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"We will find you and kill you." Tajikistan has been included in the list of countries with a high level of transnational repression – HRW.
- textalisher
- Feb 16
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 16
A new report by the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) sheds light on dozens of cases of transnational persecution of critics and opponents of the government in Tajikistan.
The report, titled "We Will Find You: A Global Look at How Governments Repress Their Citizens Abroad," was released on February 22 and highlights the issue in 20 countries worldwide.
Alongside countries such as Rwanda, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkmenistan, and others, Tajikistan is examined as a state that carries out repression not only against its critics but also against their family members.
The comprehensive HRW report includes more than 100 cases of transnational repression across various countries worldwide. The authors specify that "methods of transnational repression include killings, unlawful transfers, expulsions, abductions and enforced disappearances, as well as attacks on relatives..."
The HRW report was published a week after a study by another international human rights organization, Freedom House, titled "New Data: More Than 20 Percent of the World's Governments Engage in Transnational Repression."
The authors of this report calculated that between 2014 and 2023, a total of 1,034 direct physical incidents of transnational repression were carried out by the governments of 44 countries. "The governments of China, Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia, and Egypt are considered the most active perpetrators of transnational repression overall since 2014," the report states.
Tajikistan: More Than a Decade of Brutal and Widespread Repression
The authors of the report highlight that over the past decade, dozens of political opponents, dissidents, journalists, and human rights defenders from Tajikistan have been subjected to transnational repression. "Many of the victims are members of banned political opposition groups, such as 'Group 24' and the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT)," the report states.
According to the report's authors, the most egregious case was the fate of Umarali Kuvvatov, a businessman and leader of the opposition movement Group 24. He was brutally shot dead in Istanbul in March 2015. Kuvvatov had accused the president’s son-in-law, Shamsullo Sohibov, of seizing his business and became a fierce critic of the government. However, authorities in Dushanbe consistently denied these allegations and instead accused Kuvvatov of economic crimes and extremist activities.
"The Tajik authorities' persistent efforts to detain Kuvvatov and have him returned to Tajikistan support the claim that they were involved in his subsequent assassination," HRW writes.
The researchers note that many of the "Tajik targets of transnational repression" whom human rights defenders were able to interview were residing in Turkey.
"In February 2018, Numonjon Sharipov, a member of the IRPT, was detained by staff from the Tajik consulate in Istanbul and forcibly returned to Tajikistan," the report's authors write.
Nizomiddin Nasriddinov, a well-known political activist and member of Group 24, was extradited to Tajikistan from Belarus in July 2023. Nasriddinov held refugee status in Germany.
Perhaps the most mysterious and still unresolved case remains the fate of political activist Ekhson Odinaev, who unexpectedly disappeared in May 2015 in St. Petersburg. His brother, Vaisiddin Odinaev, told HRW that Tajik authorities had threatened the government critic with words like: "We will find you and kill you."
HRW writes: "The Odinaev family met with representatives of Tajikistan in Moscow, who suggested that a special unit exists to 'deal with opposition problems.'"
It is not possible to confirm or refute this claim, and the authorities in Tajikistan have never acknowledged any involvement in the disappearance of Ekhson Odinaev.
The researchers also highlighted the case of Sharofiddin Gadoev, a member of Group 24, who was unlawfully detained in Moscow in 2019 and then forcibly sent to Dushanbe, where he was subjected to threats and beatings.
"The Netherlands, where Gadoev holds refugee status, took notice of the case and requested other European officials to demand his return. Under pressure from the governments of the Netherlands and Germany, Gadoev was sent back to the Netherlands in March 2019," HRW recalls.
However, the fate of many other opponents of the Tajik government has been far more tragic.
In March 2021, Izzat Amon, a defender of migrant workers' rights and a critic of the authorities in Dushanbe, was abducted in Moscow. His whereabouts remained unknown for two days until Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that he was being held in a pre-trial detention center in Tajikistan. He was later sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
Amriddin Alovatshoev, a Tajik citizen residing in Russia, was reportedly involved in organizing a protest in November 2021 outside the Tajik embassy in Moscow in response to the violent protests in Khorog. He was forcibly disappeared and later resurfaced in Tajikistan, where he was also sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
In June and July 2022, at least seven activists from the Pamiri diaspora were abducted from Russia, including Oraz Vazirbekov, who went missing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport.
Among those extradited from Russia was another civil activist from GBAO, Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev.
A well-known athlete who had criticized the Tajik government's actions in GBAO, Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev, was deported from Russia to Tajikistan on December 31, 2021. Upon arrival in Dushanbe, he was immediately detained, and in May, a court sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison on charges of "publicly calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order via the Internet."
Chorshanbiev and his lawyers described the court's verdict as "unfounded and unlawful."
The report's authors also mention the fate of other opposition activists, such as Ilhomjon Yokubov, Shabnam Khudoydodova, and Vaisiddin Odinaev, whose relatives and loved ones constantly face pressure and persecution from the authorities due to their critical public stance.
Prosecutor General's Office: More Than 200 Tajik Citizens Extradited from Abroad at Tajikistan's Request
The authorities in Tajikistan firmly assert that there are no political prisoners in the country’s prisons.
On February 16, during the traditional annual press conference, the Prosecutor General announced that in 2023, "more than 200 Tajik citizens accused of committing crimes were extradited from abroad at Tajikistan's request."
Yusuf Rahmon described this as a result of international cooperation with the prosecution authorities of other countries, though he did not specify which states were involved. However, this figure is twice as high as in 2022, when the number of extradited individuals stood at 100. In 2022, the prosecution authorities reported that 18 of those extradited were accused of terrorism and extremism.
Human rights defenders believe that these terms are increasingly being used to target political opponents or supporters of peaceful and civilized political change.
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