Amnesty International Report 1997 - Tajikistan

Two opposition activists accused of anti-government propaganda were detained by security officials for several days. A former opposition leader was detained for several hours in Russia at the request of the Tajik authorities in connection with his former political activities. Members of a UN military observer mission were tortured by government troops. Appalling prison conditions amounted to ill-treatment; there were reports of deaths of prisoners from starvation and untreated disease. There was evidence of limited progress in ending impunity for former pro-government warlords responsible for past human rights violations. The death penalty remained in force for 41 offences, and at least nine people were sentenced to death. Opposition armed forces deliberately and arbitrarily killed captured government soldiers and civilians and took hostages. A summit meeting in December between President Imomali Rakhmonov and Sayed Abdullo Nuri, leader of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), made limited progress but failed to produce an agreement on a power-sharing formula to end Tajikistan's armed conflict. A cease-fire technically remained in force throughout the year, but was persistently violated in central Tajikistan, where UTO forces made significant gains from May onwards, occupying a number of major towns. The government faced uprisings in other areas of the country. In January, two former commanders of the People's Front paramilitary group (see Amnesty International Report 1994), Ibod Boymatov and Mahmud Khudoyberdiyev, seized control of, respectively, the towns of Tursunzade and Kurgan-Tyube, in pursuit of demands which included the resignation of the government. The crisis was diffused in February after concessions by the government which included the dismissal of officials and an amnesty for participants in fighting between rival army units in Kurgan-Tyube in 1995 (see Amnesty International Report 1996). There was further unrest in Tursunzade in August, including clashes between rival armed groups. In May, there were mass demonstrations and rioting in towns in the northern Leninabad region which resulted in the dismissal of local officials. In April, two local activists of the outlawed Democratic Party, Azimdzhon Abdurakhmonov and Dzhumaboy Vakhobov, were detained in the town of Ura-Tyube, reportedly by officers of the Ministry of Security, apparently on suspicion of making "anti-government propaganda". They were released without charge after around 10 days. In July, Davlat Khudonazarov, an exiled former opposition leader, was briefly detained in Moscow, Russia, by police who found him listed as wanted in Tajikistan on criminal charges connected with his opposition activities. He spent some nine hours in custody before the authorities in Tajikistan stated that he was no longer being sought on criminal charges. In two separate incidents in December, members of the UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) were assaulted and subjected to mock executions by Tajik government soldiers. In the first incident, an Austrian army captain, a lieutenant from Bangladesh and their translator were intercepted near the town of Garm, close to the front line, by government soldiers who demanded that the UNMOT observers escort them to territory held by UTO forces, where government troops were allegedly being held captive. According to a UNMOT statement, when the UNMOT personnel refused they were beaten with weapons, kicked and punched, lined up in a row to be shot, and attempts were made to push one member of the UNMOT team off a mountain ledge. The UNMOT personnel were later allowed to leave in the direction of UTO-held territory under threat of death if they did not return with the captive soldiers, and were eventually escorted to a UNMOT outpost in Garm by UTO fighters. In the second incident, less than two weeks later, two teams of UNMOT observers were stopped at a military check-point at Saripul, near Garm, and ordered to leave their vehicles and line up. The troops, reportedly acting on the orders of their commander, then fired machine-gun rounds over their captives' heads. The UNMOT teams escaped, reportedly when the appearance of another car distracted the soldiers' attention. Information was received about appalling prison conditions amounting to ill-treatment. In August, the official press and other sources reported that deaths in prison had risen from 120 in 1994 to more than 400 in 1995, and to 509 during the first half of 1996, mainly because of starvation and disease. Tajikistan's parliament had reportedly responded by adopting a resolution on improving prison conditions. The authorities made limited progress in resolving cases of "disappearance" and possible extrajudicial execution. There were inconsistencies in the official attitude towards former pro-government paramilitaries involved in violent crime. In August, the Supreme Court sentenced to death two former members of the pro-government paramilitary People's Front for the murder, in March 1995, of Zayniddin Mukhiddinov, a member of parliament. However, in June an official from the President's office, confirming that a criminal investigation remained open into the death in 1992 of Muso Isoyev, a victim of extrajudicial execution, stated that the suspects in the case were believed to have left the country. The amnesty, announced in February, for participants in clashes between rival army units in 1995, gave rise to concern about continuing impunity for former pro-government paramilitaries, as did the political rehabilitation of warlord Ibod Boymatov. Ibod Boymatov left Tajikistan in 1994 after reportedly attempting to kill a factory manager, but was given a government post and parliamentary seat following the January 1996 events in Tursunzade. However, in December Ibod Boymatov's parliamentary mandate was terminated and President Rakhmonov announced that he was to face criminal prosecution. The death penalty remained in force for 27 peacetime and 14 wartime offences. At least nine death sentences were passed; no executions were reported. In November, the authorities disclosed that five prisoners who had been sentenced to death in 1994 were still on death row. Reports received during the year indicated that UTO armed forces operating in central Tajikistan had deliberately and arbitrarily killed civilians and captive government soldiers. For example, in February, 21 captive government soldiers and civilian drivers were killed by UTO forces who intercepted a convoy carrying food supplies to government troops. Survivors of the incident reported that after the commander of the convoy had been persuaded to disarm, he and others were led away and shot dead. Incidents were also reported in which UTO armed forces took government troops and police officers hostage. For example, in August it was reported that the UTO was holding hostage four police officers captured in the southern district of Yavan and offering to exchange them for imprisoned opposition members. The exchange subsequently went ahead. In October, the UTO demanded the removal of government road-blocks and the release of imprisoned opposition members as conditions for the release of 37 police officers captured in Komsomolabad. All of these hostages had been released by early November. Amnesty International expressed concern to the authorities about the detention of people in connection with their involvement in the political opposition. It raised with the Russian police the arrest of Davlat Khudonazarov. The organization condemned the torture of UNMOT personnel by government troops. It sought information from the authorities about the steps being taken to end appalling prison conditions amounting to ill-treatment. Amnesty International continued to call for investigations into all alleged "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions, and for an end to impunity for those responsible. The organization called for commutation of all pending death sentences and continued to urge complete abolition of the death penalty. Amnesty International condemned deliberate and arbitrary killings and hostage-taking by armed opposition forces, and called on the UTO leadership to adhere to minimum standards of humane behaviour as set out in the Geneva Conventions.