|2016

WORLD REPORT 2016
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
cluding across conflict lines and across borders; that all parties cease “indiscriminate
employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and
aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs,” and an end to the practices
of arbitrary detention, disappearance, and abductions, and the release of
everyone who has been arbitrarily detained.
In addition to persistently blocking Security Council action to curb violations by
the Syrian government, Russia, along with the Iranian government, continued to
provide the Syrian government with military assistance in 2015, according to international
media reports.
The Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of its independent International
Commission of Inquiry on Syria in March 2015 for one year.
Russian forces began a joint air operation with the Syrian government at the beginning
of October claiming it was targeting only ISIS locations but in fact were
also striking other armed group in areas like Idlib and Homs. Human Rights
Watch recorded a number of civilian casualties where people said they were victims
of Russian airstrikes.
The United States continued leading coalition to bombard ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
France promised to increase its airstrikes in ISIS controlled areas after the armed
extremist group claimed a series of attacks in Paris in November. The United
Kingdom and Germany also voted to begin airstrikes against ISIS in early December.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan’s already poor rights record dramatically worsened in 2015, as authorities
declared the country’s leading opposition party a terrorist organization and
banned it, imprisoned approximately 200 opposition activists, extradited and
kidnapped government critics abroad, arrested several lawyers and at least one
journalist, and harassed workers at nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with
onerous checks.
As in previous years, the government regularly blocked numerous Internet sites
and continued a campaign to enforce severe restrictions on religious practice.
NGOs reported several cases of torture and ill-treatment in pretrial custody and
prisons. Domestic violence against women also continues to be a serious problem.
Government Opposition and Detention of Activists Abroad
In 2015, Tajik authorities expanded repressive measures against the political opposition.
In January, a court sentenced rights lawyer Shukhrat Kudratov to nine
years in prison following a politically motivated trial. Kudratov, who is also
deputy head of the opposition Social Democratic Party, was found guilty of fraud
and bribery.
A few months before being imprisoned, Kudratov served as counsel for Zayd
Saidov, an opposition figure sentenced in December 2013 to 26 years in prison
in a prosecution that appeared to be retaliation for his intention to run in the November
2013 presidential election. In August 2015, prosecutors brought additional
charges against Saidov, resulting in an additional three years to his
sentence.
On March 5, assailants shot and killed opposition figure Umarali Kuvvatov in Istanbul.
Kuvvatov headed Group 24, an opposition group that called for democratic
reforms and accused President Emomali Rahmon and the ruling elite of
corruption. Three Tajik citizens are on trial in Turkey for Kuvvatov’s murder. The
circumstances of the shooting, and previous efforts by Tajik authorities to detain
Kuvvatov in various countries, led many observers to suggest Kuvvatov’s killers
may have been acting on orders from or with the approval of Dushanbe.
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