DUSHANBE, November 1, 2013, Asia-Plus:

October 1                     - The Tajik parliament''s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament ratified an agreement allowing Russian troops to stay in the country until 2042.  The agreement was signed in October 2012 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, in Dushanbe.  The accord prolongs a deal signed in 1993, which was due to expire in 2014;

                                    - An official ceremony of introducing the Chormaghzak Tunnel into operation took place.  The 4,430-kilometer Chormaghzak Tunnel, which is part of the Dushanbe-Vahdat-Danghara highway construction project, has been constructed with the help of China.  China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) was the general contractor;

                                    - The Cooperation Council between the European Union (EU) and Tajikistan held its third meeting in Brussels.  The meeting was chaired by Mr. Linas Linkevicius, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, as the head of the EU delegation.  The delegation of Tajikistan was led by Mr. Hamrokhon Zarifi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan.  The Cooperation Council reaffirmed the commitment of both parties to strengthen relations in a number of cooperation areas and took stock of the progress made since the second Cooperation Council between the EU and Tajikistan in February 2012.

                                   - Autumn conscription campaign started in Tajikistan.

October 2                     - The OSCE''s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) opened a mission in Dushanbe to monitor Tajikistan''s November 6 presidential election.  13 international experts and 16 long-term observers from 22 countries take part in the mission''s work.  Up to 150 short-term observers will arrive in Tajikistan for the day of the election;

                                    - A joint military exercise for Tajik and Kyrgyz servicemen closed at the Chorukhdayron training ground in the Tajik northern province of Sughd with a final phase featuring live-fire missions.  The exercise, dubbed “Zashchita-2012” (20013 Protection), was launched on September 27.  The purpose of the exercise, which involved servicemen of Tajik military units and servicemen of the mountain rifle unit of the Kyrgyz armed forces along with armored vehicles and artillery, was to rehears coordination and interaction in missions to combat terrorists;

                                   - After being closed for ten months, the Dushanbe cement plant was reopened;

                                    - By president’s decree bearing, possessing, acquiring, manufacturing and using civilian weapons (traumatic guns shooing eight a rubber bullet or a pneumatic bullet and gas guns) are banned in Tajikistan till December 31, 2013.  The document notes that the temporary ban on civilian guns is imposed for the purpose of providing security and preventing crimes involving use of civilian weapons.

October 3                     - President Emomali Rahmon visited the Vahdat Township, some 17 kilometers east of Dushanbe.  The purpose of the visit was for the president to get acquainted with socioeconomic life of the area and inaugurate a number of social and cultural facilities.

October 3-4                  - The 9th International Forum “Dialogue of Languages and Cultures of CIS and SCO in the 21st Century” took place in Dushanbe.  Organized by Moscow State linguistic University, the forum was by Tajik National University in Dushanbe.  The forum’s program included holding of plenary and special sessions and roundtables on the following themes: institutionalization of religious education; problems of public and confession partnership; role of linguistic training in modern spiritual world; national multilevel systems of training of personnel in the field of secular and spiritual education; training of scientific personnel (third level of higher education; informal / non-institutional linguistic education; economics of multilingualism in multicultural space; economics of the Russian language within the CIS area; and eco-social approach in linguistic education.

October 4                     - Tajikistan''s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) nominated incumbent President Emomali Rahmon to run in the November 6 presidential election.  Rahmon, 61, has ruled Tajikistan since 1992.

October 7                     - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received visiting State Duma (Russia’s lower house of parliament) speaker Sergey Naryshkin.  The sides discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation;  

October 7                    - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary-General Nikolai Bordyuzha.  Issues related to implementation of agreements reached during the CSTO summit that took place in Sochi, Russia on September 23 were a major topic of the meeting.  Bordyuzha reportedly assured President Rahmon that technical assistance to strengthen Tajikistan’s common border with Afghanistan would be provided to Tajikistan within three months.  We will recall that the last CSTO summit agreed to draw up a joint plan to protect Tajikistan''s border with Afghanistan.

October 7                     - Tajikistan extended a deadline for the collection of voter signatures required by presidential candidates. The chief of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER)’s office, Abumannon Dodoyev, told journalists that the original October 7 deadline has been moved back to October 10.  He said the decision was made after the Communist, Socialist, and Democratic parties all complained they had not been given enough time to collect supporter signatures under the original cutoff.

October 7-10                - Tajikistan was represented by a platoon of the Mobile Troops in the second joint military exercise for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) collective peacekeeping forces, dubbed the 2013 Indestructible Brotherhood, which was conducted at the 255th training ground of the Russian Central Military District, Chebrakul.  The purpose of the exercise, involving 2,500 servicemen from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, was to rehearse cooperation and interaction in carrying out peacekeeping missions.  The agreement on the peacekeeping activities of the CSTO was signed in Dushanbe on October 6, 2007 and it took effect on January 15, 2009.     

