"A Person with an Active Civic Stance." Who is Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva?

Journalist Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva, whom the authorities accused of organizing unrest in GBAO, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison. This Radio Ozodi report explores the biography of the journalist, human rights activist, and prisoner of conscience.

Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva

What was Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva engaged in? Did she truly pose a threat to the state? Why did the authorities decide to punish her so severely?

The 65-year-old journalist and human rights activist, Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva, was sentenced to 21 years in prison in early December. Sources from Radio Ozodi reported that her trial was held behind closed doors, leaving the details of the court’s ruling unknown.

A criminal case was initiated against Mamadshoeva under eight articles of the Criminal Code, including charges of public calls for the overthrow of the constitutional order.

The Tajik authorities accused Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva, her former husband—GKNB border guard general Kholbash Kholbashev, the late retired colonel Mamadbokir Mamadbokirov, who was killed in May, and opposition figure Alim Sherzamonov, who resides in Europe, of organizing mass unrest in Rushan district and Khorog city in May 2022.

Confessions Under Pressure?

In the state-broadcasted film "Shikasti Fitna" (The Failure of the Conspiracy), Mamadshoeva and her former husband, Kholbashov, confessed to their alleged crimes. However, individuals close to the accused suggest that their testimonies may have been obtained under torture, a practice frequently used during investigations in Tajikistan.

Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva herself, in a conversation with journalists from Radio Ozodi and Current Time just before her arrest, stated that she had not committed any illegal actions.

“…I am a human rights defender, an independent journalist. As for these accusations against me by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, all I can say is that, apart from my clear conscience and compassion for my small nation—the Pamiris, I have nothing else to add,” Mamadshoeva wrote on May 17, a day before her arrest, in the Pamir News group.

However, the journalists who recorded Mamadshoeva’s interview were attacked, and their equipment and recording devices were stolen, preventing her final interview from ever being published.

From Peacebuilding to Teaching

People close to Mamadshoeva describe her as a typical representative of the Tajik intelligentsia, with a background in human rights advocacy, journalism, teaching at the Russian-Tajik Slavic University in Dushanbe, and peacebuilding efforts during the civil war.

In the 1990s, Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva was a member of the Badakhshan Self-Defense Forces (SSB), which was formally part of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) and consisted of both a military and a political wing. Mamadshoeva was responsible for public relations and communications for the SSB.

She was the first representative of the Badakhshan Self-Defense Forces to meet with UN Special Envoy Liviu Bota in 1993, where she presented a plan to resolve the deadlock of the civil war. According to Bota, she played a significant role in achieving peace in Tajikistan.

After peace was achieved, Mamadshoeva, as part of the reintegration of opposition forces into state structures, began serving in the border troops. However, after a few years, she left the military and transitioned to civilian life.

"Mamadshoeva is a graduate of the Faculty of Russian Language and Literature at Tajik National University. She began her journalism career in the 1990s, working for regional TV and radio in GBAO. Since the early 2000s, she collaborated with the country’s and region’s leading media outlets, including Asia-Plus, Vecherniy Dushanbe, Digest-Press, Vatan radio, and others. Ulfathonim studied the customs and traditions of the Tajik people, which she explored in her journalistic work. In addition to her journalism experience, she also has a background in teaching. From 2003 to 2014, Ulfathonim served as a lecturer in the Department of Mass Media and Public Relations at the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University," says a close friend of Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva.

In 2014, she founded the public organization "Nomus va Insof", which focused on preventing domestic violence against women. She dedicated herself to this work in the following years, continuing her efforts until her arrest.

In the state-produced film, the authorities accused her of working for foreign states, transmitting information to these states, and receiving foreign funding. However, no concrete evidence or documents were presented to support these claims. According to Mamadshoeva’s colleagues, receiving grants for human rights activities is a legal procedure, commonly practiced by NGOs both in Tajikistan and worldwide.

"Activism Runs in Her Blood"

"Ulfathonim was the kind of person who always had her own opinion and was never afraid to express it. This was true in the 1990s, and it remained true until now, despite the fact that her loved ones were always against her activism and feared for her safety," says a family friend of Mamadshoeva.

Ulfathonim has three children and four grandchildren, all of whom live in Tajikistan, but since her arrest, they have avoided contact with the press.

In 2014, when a car was shot at during a "special operation" by security forces in Khorog, Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva was among the civil society representatives chosen to negotiate with the authorities in an effort to de-escalate the situation in the region.

In the video "Shikasti Fitna," footage is shown of Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva meeting with foreign diplomats, and her activities are labeled as espionage. However, according to Alim Sherzamonov, these meetings were held by Mamadshoeva specifically to prevent bloodshed in the region.

"After the events of November 2021 in the Pamirs and the start of a large-scale campaign by state media to demonize the population—when people from GBAO, just like in the 1990s, were once again afraid to speak their language on the streets of Dushanbe—Ulfathonim went to all international organizations and media outlets to sound the alarm and try to prevent what later happened in the Pamirs," says Alim Sherzamonov.

According to him, her arrest was specifically intended to silence any alternative voice coming from GBAO.

After the events in GBAO and the arrest of activists, any open communication with representatives of the region’s population about the situation there has become impossible.

Article Originally Published at Radio Ozodi in Russian. This translated version is for the purposes of wider desimination.