HRW: Reverse political party closure (IRPT)

The report states that Human Rights Watch, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia jointly urged Tajikistan on 14 September 2015 to reverse the order closing the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). According to the news release, the Justice Ministry officially revoked the IRPT’s status as a national political party on 28 August 2015, effectively making its activities illegal. It describes IRPT as the country’s second-largest party with an estimated 40,000 supporters and the only legally registered Islamic political party in Central Asia. The report says the Prosecutor General’s Office issued a 8 July 2015 statement cancelling the party’s status under article 3 of the Law on Political Parties, and that the Justice Ministry gave the party 10 days to suspend activities. The report records that, ahead of the March 2015 parliamentary elections, state media ran smear campaigns linking IRPT to extremism, election officials disqualified several candidates, Friday sermons in state-controlled mosques warned against the party, and OSCE/ODIHR monitors said the vote was marred by ballot-stuffing and intimidation. It notes that party leader Muhiddin Kabiri went into exile in June 2015, that 20 online videos showed members “voluntarily” leaving the party, and that deputy leader Mahmadali Hayit had been beaten in April 2013 and member Umed Tojiev died in January 2014 after injuries sustained at an Isfara police station.