the international community for “coordinated actions to protect human rights and support democratic processes in Tajikistan, as well as to strengthen political pressure on Emomali Rahmon.” The movement has said: “Tajikistan is a country with a young population. For this generation, the absence of democratic alternatives and opportunities leads to the risk of radicalization. This vacuum of democratic choice can be used by extremist groups, which threatens not only Tajikistan but all of Central Asia. The country may be on the verge of destabilization in the ongoing crisis and the lack of effective reforms. This will create a stream of refugees and strengthen extremist movements, which will become a serious challenge in the field of security.” The movement is calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate Rahmon’s regime of serious crimes like torture and disappearances. They have asked for help before, urging the release of political prisoners and an end to repression, but so far, the Tajik government has ignored these calls, and human rights abuses continue.

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Tajikistan Court Issues Harsh Sentences to Opposition Group 24 Leader and Associate

A Dushanbe court has handed down sentences to two opposition activists: Sukhrob Zafar, leader of the banned Group 24 (G24), and his associate Nasimjon Sharifov. Zafar was sentenced to 30 years and Sharifov to 20 years in prison. The verdict was announced on October 10 behind closed doors in the Dushanbe pre-trial detention center, and according to Radio Ozodi sources, it fully complies with the state prosecution's request. Official structures still need to confirm this information. Representatives of G24 say the sentences relate to the charges of “calls for violent change of the constitutional order” spread through the Internet. They consider these accusations unfounded and call the case politically motivated. In their opinion, the trial was conducted under pressure from the authorities and was a manifestation of Emomali Rahmon's government's repressive policy. Both activists previously lived in Turkey, where they were hiding from the Tajik authorities. Suhrob Zafar had been there since 2014 and had received repeated threats. He was detained several times at Tajikistan's request but was soon released. Sharifov had also been living in Turkey since 2015 and was detained three times but released each time. In March 2024, they mysteriously disappeared, and only in August it became known that they were taken to Dushanbe, where an investigation against them began. The trial, according to G24 representatives, was yet another example of human rights violations and political repression. The organization claims that the trial was held under tremendous pressure and calls the authorities' actions an act of suppression of dissent. Supporters believe that the repression of activists continues as part of the anti-opposition policy that the Tajik authorities have been pursuing for years. G24 is an opposition organization founded in 2012 by businessman Umarali Kuwwatov, who left Tajikistan after conflicts with the authorities. The movement opposes President Emomali Rahmon's policies, accusing him of corruption and authoritarianism. In 2014, Tajikistan's Supreme Court declared the organization extremist after calls for protests and banned its activities, including websites and publications. The group's founder was killed in 2015 in Turkey, raising suspicions of involvement by Tajik authorities.

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Karakalpak Activists Facing Charges in Uzbekistan, Granted Asylum in the United States

The waiting, worrying, and wondering are finally over for four Karakalpak activists who were detained in Kazakhstan some two years ago, and faced possible extradition back to Uzbekistan. Zhangeldi Zhaksimbetov, Tleubike Yuldasheva, Raisa Khudaybergenova, and Ziuar Mirmanbetova received word on October 15 that they had been granted asylum in the United States. It ended more than two years of uncertainty that started with the unrest in Karakalpakstan on July 1, 2022. Karakalpakstan is part of Uzbekistan, but has a special status as a sovereign republic with its own parliament and constitution that allows the region to hold a referendum on seceding from Uzbekistan. Those unique privileges are also enshrined in Uzbekistan’s constitution, but in spring 2022 parliament proposed making amendments to the constitution. The main reason for the amendments was to change the presidential term from five to seven years so that incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who was serving his second and constitutionally last term at the time, could extend his stay in power. However, the commission drafting the constitutional changes also dropped the articles referring to Karakalpakstan’s sovereign status and right to secede. Those rights were nominal as there was no chance Uzbek authorities would allow Karakalpakstan to fully govern itself or secede. Karakalpakstan accounts for some 37% of Uzbekistan’s territory, and also has large oil and natural gas reserves that have just started being developed in the past ten years. The special rights Karakalpakstan had might have been nominal, particularly since ethnic Karakalpaks make up only about one-third of Karakalpakstan’s two million inhabitants. But these distinctions, albeit it only on paper, were important to the Karakalpaks, and when the proposed amendments were published at the end of June 2022, tensions started rising immediately in Karakalpakstan. On July 1, Karakalpak community leaders went to apply for permission to hold a public meeting against the planned changes affecting Karakalpakstan. The group’s leader, activist and lawyer Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, was detained. Word spread and a large group numbering at least several thousand gathered, protesting peacefully outside the administration building in the Karakalpakstan capital, Nukus. When police and security forces attempted to disperse the crowd, violence broke out, and when it was over and order finally restored, at least 21 people were dead and 243 injured. Nearly all the casualties were Karakalpaks, and police and security forces were accused of using unnecessary and indiscriminate force against the protesters. News of the proposed amendments, and the ensuing violence spread to the Karakalpak communities in other countries, notably to neighboring Kazakhstan, where, according to various estimates, anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 Karakalpaks live. Most have Kazakh citizenship, but some simply work in Kazakhstan and remain citizens of Uzbekistan. Karakalpak activists in Kazakhstan followed events in Karakalpakstan in late June and early July 2022 and posted about it on social networks, sometimes with words of support for the protesters. After Uzbek authorities had restored order in Kazakhstan and arrested more than 500 people, Uzbek officials requested the Kazakh government detain Karakalpaks in Kazakhstan who had been...

