Speech of Ravshan Temourian at a plenary session OSCE HDIM

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!

The government of Tajikistan severely restricts political rights and civil liberties. With total ban and elimination of the opposition parties within Tajikistan the Tajik government practically ruling without any strategic or logic perception on the future of Republic of Tajikistan.

The government of Tajikistan continue its policy against fundamental freedoms and against freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

The government strictly limits freedom of assembly. Local government approval is required to hold demonstrations, and officials often refuse to grant permission or authorities usually warn that participation in unauthorized gatherings would result in criminal charges.

However, to blackmail the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the authorities without any problems organize the so-called protests and riots of a pro-government organization in front of the OSCE office in the capital of Tajikistan.

By this kind of theatrical performance, the Tajik government only aggravates its already shameful situation on human rights in the international arena.

«Eurasian Dialogue», the civil society, a group of lawyers, human rights defenders and political experts at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting recommend:

1. The International institutions should beef up their presence in Tajikistan to ease hostility of the Tajik government toward public organizations and civil society, and should promote good governance. Practice shows that the presence of international well-known organizations within Tajikistan pushes the Tajik government to fulfil its international obligations;

2. The international community, including the OSCE, must strictly trace the names of representatives of the government of Tajikistan involved in serious violations of the rights of Tajik citizens, members of civil society, persecution opposition families to add them in on the Magnitsky Act;

Thank you.

Ravshan Temour (Temourian), Eurasian Dialogue

Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, 18 September 2019