October 8-10                - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon visited the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).  The purpose of the visit was for the president to get acquainted with socioeconomic life of the region and participation in ceremonies of an official opening of a number of social and cultural facilities in Gorno Badakhshan.

October 9                     - Three persons were killed and three others were seriously injured as BMW crashed into VAZ- 21-04.  According to the Interior Ministry’s website, Rasoul Amonullo, the 16-year-old son of the chief of the Tajik state railway company, who was behind the wheel of BMW, is responsible for the deadly accident.  Criminal proceedings have been instituted under the provisions of Article 212 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – traffic infringement and violation of rules of exploitation of means of transport entailing the death of two and more persons;

                                    - A meeting of the Council of National Coordinators of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations took place in Dushanbe.  The Council of National Coordinators coordinates the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO''s charter;

                                    - The CCER registered three presidential candidates -- Emomali Rahmon (ruling People’s Democratic Party), Olimjon Boboyev (the Party of Economic Reforms), and Tolibbek Bukhoriyev (the Agrarian Party of Tajikistan).

October 10                   - The Tajik train carrying 200 young army conscripts from Dushanbe to the Tajik northern Sughd province derailed in Uzbekistan''s Jizzakh, injuring dozens. A joint Tajik-Uzbek commission concluded the accident was caused by Uzbek authorities'' failure to inform the Tajik side about repair works on the railways in the Jizzakh province.  Uzbek authorities accepted responsibility for a Tajik train''s derailing on its territory and agreed to cover all expenses related to the accident and the treatment of those affected by it;

                                    - The CCER registered three other presidential candidates – Ismoil Talbakov, nominated by the Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT), Abduhalim Ghafforov, nominated by the Socialist Party of Tajikistan (SPT), and Saidjaffar Ismonov, nominated by the Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT);

                                    - The CCER extended the registration deadline by one day -- until October 11 -- ostensibly to give Ms. Oynihol Bobonazarova, nominated by the Islamic Revival Party (IPR), more time to hand over the required 210,000 signatures of her supporters;

                                    - The Tajik parliament approved amendments to the penal code granting more privileges to individuals serving life prison terms.  According to the adopted amendments, inmates serving life terms will be able to receive four parcels a year by mail, four parcels directly brought to the penitentiary by relatives, and two family visits.  The new regulations effectively double the number of parcels and family visits allowed per year.  At least 50 inmates are currently serving life terms in Tajikistan''s penitentiaries;

                                    - A group of the CIS long-term observers arrived in Dushanbe to observe the 2013 presidential election in Tajikistan that is scheduled for November 6.  The CIS election mission is led by Vladimir Garkun, the first deputy head of the CIS Executive Committee.

October 11                   - Ms. Bobonazarova’s campaign staff narrowly missed collecting the required number of signatures to register for the poll and she bowed out of the presidential race.

October 12                   - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon visited the city Isfara, Sughd province.

October 14                   - The Tajik Association of Reformist Forces (TARF) that supported Bobonazarova’s candidacy for president demanded that election authorities register Ms. Bobonazarova, despite the fact she fell short of the necessary signatures required.  TARF representatives argued that the 202,000 signatures that Bobonazarova did collect make her eligible, since the law requires the support of 5 percent of the country''s estimated 4 million eligible voters.  They also blamed the authorities for weakening Bobonazarova''s chances by preventing more than 1 million Tajik migrants from taking part in the signature-gathering process.

October 15                   - Tajikistan celebrated Idi Qurbon, or Eid al-Adha in Arabic.

October 16                   - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara.  The sides discussed issues related to strengthening peace and stability in the region, regional problems and the current situation in Afghanistan.  Rahmon and Kozhara also discussed state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 

October 17-18               - The fourth information-sharing and consultation meetings on the Assessment Studies for the proposed Roghun Hydropower Project (Roghun HPP) took place by videoconference from Dushanbe with connections to World Bank offices in Central Asia, Washington, D.C., as well as Kabul, Afghanistan, and Paris, France.  The purpose of these meetings was to update riparian governments and civil society organizations on interim technical findings, take questions, and receive feedback.

October 18                   - Two prison inmates in Sughd province – Sadrididn Toshev and Sunatullo Rizoyev – received additional sentences in a case linked to allegations of prison torture.  They were found guilty of distributing false information and sentenced to seven and nine years in jail, respectively.  Toshev and Rizoyev are accused of distributing videos showing injuries sustained by inmates after allegedly being beaten by prison guards.  They say they are innocent.  Investigators say the videos are fabrications.  The videos were distributed after an inmate, Hamza Ikromzoda, died in a detention center in Dushanbe in September 2012.  Ikromzoda''s family members insist his body bore traces of torture, while an official autopsy said he had committed suicide.