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Central Asia Finesses Pressure over Russia, Sanctions

Kyrgyzstan says it will cooperate with regional heavyweight Russia despite appeals from some Western countries not to do so. The comment by President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan reflects a broader effort by Central Asian countries to balance longstanding economic and security ties with Moscow alongside relationships with Europe and the United States, which have imposed multiple sanctions packages on Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “Certainly, there are Western countries that ask us not to cooperate with Russia,” Japarov said in an interview with the state-run Kabar news agency that was published on Wednesday. “However, I always openly and sincerely respond to them: ´We cannot refuse to cooperate with Russia. Our trade turnover with Russia exceeds $4 billion. We buy oil, gas, wheat and other foodstuffs from Russia. Geographically, we are in a landlocked area. Our road and rail routes to the world pass through Russia. Russia hosts about a million of our migrants. How can we not cooperate with Russia?”´ Japarov noted that trade between some European Union countries and Russia runs into billions of dollars a year despite sanctions, saying: “When you need it, you cooperate with Russia, but we are not allowed to. This is an unfair demand.” The EU says it has imposed “massive and unprecedented” sanctions on Russia, including travel bans on individuals, asset freezes on individuals and entities and economic measures that target Russia’s financial, trade, energy, transport, technology and defense areas. However, exemptions and loopholes mean that some trade continues, for example allowing EU member states that are especially dependent on Russian crude oil to continue receiving it by pipeline. Czechia has spent more than 7 billion euros on Russian oil and gas, over five times what it has provided in aid to Ukraine, according to a report released this week by the Center for the Study of Democracy, a European public policy institute. Additionally, many analysts have pointed to a surge in European exports to Central Asia and the Caucasus since 2022 as a probable indication that EU and British companies are using the regions as a conduit to send goods to Russia, including at least a portion that are subject to sanctions. The difficulty of tracking products made it hard to confirm any sanctions-dodging, though an analysis of trade data by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development last year concluded that changes in regional trade patterns “may be used to circumvent economic sanctions but on a limited scale.” At the same time, there have been more reports of banks in Central Asian countries refusing to accept cross-border payments from Russian companies as the United States moved to impose secondary sanctions for doing business with Russian entities. Banks in China, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates, all big trade partners with Russia, have taken similar action. Kyrgyzstan is not the only Central Asian country that has expressed frustration about Western sanctions. Last year, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said his country would comply with sanctions against Russia while still...

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Suspects Arrested in Tashkent for Trying to Sell Ancient Coins Worth $67,000

Uzbekistan's State Security Service, in collaboration with customs officials, hosted an event in Tashkent to investigate the attempted sale of ancient coins. A Tashkent resident was apprehended whilst trying to sell 100 gold coins to a resident of Andijan for $67,000, and an additional 37 gold coins were seized from the seller's car. According to the experts, the gold coins of 5 and 10 rubles, with a total net weight of 776 grams, are considered cultural numismatic treasures of significant artistic and historical value. Minted between 1897 and 1911, the coins have authenticity levels of 900 and 916 and are valued at 950 million UZS. It was discovered that the buyer planned to sell the historical coins, known as “Nikolai”, in the Osh region of the Kyrgyz Republic. A criminal case has now been opened and investigations are underway.

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Murder and Arson in Talgar: Kazakhs Fear Rising Tide of Organized Crime

On the night of October 4, 16-year-old Sherzat Bolat was killed in the town of Talgar, located in Almaty Oblast near the city of Almaty. The father of the victim blamed the incident on a gang - allegedly operating in Talgar and the surrounding area for many years - with connections to the government and law enforcement agencies. Later, unknown people burned down the family's house, and National Guard troops were brought into Talgar. The situation brings to mind the darkest pages of recent history, when criminal groups held cities and entire neighborhoods in a state of fear. The Talgar tragedy Sherzat Bolat was murdered in front of his father and mother after an incident occurred involving young people who entered the store the Bolat family rented. As stated by the boy's father, the customers refused to pay for a can of beer, and a fight broke out. According to other relatives, the group had knives and firearms. Sherzat's uncle was also injured during the fight and is recovering in hospital. Police initially claimed that all those involved in the incident had been detained, but the parents of the deceased later said that only seven had been arrested, while there were many more attackers. Fearing that the perpetrators would not be brought to justice, on October 7 Sherzat's relatives and concerned citizens of Talgar staged a rally at which Sherzat's father, Karzhaubai Nurymov, claimed that the so-called “Khutorskie” group was responsible for the boy's death. According to multiple reports, the Khutorskie have been terrorizing Talgar and its surroundings areas for many years. Businessman Hasan Kasymbayev allegedly runs the group, whilst sources also mention his brothers, including Yerzhan Kasymbayev, who was sentenced to 14 years for the murder of customs officer Medet Zhamashev, and Aslan Kasymbayev, head of the Talgar district Akim's (mayoral) office. In addition, the Kasymbayevs are said to be related to an official who once held high positions in law enforcement agencies. According to concerned residents of Talgar, the perpetrators of the boy's murder may be able to avoid justice due to their connections. In a statement, the acting head of the regional police department denied the involvement of any organized crime groups in the murder; the investigation has now been taken over by the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, which has dispatched a team to the scene of the crime. In an interview, Hasan Kasymbayev, who posted controversial photos on social networks, categorically denied his involvement in the murder of the teenager and any participation in an organized crime group. Despite assurances from officials, on October 12, the house of Sherzat's family in the village of Azat, Yenbekshikazakh district, Almaty region, was burned down. Police opened a criminal case and took the murdered teenager's family into protective custody. The house was empty at the time of the fire. The murder and arson have caused a sharp reaction in Talgar and led to a wider reverberations throughout Kazakhstan. Former Minister of Education and Mazhilis deputy, Askhat Aimagambetov, stated...