Freedom House: Tajikistan Freedom in the World 2024

The report, published by Freedom House as part of the Freedom in the World 2024 series, assigns Tajikistan a status of “Not Free” with an aggregate score of 5 out of 100. The document states that Tajikistan has been led since 1992 by President Emomali Rahmon, whose administration it describes as authoritarian, noting that wealth and authority are concentrated in Rahmon’s family. The report finds that the 2016 constitutional amendments removed presidential term limits and granted Rahmon the official status of “leader of the nation”; a presidential election held in October 2020 returned Rahmon with a fifth term with an official vote share reported at over 90 percent. According to the document, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) lost legal registration and was designated a terrorist organisation in 2015, and the National Alliance of Tajikistan was similarly designated in 2019. The report states that in 2023 security services continued arresting IRPT members and their relatives, and notes the March 2023 arrest of independent journalist Khurshed Fozilov, sentenced in May to seven years on charges of supporting a banned extremist group. The document reports that the Aga Khan Development Network and Ismaili religious institutions faced closures and that Pamiri Ismaili Muslims were restricted to two approved prayer sites in 2023. The report notes irregularities reported at the National Bank of Tajikistan and Tajik Aluminum Company.