IPHR report says Tajikistan's rights defenders face survival threat

September 24, 2026 at 06:12 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

The space for human rights defenders in Tajikistan has shrunk to the point that the survival of the country's human rights community is under threat, according to a report by the International Partnership for Human Rights published in September 2026. The 37-page report, based on interviews conducted in 2025, documents escalating restrictions since 2007 and intensified pressure from the mid-2010s. It details arrests of lawyers and journalists, violent suppression of protests in GBAO, and a shrinking legal space for civil society.

Key Facts

The International Partnership for Human Rights published a 37-page report on Tajikistan's human rights defenders in September 2026.
The report is based on more than two dozen interviews with human rights defenders from urban and rural areas of Tajikistan conducted in 2025.
At least 40 people were killed in the violent suppression of protests in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in 2021 and 2022, according to the report's authors.
Only 35 organizations remain registered in GBAO, fewer than ten of which work to protect vulnerable groups.
85 NGOs ceased operations in Tajikistan in 2025.

Escalating Restrictions

Starting in 2007, Tajik authorities introduced restrictions on groups working on electoral rights, religious freedom, and the rights of national minorities. From the mid-2010s, pressure sharply intensified amid the crackdown on the political opposition, including the IRPT party, which was banned and labeled extremist in 2015. Lawyers defending party members were arrested, including Buzurgmehr Yorov, who is still serving a sentence in a case initiated, according to human rights defenders, in retaliation for his statements about the torture of his clients.

Pressure on Journalists

Pressure on independent journalists and bloggers has sharply intensified over the past decade, with dozens of the country's most experienced editors leaving Tajikistan. Those who remain are forced to practice self-censorship. The report names journalists Abdulloh Ghurbati, Daler Imomali, Khurshed Fozilov, Akhmad Ibrohim, and Rukhshona Khakimova among those convicted on charges of extremism, incitement of hatred, or treason. Rukhshona Khakimova was sentenced in February 2025 to eight years for treason in connection with her reporting on China's influence in Tajikistan.

Civil Society Constraints

Between 2021 and 2022, most NGOs in GBAO shut down, and today only 35 organizations remain registered there. Across the country, another 85 NGOs ceased operations in 2025. From October 1, 2025, state fees for registering public associations were sharply increased. A January 2025 decree suspending U.S. assistance to Tajikistan hit organizations working with HIV-positive women, victims of domestic violence, and the LGBT community. According to an unpublished survey by the Nota Bene foundation, 22 of 38 surveyed NGOs depended on donors from the United States.