“He just disappeared; Left his apartment for a meeting and disappeared. We have checked all the police stations, jails, hospitals and migration centres. We don’t know what to do.”
These were the words that Tajik opposition leader Suhrob Jafar said to me in late February 2023, a few days after the disappearance of Nasimjon Sharipov, his colleague in the political movement Group 24.
They both lived in Turkey for about 10 years, having fled to Tajikistan in 2014 due to the government’s repression of opposition groups, including the ban on Group 24. Jafar told me that both men had recently received anonymous threats on their phones, warning that they would be kidnapped and deported back to Tajikistan, where the government regularly uses torture and long prison sentences to suppress opposition. Uses.
Zafar and I remained in touch till March 10, 2024, after which he stopped responding. I later came to know that Zafar had also gone missing that day. An unconfirmed report in independent Tajik media on 20 March suggested that the two men were seen exiting a plane in handcuffs at an airport in the capital of Tajikistan on 15 March – but to date, there has been no official information on the whereabouts of the two activists. The statement has not come.
The concern over the fate of both men is understandable. This matches recent research I conducted for the Washington, D.C.-based human rights group Crude Accountability, detailing how Tajikistan has systematically engaged in the practice of enforced disappearances—which is considered one of the most severe crimes under international law. It is considered one of the dangerous crimes.
Based on primary interviews and profiling 31 cases of incommunicado detention or enforced disappearance over a 20-year period, I explored how Tajikistan’s strategy to suppress dissent in this country of more than 10 million people Enforced disappearances have become a mainstay.
a special terror
Enforced disappearance occurs when a government detains, detains, imprisons, or kills a person while refusing to acknowledge his or her whereabouts or his or her grave. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which clearly states: “No one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance.” But Tajikistan has never been a signatory.
The practice inflicts a particular terror on both victims and their families: completely removing someone from reach of loved ones, while creating suffering and uncertainty that can last for years, even decades. Can stay.
“Disappearance” entered the popular lexicon after it became the hallmark of the brutal juntas that violently took power in Latin America 50 years ago, such as in Argentina and especially Chile, where at least some of them were executed on the orders of General Augusto Pinochet. 1,248 people had gone missing.
Half a century later, my research shows that this dangerous practice is being carried out with disturbing regularity by Tajikistan under the repressive rule of authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon.
Under Rahmon’s rule since 1992, Tajikistan has consistently been ranked among the “worst of the worst” when it comes to its record of political rights and civil liberties.
The use of enforced disappearances by Tajik authorities dates back to the 1992–97 civil war that devastated the republic after the fall of the Soviet Union, killing between 20,000 and 150,000 people.
It is extremely difficult to accurately estimate the number of Tajiks who have disappeared.
Efforts by scholars and the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances that visited the country in 2019 have been thwarted by Rahmon’s resistance to allowing any critical investigation into the possible abuses of his troops.
The UN team was unable to obtain official data, noting “unprecedented” indifference in shedding light on the case in Tajikistan.
Nonetheless, he estimated that thousands of people were missing during the civil war.
export of oppression
After Rahmon’s forces emerged victorious in the civil war, the autocratic leader entered his second decade in power – a period that took the country down an increasingly repressive path.
Violating the peace accord signed in 1997, which would have guaranteed 30% of government posts to the opposition, Rahmon chose a much tougher means of maintaining his regime than allowing competitive elections or a free press. : Detention and kidnapping of critics.
Among the disappeared was Shamsuddin Shamsuddinov, vice-chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, who was captured at home on May 30, 2003. Shamsudinov was denied access to a lawyer, was eventually tried and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He died behind bars in 2008, under what supporters say were suspicious circumstances.
By then, crippling poverty meant millions of Tajiks traveled to Russia in search of work to support their families back home.
But this vast diaspora also made Russia fertile ground for nascent opposition to Rahmon’s increasingly repressive regime. Tajik authorities noted the growing popularity of the opposition in exile and expanded the scope of their disappearances.
Take the case of 24-year-old Ehsan Odinev, who employed his social media skills at Group24. On May 19, 2015, Odineev left his apartment in Saint Petersburg and disappeared. Tajik authorities had previously registered his case with Interpol and declared him wanted on unspecified “cyber crimes” charges. Before his disappearance, Odinev told friends and family that he was being followed.
Nine years later, his family tells me they have no idea whether Odinyev is alive, imprisoned in Tajikistan or Russia, or killed.
action on pamiri
Since 2022, enforced disappearances have become the focus of Rahmon’s crackdown on perhaps the last bastion of domestic resistance to his regime: the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast.
The region, which is located in the south-east of the country, is inhabited by the ethnic minority Pamiris who speak a distinct language and are predominantly Shia Muslims in the Sunni-majority country.
As part of a bloody repression of unrest in the region – framed by Tajik authorities as an “anti-terrorism” campaign – the government has reportedly arrested and jailed hundreds of Pamiri intellectuals, journalists, and religious and community leaders. .
Meanwhile, dozens of prominent Pamiri individuals living in Russia have been taken in by the state. One of those captured was young migrant leader Amriddin Alovtshoyev, who was captured in the Russian city of Belgorod in January 2022.
In early February, Alovtshoyev appeared on Tajik state television in what supporters say was an apparently forced confession to unspecified crimes. He received a sentence of 18 years.
While many people have disappeared within Tajikistan, my research has documented many cases of Tajik dissidents disappearing on foreign country’s territory, most notably Russia, Turkey and Belarus.
Tajikistan is a poor state with modest capabilities, it is claimed by human rights groups, that has partnered with Russia, Turkey and Belarus to expand the reach of its security services.
While the alleged involvement of Russia, Turkey, and Belarus in international repression is not surprising, given that these countries share an authoritarian bent, I believe the more shocking revelation is the involvement of established countries like Poland, Germany, and Austria in forced repression. There is participation of democracies. Return of asylum seekers to Tajikistan, where they may face secret detention, torture, and imprisonment on political grounds.
Tajikistan’s poor human rights record – and use of forced disappearances – is well known, prompting the European Parliament to issue a resolution in January 2024 calling on Tajik authorities to “unconditionally release those arbitrarily detained.” ” was called for.
In the absence of any news from Suhrob Jafar or Nasimjon Sharipov, it is fair to assume that both are now included in that growing list.
Steve Swerdlow, Associate Professor of Political Science and Practice of International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
