Hello all; first of all, I am sorry for my hiatus from posts (paucity of posting) for such a long time, but also, I am happy to say that I have found a new home on the web, and I will be once again posting much more frequently!
From now on, I will be posting about Tajikistan at
http://studentdigitalus.org/TajikistanFocus/
I hope you will head over and check us out.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
by Hairullo Mirsaidov
Yet another scandal linked to the death of a man following torture has hit Tajikistan. A resident of Gissar District Hamza Ikromzoda died in investigative detention facility (IDF) No 1 in Dushanbe. Having received the body of the deceased, his family reported finding many signs of beatings and strong burns in the shape of an iron. His brother said that this was preceded a conflict between prisoners and the police, which arose from the latter’s refusal to share money with the former.
The Deputy Head of the Department of Penal Labour of the Ministry of Justice (DPL) Bahrom Abdulhakov refuted the family’s allegations and said that Mr Ikromzoda committed suicide in the punitive consignment. “When he was taken out of the noose, he still had a pulse, and there were attempts to save him.”
He said that when Mr Ikromzoda’s temperature fell sharply, flasks with hot water were put on his body and doctors tried to revive him with electricity, which is the reason Mr Abdulhakov gave for the burns on Mr Ikromzoda’s body.
The dead man’s relatives addressed their complaints to various authorities, including the country’s president. Several days ago, a group of women demanded to be let into the DPL. After a long conversation, the head of the division promised them that the head of IDF No1 will be fired. The prosecutors are now looking into Mr Ikromzoda’s death.
On the same day that Mr Ikromzoda died, another man was said to have thrown himself out of the window of the Drug Control Agency in Dushanbe (DCA). He was taken there on suspicion of storing drugs and is said to have jumped out of the tactical-mobile division of the DCA on the sixth floor. The prosecutor has launched a criminal case, but no details have been announced.
This is already the third case in the last year when those accused of crimes die during the preliminary investigation by jumping out of the windows. In October last year, 28 year old Bahromiddin Shodiev died in hospital. The police said he tried to escape and jumped out of the second floor window. His relatives insisted that he was violently tortured during the investigation, and said that he told them this before his death.
According to the Tajikistan police internal investigation, three people employed by the department where the incident took place were dismissed. The Minister of the Interior ordered a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Shodiev’s death and, if it involves police employees, has ordered for criminal cases to be launched against them. Then it all came to a standstill.
Read More….
via Tajikistan: Dubious Efforts against Torture , 9 October 2012 Tuesday 10:26.
Tajikistan’s government has blocked the websites of the British Broadcasting Corporation and Russian TV channel Vesti, local internet providers told RIA Novosti on Monday.
“The decision has been taken by the Governmental Communications Service,” an internet provider company spokesman said.
Tajikistan’s internet users say access to Vesti and BBC has been blocked since July 29. Earlier authorities severed access to YouTube.
Experts link the move to a controversial armed conflict in the east of the republic that took place on July 24. At least nine Tajik security officers were killed and another 25 others injured in a special operation in Tajikistan’s eastern city of Khorog against a mafia-style group believed to be behind the murder of a top Tajik security general, Abdullo Nazarov.
Dushanbe denies any casualties among civilians, but the opposition media reported some 200 dead, including security officers and civilians.
Tajik opposition activists claim that the conflict was actually an attempt by President Emomali Rakhmon to suppress opposition in the region. They have accused Tajik authorities of using Nazarov’s murder, and the recent attacks on government officials, as a pretext for an ethnic cleansing campaign, and an attempt to reestablish control over the region which has long been known as a fiefdom of local warlords.
On July 23, a day before the controversial conflict, a demonstration that apparently sparked the anger of the country’s authorities was held in Khorog. A video captured during the mass event and later posted on YouTube shows that one of those addressing the demonstration was Sabzali Mamadrizoyev, the head of the regional branch of Tajikistan’s Islamic Revival Party (IRP).
Mamadrizoyev criticized the poor social and economic situation in the country and the inactivity of authorities. The activist was found dead three days later. On Monday, Tajikistan’s Islamic Revival Party officially confirmed the assassination of Mamadrizoyev, Asia Plus news portal said.
“After the July 23 meeting, Sabzali Mamadrizoyev was detained by law enforcement authorities and taken to the Khorog border unit,” Asia Plus quoted as saying an IRP member from Khorog, without giving his name. “He was severely beaten there and then shot with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Mamadrizoyev’s body was found three days later and he was buried on July 26.”
The Gorno-Badakhshan region where the conflict occured remains volatile 15 years after a civil war between the Moscow-backed government and an Islamist-led opposition. Close to 50,000 people were killed during the conflict. The five-year war ended in 1997 with a United Nations-brokered peace agreement.
Tajikistan on Saturday closed all crossing points on the border with Afghanistan.
Tajik activists have sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to help resolve the conflict.
via Tajikistan Blocks British, Russian News Websites | World | RIA Novosti.
Published: July 10, 2012 at 1:40 PM
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 10 (UPI) — Amnesty International announced a report Tuesday chronicling routine torture and abuse in detention centers throughout Tajikistan.
The full report, entitled “Shattered Lives: Torture and other ill-treatment by law enforcement officials in Tajikistan” takes an in-depth look at the treatment of those held in police custody.
“The torture methods used by the security forces are shocking: electric shocks, boiling water, suffocation, beatings, burning with cigarettes, rape and threats of rape,” said Rachel Bugler of Amnesty International. “The only escape is to sign a confession or sometimes pay a bribe.”
An Amnesty International press release details the results of such treatment: burst ear drums, broken teeth and dislocated jaws as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, nightmares and chronic insomnia.
“Far too frequently, this treatment leads to the deaths of people in police custody,” Bulger said. “These cases are not being properly investigated and the alleged perpetrators are not effectively brought to justice.”
The poorer population is especially vulnerable, being the least likely to lodge complaints, the report says. Meanwhile, law enforcement officials are evaluated based on how many crimes they solve. As one Tajik journalist told Amnesty International: “Torture is a means of income. Police detain, torture and charge people, and then suggest that they can be bought off.”
The police told me “If we kill you we’ll chuck your body in the canal and no one will ever find you and we won’t get punished”
Torture survivor 2012
Torture, beatings and other ill-treatment are routine in places of detention in Tajikistan and thrive in a climate of widespread corruption and impunity, Amnesty International said in a new report in which it urged the authorities to roundly condemn and stamp out the practice.
Shattered Lives: Torture and other ill-treatment by law enforcement officials in Tajikistan describes the risks people face in the early stages of detention, the inadequate investigations into allegations of torture, and the failure of the Tajikistani authorities to hold those responsible to account.
“The torture methods used by the security forces are shocking: involving electric shocks, boiling water, suffocation, beatings, burning with cigarettes, rape and threats of rape – the only escape is to sign a confession or sometimes to pay a bribe ,” said Rachel Bugler, Amnesty International’s expert on Tajikistan.
“Such treatment leaves victims suffering not only from the physical injuries such as burst ear drums, broken teeth, dislocated jaws; but also from the symptoms of post-traumatic stress such as depression, chronic insomnia, and nightmares. Their ill-treatment has lasting repercussions on their lives and the lives of their families.
via Tajikistan: Torture unchecked in the absence of rule of law | Amnesty International.
Focusing on Tajikistan 