In this week’s edition: Taliban mark milestone in controversial canal project, the UN calls on Kyrgyzstan not to pass the “foreign representatives” law, Russia wants Kazakhstan to hand over a punk rocker, and more.
The Tajik government is now, arguably, the most repressive in Central Asia. Tajik authorities punish the relatives of opposition figures, critics, activists, and journalists who flee to escape persecution. In some cases, fleeing Tajikistan does not ensure safety. A new report from Crude Accountability details how Tajik authorities secure the forcible repatriation of perceived opponents, who then vanish in prison. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the Tajik government’s tactics of repression are guests Steve Swerdlow, a rights lawyer currently teaching the practice of human rights at the University of Southern California and the author of the Crude Accountability report; and Bahtiyor Safarov, founder of the U.S.-based firm Central Asia Consulting, who is originally from eastern Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan region.
When a government captures, imprisons, or kills a detainee and refuses to acknowledge the person’s whereabouts, it generates a very specific kind of terror for other dissidents and their families.
Grannies And Parents Detained In Tajikistan After Activists Egg Rahmon s Car In Germany globalsecurity.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from globalsecurity.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
When Tajik President Emomali Rahmon visited Germany last week, he was met by protests and a volley of eggs courtesy of the opposition-in-exile. Back in Tajikistan, the state machine has responded the only way it knows how by punishing the activists’ relatives.