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Forward of a December 6 listening to by the U.S. Senate Committee on Overseas Relations targeted on transnational repression, the committee’s chair, Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), despatched a letter to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, laying out his issues concerning the Tajik authorities’s “ongoing harsh remedy of political opponents, human rights and civil society actors.”
Cardin’s letter — dated November 27 and first reported on December 5 — addressed points that Diplomat readers might be conversant in. Cardin cited “persistent reviews of arbitrary arrest, denial of judicial due course of, in addition to acts of violence together with torture, assault and even cases of homicide of journalists, political dissidents, in addition to neighborhood and non secular leaders.” The letter additionally highlights notably regarding repression of ethnic and non secular minorities within the Gorno-Badakhshan area — a reference most definitely to the Pamiris.
Whereas the listening to’s in-person testimonies largely targeted on Russia, China, and Iran, Cardin’s letter to the Tajik president illustrated a element additionally highlighted by Freedom Home President Michael Abramowitz in his testimony — that among the many high 10 international locations answerable for incidents of “direct, bodily transnational repression,” three of them are in Central Asia.
Freedom Home has compiled a database of 854 recorded direct, bodily incidents of transnational repression dedicated by 38 governments in 91 international locations since 2014. Of these, simply 10 international locations are answerable for 80 % of the recorded incidents. China represents 30 % alone with 253 instances, adopted by Turkey with 132 and Tajikistan with 64. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (36 instances every) are additionally among the many high 10.
It’s illuminating to think about these figures in distinction to inhabitants measurement. Tajikistan’s inhabitants is round 9.75 million; China’s is 1.4 billion. Tajikistan’s inhabitants is lower than 1 % of the inhabitants of China, and but Dushanbe is reportedly answerable for 64 instances of transnational repression, a couple of quarter of these attributed to China.
And this at a time when Central Asia’s geopolitical significance has dawned as soon as once more.
“As Tajikistan seeks to profit from elevated worldwide engagement, international commerce and funding, the federal government of Tajikistan should make progress in direction of fulfilling its commitments underneath the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights,” Cardin’s letter started. And he concluded it by noting elevated U.S. engagement with Tajikistan.
“America needs to strengthen its rising partnership with Tajikistan. Bolstering human rights and the rule of regulation will reap long-lasting advantages for Tajikistan via elevated affect, international funding, tourism, and commerce.”
U.S. President Joe Biden met with the leaders of the 5 Central Asian states on the sidelines of the U.N. Normal Meeting this 12 months, marking a big evolution of the C5+1 format — taking it to the management stage. Central Asia’s surging geopolitical relevance — whether or not due to Russia or China or each — solely serves to focus on the issue of addressing this concern.
Unsaid, normally, is the concern that pushing too onerous on human rights points will merely shove a rustic like Tajikistan into the arms of Russia and China — which haven’t any qualms with techniques like transnational repression and certainly, within the case of Russia, usually help in such efforts. Arguably, Tajikistan already sits in that circle of its personal volition.
It’s not clear if Tajikistan has responded to Cardin’s letter.
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