September 21, 2022 – Tajikistan News Gazette

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

Tajik Journalist Ghurbati Goes On Trial On Charges He Calls ‘Unfounded’

DUSHANBE — Well-known Tajik journalist Abdullo Ghurbati has gone on trial in Dushanbe on charges he and his supporters say are unfounded.

The Shohmansur district court started the trial behind closed doors on September 21.

Ghurbati is charged with publicly insulting an authority, minor assault of an authority, and participation in an extremist group’s activities. On the first two charges, the journalist may face fines, while if convicted on the third charge he may face up to eight years in prison.

Ghurbati and blogger Daleri Imomali, known for his articles critical of the government, were detained on June 15 and sent to pretrial detention for two months three days later.

Imomali was charged with illegal entrepreneurship and premeditated false denunciation. Dushanbe-based Independent Center for Human Rights, which provided Imomali with a lawyer, said on September 20 that the blogger’s trial will start soon.

In June, Human Rights Watch demanded Tajik officials immediately release Ghurbati and Imomali, saying the two men “are being targeted for their professional activities, despite being protected by Tajikistan’s laws and international obligations on freedom of expression and media freedom.”

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has been criticized by international human rights groups for years over his disregard for independent media, religious freedoms, civil society, and political pluralism in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

Tajikistan Says Kyrgyzstan Hides Military Hardware Close To Border, Despite Cease-Fire Deal

Tajikistan has accused Kyrgyzstan of continuing to keep military hardware at the two Central Asian nations’ common border following last week’s deadly clashes, a charge denied by the Kyrgyz authorities, who say the situation along the border is calm.

In its September 21 statement, the Tajik Foreign Ministry said “the Kyrgyz side creates a false appearance of withdrawal of troops and heavy military equipment from the line of contact and hides them in border settlements in the Leilek and Chon-Alai districts of the Batken Province of Kyrgyzstan,” also accusing Kyrgyzstan of “numerous violations” of Tajikistan’s airspace by drones.

For its part, Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said in a statement on September 21 that the situation along the border is quiet, in accordance with the cease-fire agreements.

A day earlier, Bishkek and Dushanbe issued differing assessments of the situation, which Bishkek said had “normalized” while Dushanbe said it remained “complicated.”

On September 19, the sides signed a protocol that reportedly paves the way for a complete cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of troops.

Kyrgyz officials say 59 of its citizens died in the recent clashes and 183 others were injured. Tajikistan has put its death toll at 41, but correspondents of RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported a higher number after talking to relatives and friends of the people killed during the clashes. They concluded that 63 people, about half of whom were civilians, lost their lives and compiled a list of those killed.

The sides have set up a joint working commission to monitor and implement the agreement.

Many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet.

Almost half of the 970-kilometer Kyrgyz-Tajik border has yet to be demarcated, leading to repeated tensions since the two countries gained independence more than three decades ago.

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border clashes prove deadly for civilians

Reports indicate that at least 37 civilians, including four children, are among over 100 people killed in the past week as a result of border clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The clashes, which broke out on September 14, reportedly began when Kyrgyz and Tajik border guards exchanged fire along a disputed segment of the border. With hundreds more wounded, fighting has affected civilian populations in at least a dozen villages located on both sides of the largely undelineated border between the two countries.

Many homes in Kyrgyzstan’s Ak-Sai village are alleged to have been deliberately burned and pillaged, according to Kyrgyz authorities’ claims reported in the media, and more than 300 civilian structures, including markets and schools, were set on fire or damaged during the hostilities. Nearly 137,000 people had to be evacuated, Kyrgyzstan authorities say, and are now reportedly with families in the Batken and Osh regions in southwestern Kyrgyzstan or in temporary shelters established in 53 schools in Batken town.

While Tajik authorities also say that many civilian homes have been burned in Tajikistan and that scores of seriously wounded people are being treated in Sughd district hospitals near the border, there have been no reports of government-led evacuation efforts there.

Both countries have accused the other of using weapons systems, such as Grad rockets and Bayraktar armed drones, to attack populated areas and civilian infrastructure, resulting in deaths of civilians. Similar hostilities in late April 2021 killed over 50 people on both sides, mostly civilians, injured hundreds, and caused about 58,000 people to flee their homes.

The alleged deliberate burning of houses and markets, damage to schools and other civilian infrastructure, as well as the reported use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas could constitute violations of the laws of war. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan should investigate their own responsibility for civilian casualties and damage to civilian property, hold those responsible to account, and provide appropriate remedies to civilians.

International partners of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, including the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), should engage promptly with both governments to ensure that civilians, including those internally displaced, have adequate protection.

Source: Human Rights Watch

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

Kyrgyz TV Station Director Given Suspended Sentence Over Report On Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine

BISHKEK — The director of the NEXT television channel in Kyrgyzstan, Taalaibek Duishembiev, was handed a suspended three-year prison sentence over the airing of a controversial report related to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek issued the ruling on September 21, after finding the defendant guilty of inciting interethnic hatred.

