On Friday November 8, Amnesty International (AI) released “Memorandum for the newly-elected president of Tajikistan: Respect and protect human rights.”

On the occasion of the re-election of Emomali Rahmon as the President of Tajikistan, Amnesty International urges him to put human rights firmly on the government’s agenda.  The pervasive human rights violations in Tajikistan and the impunity for those who commit them must end.  Laws, practices and customs which permit or encourage the perpetuation of human rights violations must change.

As he enters his fourth term, the President should lead the process of human rights reform in the country, placing particular emphasis on criminal justice reforms and the respect for the freedom of expression, Amnesty International said.

This memorandum sets out the key human rights concerns in these areas and recommends concrete steps to address them.

Amnesty International has welcomed a number of positive developments in recent years.  These steps include the introduction of the criminal offence of torture; the abolition in practice of the death penalty; the adoption of a Law on the Prevention of the Violence in the Family; and the adoption of a number of measures to protect participants in the criminal investigation process, including victims and witnesses, from intimidation and pressure.

Meanwhile, reforms to the criminal justice system have not succeeded in eliminating the widespread use of torture, however, or in ensuring that those who use it face justice.  Allegations of harassment and threats against political opponents have multiplied in the course of the last year.  The failure to address these long-standing structural human rights violations is holding Tajikistan back. They need to be addressed now.

Amnesty international notes that key human rights concerns in Tajikistan include: 1) impunity for torture and other ill-treatment; 2) obstacles to criminal defense lawyers carrying out their professional duties; 3) reprisals against victims and witnesses of human rights violations; 4) torture and ill-treatment in prisons; 5) the failure to investigate credible reports of civilians’ deaths during the July 2012 events in Khorog, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO); and 6) dwindling space for political activism.

Amnesty International recommends that new President should: 1) sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and establish an independent monitoring system of detention facilities, as envisaged by the Protocol.  In the meantime, allow independent monitors, including representatives of civil society, to have unimpeded access to all detention facilities, including, as a priority, the correction facility 3/3 in Khujand; 2) take steps to tackle impunity including by establishing an adequately resourced, effective, independent agency to investigate all allegations of human rights violations committed by officers of law enforcement agencies and the security services; 3) ensure that detainees have immediate access to a lawyer of their choice, with whom they can consult confidentially and in private.  The draft law on lawyers should be amended so as to remove the direct control of the executive over the qualification and registration of lawyers; 4) put an end to the harassment of and reprisals against victims or witnesses who speak out about torture and ill-treatment, ensuring their protection in practice and the effective investigation of all allegations of harassment; 5) order an impartial and thorough investigation into the reported deaths and injuries of members of the general population in the context of the military operation and clashes with armed groups in GBAO in July 2012, ensure that those responsible are held to account, and provide full and adequate reparations to victims and their families; and 6) ensure that political activists and their supporters are able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, including in the run up to the 2015 parliamentary elections, without fear of harassment, intimidation or other reprisals.