DUSHANBE, January 5, 2015, Asia-Plus:

 

December 1-3               - Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda visited the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).  According to the Interior Ministry’s website, the main purpose of the working visit was for the minister to get acquainted with living and service conditions of police officers in the province.

 

December 2                  - Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov met here with Ms. Hulan Tsedev, Chief of the Europe and Central Asia Section at the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), Ms. Elizabeth da Costa, OHCHR Deputy Regional Representative for Central Asia, and Ms. Natalya Seytmuratova, Human Rights Officer at OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia, to discuss issues related to mechanisms of monitoring and fulfillment by Tajikistan of its human rights obligations.

 

December 3                  - Radio Liberty reports 46 young men were arrested in northern Tajikistan on suspicion of planning to join Islamist fighters in Syria.  Sughd Province''s prosecutor''s office reportedly said the local men, aged between 20 and 30, were charged with “organizing a criminal group for participating in armed conflicts or warfare in other countries.”  The statement added that the suspects are members of banned Islamic groups who planned to go to the Middle East to fight with militants in Syria, including the Islamic State group.

 

December 3-6               - Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, Speaker of the Lower House (the House of the People or Wolesi Jirga) of the Afghan Parliament, paid an official visit to Tajikistan from December 3-6.  HE held talks with a number of high-ranking Tajik state officials to discuss state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

 

December 4                  - Tajik Interior Ministry Ramazon Rahimzoda met here with Mr. Ma Wei (phonetically spelled), Deputy Chief of Department at the Ministry of Public Security of China (MPS).  In the course of the talks, the two reportedly discussed issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism, extremism, separatism and drug  trafficking;

                                    - A hydroelectric agreement between Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan was signed in Istanbul.  The project, known as the Central Asia South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000), is expected to be completed by 2018 under the umbrella of the World Bank. Tajikistan’s share in the energy export will be 70%, while Kyrgyzstan will export 30%.  Afghanistan will consume 300MW of the exported energy while Pakistan will receive 1,000MW electricity.   

 

December 6-7               - The UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which promotes an understanding of disability issues and mobilizes support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities, was celebrated together with the traditional Winter Handicraft Fair, held this year at the Ismaili Center Dushanbe.  The joint event reportedly increased awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life, promoting the ideal of an inclusive society as a way to reach truly sustainable development.

 

December 8                  - Tajik defense ministry’s largest training center was put in commission in the southern Khatlon province.  Built in the territory of the Momirak training ground in Khatlon province, the training center, called Homiyon (Defenders), covers the area of more than 22 hectares.  The project was funded by a MoD and training drills for all branches of Tajikistan’s armed forces can be conducted at this center;  

                                    - The chairman of Dushanbe’s Economic Court Rahim Sharifzoda was arrested for alleged bribe-taking.  He is suspected of extorting a $7,000 bribe in August in exchange for promising to revise a case and rule in favor of the bribe-payer.  Two of Sharifozda''s secretaries suspected of arranging the bribe have also been arrested.  An investigation has been launched into abuse of office and bribe-taking;

                                    - Five members of one family died from carbon monoxide poisoning in Vahdat Township.  They reportedly got poisoned while using cast-iron moveable wood stove to heat the house.  Because of lack of electricity during autumn-winter period, such wood and charcoal-burning stoves are popular in rural areas.

 

December 8-9               - Experts from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan met in Dushanbe to discuss measures to implement an initiative on connecting railways of the five countries.  They also discussed arrangement of a meeting of transport ministers and railway company chiefs of Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.  The meeting resulted in signing of the document on defining route of a regional rail link connecting China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. 

 

December 10                - Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda received a delegation of the Ministry of Public Security of China (MPS) led by the MPS Counterterrorism Department chief Jiang Weixin.  The two sides discussed issues rated to state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation in combating terrorism, extremism, separatism and trafficking in weapons and drugs;  

                                    - Radio Liberty reports Davlat Cholov accused of being a member of a gang that recruited young men to fight in Syria was released after being ordered to pay a fine.  Davlat Cholov is the brother of Qurbon Cholov, a former influential field commander in the Popular Front of Tajikistan, a paramilitary group that supported the government during the five-year civil war.  Qurbon Cholov died in Dushanbe in November.  Davlat Cholov was arrested on February 12 alongside another Tajik citizen, Abdurahim Shukurov.  The two had planned to travel from Dushanbe to Istanbul on February 11 but left the airport an hour before the flight was scheduled to depart;

                                    - A court in the southern city of Qurghon Teppa sentenced four men to prison after convicting them of being adherents of Salafi group.  Three of them were sentneced to five years in prison and a fourth defendant to six years and two months in prison.  Relatives of the convicts said the charges were trumped up and that the defendants are not Salafists.  The Salafi branch of Islam was branded as extremist and banned in Tajikistan in 2008.