Duishembiev told RFE/RL that he continues to insist that he is innocent.

He was arrested in early March after a report on his television channel quoted the exiled former chief of the Committee for National Security (KNB) of neighboring Kazakhstan, Alnur Musaev, as saying that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had agreed to support Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by sending troops to help Russia.

There has been no evidence of Tajik or Kyrgyz troops fighting in Ukraine since the invasion was launched in late February.

NEXT officials have insisted the report was balanced as it quoted Musaev directly while giving other people’s views on the issue.

The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry has rejected the report and has called on local media outlets to base their reporting on the ongoing war in Ukraine solely on official government statements.

Domestic and international human rights organizations had demanded Duishembiev’s release, saying that his arrest violated freedom of expression.

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

ARMED AGGRESSION OF KYRGYZSTAN. Tajik Ambassador Informs Malaysian Side About Tragic Events at the Border

Yesterday, the Ambassador of Tajikistan to Malaysia Ardasher Qodiri met with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia on political issues, YB Dato’ Kamarudin Jaffar.

Qodiri informed the Malaysian side about the tragic events on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border, the cause of the conflict, and victims in details.

The meeting focused on the preparatory process of the High-Level International Conference on “International and Regional Border Security and Management Cooperation to Counter Terrorism and Prevent the Movement of Terrorists,” which will be held from October 18 through October 19 in Dushanbe.

The two parties also exchanged views on bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Malaysia, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

Tajikistan’s Delegation Attends General Debate of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly

Yesterday, the 77th session of the UN General Assembly commenced its work with a General Debates chaired by its newly elected President Csaba Kőrösi (representative of Hungary).

The delegation of Tajikistan headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sirojiddin Muhriddin is participating at the General Debates of the current session of the UN General Assembly.

Muhriddin will present Tajikistan’s position on important issues on the global and regional agenda and the ways to address them.

The General Assembly meets annually in a regular session that opens on the third Tuesday of September and runs until the following September.

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

STATEMENT. On the continued provocative actions of the Kyrgyz side in the border area

Despite the protocol signed by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on the settlement of the situation on the border, the Tajik side has been recording a number of provocative actions increasing tension on the border by the Kyrgyz side, states the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan.

The Kyrgyz side creates a false appearance of withdrawal of troops and heavy military equipment from the line of contact and hides them in the border settlements of the Lailak and Chon-Alai districts of the Batken province of Kyrgyzstan.

On September 18, masked heavy military equipment consisting of four units — armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, armored reconnaissance vehicles and antiaircraft installation- 22mm of the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan near the Tajik frontier post «Sarhadchi» in the Lakhsh district of Tajikistan.

On September 19, the location of 12 units of sheltered military equipment of the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan was revealed in the immediate vicinity of the A. Lokhuti settlement in Konibodom town of Tajikistan.

On September 19, the presence of special forces of Kyrgyzstan numbering 70 armed persons was identified in a small distance from the border post No. 3 «Nurobod» in the Devashtich district of Tajikistan.

The Tajik side continues to record numerous violations of the airspace of the Republic of Tajikistan by unmanned aerial vehicles flying from the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Thus, on September 19 and 20, Kyrgyz UAVs flying over the city of Isfara, the districts of Devashtich, Bobojon Gafurov, Jabbor Rasulov and Rasht of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Tajik frontier posts «Sarhadchi» and «Shirinchashma» in the Lakhsh district, «Rosrovut» and «Muryak» in the Devashtich district, as well as over military units of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Tajikistan were observed.

Tajikistan once again calls on the Kyrgyz side to strictly implement the signed protocols on the settlement of the situation in the border area. Otherwise, the Tajik side will regard the situation as preparation for the next aggression by Kyrgyzstan and the Kyrgyz side shall be responsible for the consequences of such provocative action.

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

FM Muhriddin and the OSCE Secretary General Discuss Recent Events on the Tajik and Kyrgyz Border

Yesterday, on the margins of the High Level-Week of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sirojiddin Muhriddin met with the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Helga Schmid.

The parties exchanged views on the recent events that occured on Tajikistan’s border with Kyrgyzstan, as well as the situation in Afghanistan.

The meeting also focused on strengthening relations between Tajikistan and the OSCE, enhancing cooperation within «Dushanbe Process» on combating terrorism, and other topics of mutual interest.

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan

September 21, 2022September 22, 2022

Muhriddin Speaks About Climate Change During UN General Assembly

Yesterday, on the sidelines of the High Level Week of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sirojiddin Muhriddin took part and spoke at the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends on the Global Development Initiative.

In his speech, Muhriddin touched upon topical issues regarding new challenges, including climate change, food crisis, the impact of COVID-19, and its aftermath especially on landlocked countries.

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan