“Salafia": the fight against extremism or a convenient cover?
Published on 2018-03-14 16:26:00, Amsterdam
On 22 January 2018, an activist, resident of the Rasht district, Junaydullo Khudoyorov, was arrested in Tajikistan. He was charged with involvement in the religious movement "Salafiya". The religious movement "Salafiya" was banned by the decision of the Supreme Court of Tajikistan in 2009 and is recognized as extremist. For participation in a religious association or an organization in respect of whom a court has enacted a valid decision to ban their activities in connection with the implementation of extremist activities, article 307 of the Criminal Code of Tajikistan provides for liability in the form of deprivation of liberty for 5 years or more.
Currently, Junaydullo Khudoyorov is kept in the pre-trial detention center of Firdavsi district of Dushanbe city and is awaiting trial, scheduled for the end of March 2018. However, there is no hope for a fair trial. It is common knowledge that the courts in Tajikistan are not independent and are directly dependent on the government authorities.
The grounds for initiating the case against Junaydullo were statements made by three residents of the Rasht district. It is known that all three people who submitted applications are former workers or affiliated persons of local authorities. One of them is Faridun Murodov, a former employee of the Government (note: local government); another - Sayidzhamol Kholidov, former director of the regional school № 35; the third - Fatkhullo Nazriev, is the imam of the mosque of the village of Yashm of the Rasht district.
However, on 2 March 2018, in the media, the confessions of the imam of the mosque, Fatkhullo Nazriev, were announced that his testimony against Junaydullo Khudoyorov was given under pressure from law enforcement officials. In a letter to the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, the chairman of the State Security Committee of Tajikistan and the Prosecutor General of the country, the imam of the Yashm village mosque, Fatkhullo Nazriev, states that the law enforcement officers in the Rasht district were threatened him to sign a pre-prepared statement informing about the alleged links of Junaydullo Khudoyorov with Salafi.
Junaydullo Khudoyorov is a public activist, on his Facebook page he often raised urgent issues such as corruption, violations of migrants' rights, seizure of coal deposits, extortion in schools, and covered other problems of society. So, one of his publications, for example, about how the school principal extorted money from children, and in case inability to pay the right amount of money, demanded in return to bring nuts. After the incident was announced, the school principal was dropped from his post to a physical education teacher. In all likelihood, the offended feelings of the director were forced to write a statement on Junaydullo.
In addition, shortly before the detention of Junaydullo Khudoyorov, his brother Farkhod Khudoyorov, who works as the head of the cell of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT) of the Rasht district, was also detained and arrested. The reason for his arrest was the text message sent to the head of the local government, in which Farkhod demanded the resolution of the current problems of the district. However, the judicial authorities considered this civil position as an insult to the authorities and applied an administrative arrest for 15 days to Farkhod Khudoyorov.
It is known that the Khudoyorov brothers are in kinship with the incumbent chairman of the Rasht district, for whom it is very important to maintain the image and any opposition or publicity of existing problems can be regarded as a threat to his well-being, and therefore any methods for suppressing the opposition are used.
On the brothers Khudoyorov, their fellow villagers responded as civil activists with a sense of justice and responsibility for the social problems of their region. Unfortunately, this is not a first time when for the open civil position and freedom of speech the Tajik authorities punish their citizens. And one of the most common ways - the "Salafiya" model, when under the guise of combating religious extremism, condemn people who may not even be adherents of religion.
So, in November 2017, the well-known Tajik cardiac surgeon Abdumalik Salomov from the city of Sogd, as well as two people close to him, was also convicted on charges of involvement in the “Salafiya” movement. As reported in the media, the charges were based on the fact that cardiac surgeon Abdumalik Salomov participated in of the meetings with a pilaf treat, supposedly organized by the Sogdian Salafis.
Accusations of involvement in Salafism has become very common in Tajikistan. This charge is applied to people who are disagreeable to the authorities, dissidents, civil activists, human rights activists. Confessions from detained law enforcement agencies are collected through bullying, threats, torture and violence. In Tajikistan pre-trial detention center is the place for torture that is caused by electric current, standing in cold water, pulling out nail plates and various other inhumanly treatments in order to get the consent of the detained person.
The Human Rights Vision Foundation is concerned about the ongoing human rights violations in Tajikistan. We call on the international community, the UN Human Rights Committee, the OSCE, the United States, Canada, the European Union to pay close attention to the ongoing violations of law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan. To take sanctions measures against the head of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan, Saymumin Yatimov and Tajik Interior Minister Rahimzoda Ramazon, under the leadership of whom unfounded accusations, trumped-up cases, torture and ill-treatment, psychological pressure and forced confessions, which we can observe today in relation to citizens of Tajikistan, are very common.
Tajikistan should unquestioningly fulfil its international obligations in the field of human rights, including the right to freedom of speech and expression; stop the practice of persecution for political and ideological reasons and immediately and unconditionally release Junaydullo Khudoyorov.