October 21-22               - Afghan President Hamid Karzai paid an official visit to Tajikistan.  On October 21, he met with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to discuss joint efforts to bolster security as foreign forces in Afghanistan start to pull out next year.  The two presidents also discussed cooperation in constructing a railway line that links Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan, as well as cooperation in implementing the CASA-1000 project, which aims to export electricity from hydropower plants in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Four documents were signed during Afghan president’s visit – a joint statement signed by the presidents, an agreement on mine clearance, an agreement on the insurance sector, and a protocol to the agreement between Tajikistan and Afghanistan of April 27, 2005 on facilitating transit between the two nations.

October 24                   - A court in Dushanbe’s Sino district sentenced a village mullah Asadullo Ibrohimov to seven years in prison.  The sentence followed his conviction on charges of sexual misconduct and fraud.  The court also imposed a 14,600 somoni fine on Asadullo Ibrohimov.  He is also barred from being engaged in religious activity during five years after he is released.  The trail of Asadullo Ibrohimov, who is well-known among locals for providing infertility treatments, began on October 18.  He was arrested in September after a video of one of his infertility-treatment sessions appeared on YouTube.  The five-minute clip showed Ibrohimov consulting with a woman before he begins the treatment while reciting the Koran.  The male figure embraces the woman, fondles and kisses her, and lifts her dress to expose her belly and breasts as he gyrates behind her.  The video quickly became one of the most-viewed Tajik videos on YouTube, earning Ibrohimov the nickname “Mulloi Judogar” (Magic Mullah);

                                    - According to the press center of Kyrgyz border service, Tajik border guards illegally crossed into the Katta-Tuz oil well area in the Leilek district of Kyrgyzstan’s southern Batken region and demanded the oil well resume operations.  The Kyrgyz side noted that the oil well is located in a disputed border area, and therefore, refused to allow the Tajik side to carry out any work there, the Kyrgyz border service press center noted.  The incident was reportedly solved after a meeting of senior representatives of the border services of the two countries

October 24-25               - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attend sessions of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the CIS Council of Heads of State in Minsk, Belarus.

October 25                   - The Kyrgyz MFA press service reports that Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldayev summoned Tajik Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Olim Rahimov and handed over a protest note to him.  Kyrgyz minister reportedly expressed serious concern over the incident in the Katta-Kuz area and noted that actions of Tajik border guards contradicted all norms of international law and violated all agreements reached between the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Dushanbe on August 20-21, when the sides reached agreement on suspicion of operation of oil and gas well in disputed border areas.   

October 26                   - Electricity rationing has been introduced in rural areas of Tajikistan.  The rationing resulted in the supply of daily electrical power in rural areas being reduced to eighteen hours – from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am;  

                                    - According to Mohammad Egamzod, a spokesman for the Tajik Embassy in Moscow, around 20 young men of Slavic appearance, some shouting nationalist slogans, attacked the Moscow-Dushanbe train at the Ternovka railway station; several passengers were slightly injured while 20 train windows were broken.  Meanwhile, Tajik Railways disputed this version of events, saying that the incident amounted to no more than a few children throwing stones at the train, breaking six windows.   

October 27-28               - President Rahmon visited the Kulob region in the southern Khatlon province.  The main purpose of the visit was for the president to get acquainted with the socioeconomic situation in the area and participate in ceremonies of opening of a number of social and economic facilities there.

October 29                   - Safialo Devonayev, the chief of the Tajik government’s migration service, and Konstantin Romodanovsky, the director of Russia''s Federal Migration Service (FMS), signed in Moscow a document changing the regulation from the current one-year maximum.  Tajik citizens are now eligible to obtain three-year work permits in Russia.

October 29-30               - The head of the Russian Border Service also Deputy Director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Colonel-General Vladimir Kulishov, visited Tajikistan.  While in Tajikistan, he held talks with Tajik Border Troops Commander, Lieutenant-General Sherali Mirzo, and visited Tajik border units at the Tajik-Afghan border in the Panj and Hamadoni districts, Khatlon province.  General Kulishov also visited the Afghan border crossing point Sherkhan Bandar, where he will hold talks with senior officers of the Afghan border troops.  

October 30                   - Negotiations between chiefs of border services of Tajikistan, Russia and Afghanistan that took place at the Afghan border-crossing checkpoint, Sherkhan Bandar, resulted in signing of a border cooperation protocol.  The document reportedly provides for expansion of cooperation between the border services of the three countries, exchange of information and carrying out joint events.  The document was inked by Tajik Border Troops Commander, Lieutenant-General Sherali Mirzo, Russian Border Troops Commander, Colonel-General Vladimir Kulishov, and Afghan Border Police (ABP) Chief Ahmadzay.