 

December 13                - The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) held its pre-election congress in Dushanbe.  The PDP included 28 candidates in the party list for election to Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament that will take place on March 1, 2015;         

                                    - The Socialist Party of Tajikistan (SPT) held its pre-election congress in Dushanbe. The SPT included seven candidates in the party list for election to the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower house of parliament) that will take place on March 1, 2015;

                                    - A congress of the Party of Economic Reforms (PER) that took place in Dushanbe approved the party list for the upcoming election to the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower house of parliament) of the party candidate.  The PER included six candidates in its party list.

 

December 14                - Russia''s state railway company stopped almost all service to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan for a year, citing a lack of demand.  In a statement on its website Russian Railways said “the decision to suspend some trains'' operations had been caused by a significant decrease in the volume of international rail travel, which led to the ineffective use of engines and trains.”  Tajik Railways Company said its trains to Russia will continue to operate.

 

December 15                - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met here with Nikolai Bordyuzha, Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).  Rahmon and Bordyuzha discussed issues related to preparations for the next CSTO summit;          

- Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasoulzoda represented at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government that took place in the Kazakh capital Astana.  Rasoulzoda held a number of a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Heads of Government session.  

 

December 16                - The Islamic Revival Party (IRP) held its pre-election congress in its head office in Dushanbe.  The IRP included 28 candidates in the party list for election to Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament that will take place on March 1, 2015.

- A former influential field commander in the Popular Front of Tajikistan (PFT), a paramilitary group that supported the government during the five-year civil war (1992-1997), Suhrob Qosimov died in Dushanbe, aged 53 after a long illness.

 

December 18                - A court in Khujand, the capital of the northern Sughd province sentenced eleven members of the militant Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) group to between 9 and 19 years in prison.  All of them are ethnic Uzbeks aged 23 to 43.  They were arrested in September together with another 40 suspects.  Two of the men, named as Mansur Boboyorov and Eldarzhon Hotamov, had allegedly planned to travel to Syria and fight in militant groups. Flight tickets were confiscated from the two men when they were arrested in September, according to the indictment;

                                    - The Agrarian Party of Tajikistan (APT) held its pre-election congress in Dushanbe.  The APT included 15 candidates in its party list for election to Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament.

 

December 18-19           - An expert group on coordination of a draft agreement between the Government of Tajikistan and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on the conditions of presence of the Regional Operation Group of the Bureau for Coordination of the Fight against Organized Crime and other Serious Crimes in the Territory of the CIS Member States (BCFOC) in Tajikistan met in Minsk, Belarus.

 

December 19                - The leader of the so-called Group 24, Umarali Quvvatov, was detained in Istanbul, Turkey.  Tajik law enforcement authorities say Quvvatov, was detained for violation of rules of stay in Turkey.  He was reportedly detained for failing to register within 30 days on his arrival in Turkey.  Tajik nationals may stay in Turkey without visa during 30 days.  Quvvatov''s Group 24 was banned in Tajikistan on October 9 as an “extremist organization” after it called for street protests in Dushanbe on October 10.  Quvvatov is wanted by Dushanbe on fraud charges which he says are politically motivated.

 

December 20                - The Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT) held its pre-election congress in Dushanbe.  The DPT included four candidates in its party list for the 2015 parliamentary election;

                                    - The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) urged the Turkish authorities to respect the human rights of Umarali Quvvatov and three of his associates who were detained together with him in Istanbul on December 19.  AHRCA called on Turkey to fulfill its international commitments to human rights, provide the four men with defense lawyers, and allow their meeting with representatives of the UN refugee agency;

                                    - Afghan News Agency Khaama Press (KP) quoted an official of Kunduz Province as saying that four Tajik border guards were abducted by Taliban militants.  Taliban militants reportedly want to exchange the abducted Tajik border guards for their supporters who are being held in jails in Tajikistan.  News website Afghanistan.ru reports four Tajik border guards were abducted by unknown people in the border area of the Afghan northern Kunduz Province.  Four Tajik border guards allegedly crossed the border to cut firewood in one of forests of the woloswali of Imam Sahib.

 

December 23                - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon participated in a session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Collective Security Council in Moscow.  Tajikistan took over CSTO presidency from the Russian Federation.

 

December 27                - The Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT) held its pre-election congress in Dushanbe.  The CPT included 15 candidates in the party list for election to Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament that will take place on March 1, 2015;

                                    - The pre-election congress of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) took place in the party’s head office in Dushanbe.  The SDP included 22 candidates in its list for election to Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament.  Among the candidates are the SDP members, unaffiliated persons and researchers.

 

December 30                - YouTube and a popular Russian social network, Odnoklassniki, were inaccessible through many Internet service providers in Tajikistan.  Internet users across the country said they had been unable to open the websites since the early morning.  Some people say they could access them through proxies.  An official from a major Internet Service Provider (ISP) said the state Communication Services agency had verbally instructed ISPs to “temporarily” block the two websites for “preventative reasons.”  The agency, however, denied the claim.