HRW World Report 2026: Tajikistan (chapter on 2025 events)

Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2026 chapter on Tajikistan covers events of 2025. The article reports that the ruling People’s Democratic Party took 49 of 63 seats in March parliamentary elections held without independent observers; the OSCE/ODIHR cancelled its monitoring mission after accreditation was withheld, and RFE/RL’s Tajik service was also denied access. The article reports that in February the Supreme Court convicted several political and civic figures of treason and sentenced them to 18–27 years, naming Shokirjon Hakimov (Шокирджон Хакимов, 18 years), former foreign minister Hamrokhon Zarifi (Хамрохон Зарифи) and Saidjafar Usmonzoda (Саидджофар Усманзода, 27 years each), Ahmadshoh Komilzoda (Ахмадшох Комилзода), Akbarsho Iskandarov (Акбаршо Искандаров) and Nuramin Ganizoda (Нурамин Ганизода, 18 years each). Investigative journalist Rukhshona Hakimova (Рухшона Хакимова) received 8 years in a closed trial; Ahmad Ibrohim (Ахмад Иброхим), editor of the weekly “Payk” («Пайк»), was sentenced in January to 10 years on a bribery charge linked to the paper’s August 2024 re-registration. President Emomali Rahmon pardoned 897 prisoners in March, none of them jailed journalists or activists. The article reports five ethnic Pamiris detained after the May 2022 GBAO protests died in custody in the first half of 2025; 83-year-old former IRPT member Zubaydullo Rozik (Зубайдулло Розик) died in prison in September. At least six Pamiri civil-society activists remain imprisoned, including Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva (Ульфатхоним Мамадшоева, 21 years) and Manuchehr Kholiknazarov (Манучехр Холикназаров, 16 years); seven journalists remain jailed. The article also reports restrictions on Ismaili ceremonies in Khorog and Dushanbe after Aga Khan IV’s death, cross-border reprisals against deported asylum-seekers Dilmurod Ergashev (Дилмурод Эргашев) and Farkhod Negmatov (Фарход Негматов), deportations of Afghan nationals, and the March Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border agreement. Sources cited include HRW reporting, OSCE/ODIHR, RFE/RL (Radio Ozodi), and Tajik government statements.