wr2014_web_0

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIAWhile welcoming the Tajik government’s willingness to cooperate with UNhuman rights mechanisms and to bring national legislation in line with internationalstandards, Simonovic specifically called on the Tajik authorities toempower women by increasing their representation among the ranks of policeofficers and prosecutors.During her November 2012 visit to Dushanbe, EU High Representative CatherineAshton raised public concern with President Rahmon about the governmentforcing the closure of Amparo, the anti-torture NGO.The United States embassy issued a statement in April regarding the beating ofopposition leader Mahmadali Hayit, urging the authorities to conduct a thoroughand impartial investigation. Also in April, for the second year in a row, theUS Commission on International Religious Freedom designated Tajikistan a“country of particular concern” based on the government’s “systematic, ongoing,and egregious violations of religious freedoms.”499